a hat worn at the Kentucky Derby

Why the Kentucky Derby is a 145-year-old celebration of hats

America's longest running sports event comes with a distinctive sartorial tradition.

A racing fan wears a Derby hat at Churchill Downs on the morning of the 141st Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday, May 2, 2015. The event featured twenty horses with the winner, American Pharoah, receiving a gold trophy and a $1.24 million payday.

Photograph by Luke Sharrett, Bloomberg/Getty

Although horses may be the stars of the Kentucky Derby, hats take center stage at the 144-year old horse race in the American heartland.

In Kentucky, hats—the wilder the better—are central to the annual spring ritual, the “run for the roses.” On the first Saturday of May, horse-racing fans gather at Churchill Downs to watch the “most exciting two minutes in sports.”

The racetrack, located in Louisville, Kentucky, was founded by Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., the grandson of William Clark—who along with Meriwether Lewis explored the western portion of the U.S. in what is known as the Lewis and Clark expedition—after he toured prim, royal tracks while on a trip throughout Europe. The first Kentucky Derby was held in 1875, making

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