LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Kentucky Derby is just three days away and on Wednesday, Churchill Downs hosted Champions Day to honor past winners in thoroughbred racing.

What You Need To Know

  •  Wednesday was Champions Day at Churchill Downs

  •  The day's races paid tribute to past winners in thoroughbred racing

  •  The entire day was dedicated to legendary Triple Crown winner Secretariat, who won the derby in 1973

  • To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic win, a giant bronze statute of Secretariat is on display at Churchill Downs this week

The racetrack dedicated the day to Secretariat, who won the Kentucky Derby in 1973 in commanding fashion.

For the past five years, Shane Carroll’s family has made betting on Wednesday a Derby week tradition.

“Family, 22 of us all here. My father-in-law gets the suite. We’ve done it for about the past five years. Just good times. Get to meet everybody and Secretariat’s the best racehorse that’s ever lived,” Carroll said. 

And the star for Wednesday was, of course, the 2,800-pound bronze statue of Secretariat.

“It’s a good running horse,” said Evonne Paul, who’s attending the races on Derby week for the first time.

People flowed into Churchill Downs to see the bronze rendering of the winner of the 99th running of the Kentucky Derby.

“First of all, Secretariat was an amazing animal,” said Mike Dorr, a Vietnam War Veteran.

 In front of the statue, horse fans posed to take pictures with the iconic Triple Crown Winner.

 “Secretariat was the fastest horse ever to run the Kentucky Derby and has held the record for years and we just find him fascinating. We watched the movie Secretariat, and it was a very fascinating movie, and his heart was bigger than the normal racehorse,” said Mike’s wife, Shirley.

With ten races, one every thirty minutes, thousands of fans commemorated the 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s Triple Crown win in a perfect homage to a horse who loved to run.

Related Stories