LOUISVILLE, Ky. — While many prepare to celebrate the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, one Elizabethtown man will celebrate attending more than a third of them.
Russell Strange is preparing to spend his 51st consecutive year in the infield at the Kentucky Derby. He also visited as a teen one year before starting his annual tradition. In all, it will be his 52nd Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
Strange and his daughter, Emily Strange, even participated in this year’s Derby Festival miniMarathon. The half-marathon was a way to celebrate Emily being half Russell’s age and their long-standing love of the Kentucky Derby.
Russell’s been taking his daughters to the Run for the Roses for years, but his love for the Derby started long before they were in the picture. A visit to his Elizabethtown home shows the history behind his love for the most exciting two minutes in sports.
“When I was a senior in high school, I made the baseball team, and I wasn’t playing," Russell said. "I decided I would skip the game and go to the Derby."
"We had a really good time that year, until Sunday morning. I woke up, and my picture was in the paper, in the Courier Journal. So on Monday morning, I got kicked off the team.”
That’s still his claim to local fame. Russell said not a year goes by when someone doesn’t bring up the story about him losing his spot on the team.
Russell’s spent every Derby Day since near that same spot in the infield. The only one he’s missed attending in person was the 2020 Derby, which was closed to fans due to COVID-19 concerns.
Over the years, he’s filled his basement with memorabilia and collectibles. He’s known for wearing his blue jean overalls and carrying a large frog stuffed animal. Many know to find him near the first turn.
“We try to get as close to the finish line as possible,” Russell said. “We get there early, my daughter runs to the spot and everybody else knows where to go.”
Throughout the years, Strange said the Run for the Roses has created a community near and far.
“I’ve had people that have friends that want to come to the Derby," he said. "They call me up and say, ‘Hey, Russell, I’ve got some friends from Texas, or I’ve got some friends from Kansas or Colorado. Do you mind if they go with you?’ And I say, ‘No, the more the merrier.’”
Strange has kept a Derby betting fund over the years, but he said even after all this time – and a few big wins — he hasn’t quite figured out the secret formula for picking the winning horse.