My Old Kentucky Home

DERBY TRADITION

Although there is no definitive history on the playing of the Stephen Foster ballad as a Derby Day tradition, it is believed to have originated in 1921 for the 47th running. The Louisville Courier-Journal in its May 8, 1921, edition reported, 'To the strains of 'My Old Kentucky Home,' Kentuckians gave vent their delight. For Kentucky triumphed in the Derby.
The story refers to the popular victory of the Kentucky-owned and bred Behave Yourself. The actual year the song was played as the horses were led onto the track to begin the Derby post parade is also unclear. A 1929 news account written by the legendary Damon Runyon reported that the song was played periodically throughout Derby Day. A report by the former Philadelphia Public Ledger provides evidence that 1930 may have been the first year the song was played as the horses were led to the post parade — 'When the horses began to leave the paddock and the song 'My Old Kentucky Home' was coming from the radio, the cheering started.
Since 1936, with only a few exceptions, the song has been performed by the University of Louisville Marching Band and choir as the horses make their way from the paddock to the starting gate.

MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME SINGALONG

DID YOU KNOW?

It is well-documented by historians that the lyrics were influenced by Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the original handwritten lyrics show that the initial working title of the song was “Poor Uncle Tom, Good Night.” In his autobiography My Bondage My Freedom, Frederick Douglass wrote that the song, “awakens sympathies for the slave, in which antislavery principles take root, grow, and flourish.” In the context of modern times, the legacy of the song is met with some debate.