THE TWIN SPIRES

By: Tom Ferry

If Churchill Downs is American Thoroughbred horse racing’s cathedral, then its steeple and eternal landmark is the Twin Spires. These two pinnacles cast a glow up and down Louisville, Kentucky’s Central Avenue and across the landscape of horse racing history.

The spires are easily the most recognizable symbol in the sport of kings, and arguably, in all of sports. It is difficult to visualize a mental portrait of the Churchill Downs racecourse where the spires are not present and prominent.

In the late spring of 1894, the first 20 editions of the Kentucky Derby had come and gone and the Churchill Downs track (then called the Louisville Jockey Club) was facing bankruptcy. Twenty-four-year-old architect Joseph Dominic Baldez was contacted to help build the track’s new grandstand.

Original plans did not call for the spires and they were pretty much an afterthought. Baldez felt the grandstand required something to accentuate its appearance and give it pizzazz. The spire was a very popular architectural element during the late 1800’s and Baldez had a style based on symmetry and balance. As a result, the spires are 12 feet wide, 134 feet from center to center and rise 55 feet from the grandstand’s roofline to the top of the adorning king posts. Each spire has eight rounded, closed windows that were originally left open in their early days.

The Twin Spires made their debut on Monday, May 6, 1895 at the 21st Kentucky Derby. Thus, the Run for the Roses hasn’t always been held on the first Saturday in May – but close enough.

The spires have grown in mystique with passing time and even adorned Kentucky license plates for close to ten years. Yet the sun shines bright on the entirety of Churchill Downs. Take a walk through the grounds and you will find an engaging mix of the old and the new. Every Derby champion is listed on plaques throughout the concourse. The very first champion, Aristides, has been memorialized with a statue in the paddock, as has Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day.

In recent years, additions have included new luxury suites, a Turf Club and lounge, a Skye Terrace, new Millionaire’s Row, increased restroom facilities and new balconies, overlooking both the track and the paddock. Perhaps most stunning was the addition of two massive towers to the left and right of the Twin Spires. The towers brought 2,800 additional seats to the total capacity but have not detracted all that much from the majesty of the spires.

Walk the corridors beneath the grandstand and you will come across the old, abandoned betting windows. An eyesore? Not really, but rather nostalgic, lasting memories of days gone by. And when you leave the paddock and stroll through the tunnel heading out to the track, stop and pause for a minute and imagine the great horses and humans who once tread this ground.

One day a year, the eyes of the sports world set their sights upon Churchill Downs. The track is filled with decorative spring hats, mint juleps, celebrities, pageantry and of course, roses. The Twin Spires, however, stand tall during winter, spring, summer and fall.

The total cost of the 1894-95 grandstand construction and the Twin Spires was all of $42,000. Former Churchill Downs president Matt Winn reportedly told spires architect Baldez, “Joe, when you die, there’s one monument that will never be taken down. The Twin Spires.”

More than 120 years have passed and Churchill Downs has seen a pretty good return on that initial investment.