The Kentucky Derby has run for 143 consecutive years and is by all accounts the most prestigious horse race. It’s for three-year old horses who will run 1.25 miles against the best other three-year old’s. But the day before, another race that has run for the same 143 consecutive years on the Friday before the Derby… Called the Kentucky Oaks, it’s also a race for the best three year old’s as well with one other criteria: they have to be fillies… a day for the ladies.

What used to be a race for the locals has turned into an event that’s almost as big as the Derby. The sea-of-humanity that is the Kentucky Oaks is all decked out in pink to support breast cancer.  It’s another full day of racing with some of the best thoroughbred horses in the world.

Last year the attendance for the Kentucky Oaks was nearly 125,000 people but with the day being wet and the coldest Oaks day since 1940, only 105,000 people braved the weather to watch the races run on a very sloppy track. At the end of the day, Abel Tasman took the wire.