“The most exciting two minutes in sports” (Kentucky Derby slogan)
The Kentucky Derby is a race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds that is held the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race lasts a little over two minutes and has been dubbed the most “electrifying/exciting/famous/fastest/greatest two minutes in sports.” “The most exciting two minutes in sports—the running of the Kentucky Derby” was cited in The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), in May 1940 and referred to the Kentucky Derby coverage of the newspaper’s writer, Bill Keefe. The “fastest two minutes in sports” was cited in print in 1981.
It is sometimes claimed that “the fastest two minutes in sports” was coined by sportswriter Grantland Rice (1880-1954). He does not appear to have written “two minutes in sports.” “Those two minutes and a second or so of derby running carry more emotional thrills, per second, than anything sport can show” was written by Rice in 1935.
The Kentucky Derby slogan has not been trademarked. “The roughest 3 minutes in sports” was trademarked in 2011 by a mixed martial arts company.
Wikipedia: Kentucky Debry
The Kentucky Derby /ˈdɜrbi/ is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter miles (2 km) at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57 kilograms) and fillies 121 pounds (55 kilograms). The race is known in the United States as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports” or “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports” for its approximate duration, and is also called “The Run for the Roses” for the blanket of roses draped over the winner.
4 May 1935, Dallas (TX) Morning News, “The Sportlight” by Grantland Rice, sec, 2, pg. 4, col. 4:
Those two minutes and a second or so of derby running carry more emotional thrills, per second, than anything sport can show.
2 May 1938, Cleveland (OH) Plain Dealer, “Sande’s Big Horse Expected to Burn Speed in Stretch” by Grantland Rice, pg. 19, col. 1:
The Kentucky Derby lasts just about a breath more than two minutes. For these two minutes and a slender fraction, thousands come from every section of the country. Massed crowds everywhere—on every train—in every hotel—at the track—for a two-minute thrill. But the thrill is worth it.
1 May 1940, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), pg. 18, col. 5 ad:
BILL KEEFE
IS IN LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, NOW!
(...)
He’ll give you the consensus of opinion as voiced by trainers, jockeys, and turf experts gathered in Louisville now for the big race. He’ll name the horses in the positions he thinks they’ll finish (and BIll is one of the few sports writers ever to pick the Derby One, Two, THree) and then give you the thrilling description of the most exciting two minutes in sports—the running of the Kentucky Derby.
6 October 1949, The Berkshire Evening Eagle (Pittsfield, MA), “Winn, Who Built Kentucky Derby Into Most Popular Horse Race, Dead” (UP), pg. 21, col. 1:
Winn headed Churchill Downs since 1902. When he took charge, the Kentucky Derby was little more than a country-fair horse race. Under his direction and promotion the mile-and-a-quarter “run for the roses” became each May the most exciting two minutes of every sports year.
Google Books
The Kentucky Derby Story:
In Text and 140 Illustrations
By Lamont Buchanan
New York, NY: Dutton
1953
Pg. 80:
The surge of wild enthusiasm as the horses break from the barrier, growing in intensity throughout two action-packed minutes, one of the most thrill-packed two minutes in sports.
6 May 1967, Boston (MA) Herald, “Two Minutes to Glory: Damasus favored in Kentucky Derby” by Gerry Sullivan, pg. 15, col. 7:
To earn this money, a thoroughbred must dominate in the most electrifying two minutes in sports history.
27 April 1969, Aberdeen (SD) American-News, “Countdown Begins For 95th Derby,” pg. 13, col. 1:
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)—The final week’s countdown began Sunday for the most exciting two minutes in sports—the Kentucky Derby—with Churchill Downs hoping its troubled days are over.
15 April 1981, Morning Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA), “Fastest two minutes in sports lures fans” by Thomas J. Sheeran (UI), pg. 7-F, cols. 1-2:
The springboard for getting tourists to Louisville is the “fastest two minutes in sports” involving the best 3-year-old thoroughbred on the first Saturday in May—before spring has finally settled into much of the North.
Google Books
Best of the Best in the U.S.
By Mike Michaelson
Downers Grove, IL: National BestSeller Corp.
1984
Pg. 110:
For more than 100 years, the Kentucky Derby has thrilled fans with its “most famous two minutes in sports,” and this museum commemorates the men and the horses who have immortalized the annual “Run for the Roses.”
Sports Illustrated
April 08, 1985
Nothing Is Ever Certain About The Derby Except That It’s In Kentucky
William Leggett
If the Kentucky Derby is truly “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” as Kentuckians have claimed for years, the aimless hour that precedes it is unquestionably the dullest.
Sports Illustrated
April 23, 1990
Everyone’s A Winner At The Kentucky Derby Museum
Demmie Stathoplos
(...)
Could the McGraths have foreseen that the Kentucky Derby would continue uninterrupted for 115 years and counting? That it would come to be known throughout the world as “The greatest two minutes in sports”? And its trophy the most coveted in all of racing?
Google Books
1,000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die
By Patricia Schultz
New York, NY: Workman Pub.
2007
Pg. 413:
Billed with little exaggeration as “the greatest two minutes in sports,” the Kentucky Derby is the oldest continuously held sporting event in America and one of the most prestigious races in the world.
ESPN.com
COMMENTARY
Most dangerous 2 minutes in sports
Is a 20-horse Kentucky Derby an accident waiting to happen?
Updated: April 29, 2014, 6:21 PM ET
By Steve Davidowitz | Special to ESPN.com
Once upon a time the legendary sports writer Grantland Rice labeled the Kentucky Derby as the “fastest two minutes in sports.” Some year later, it was renamed by less accomplished writers as “the greatest two minutes in sports,” a hyperbolic moniker that has stuck with this historic 1 ¼-mile horse race.
(Trademark)
Word Mark THE ROUGHEST 3 MINUTES IN SPORTS.
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