Churchill Downs one week before the Derby and continues until early July. The Kentucky Derby is held the first Saturday in May and the Kentucky Oaks is run on the Friday before the Derby. A fall meet picks up in late October and closes Thanksgiving weekend in late November. A third meet in September was added in 2013. In addition to the track, clubhouse and stables, Churchill Downs also contains the Kentucky Derby Museum which focuses on the history of the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs. The museum also contains a number of exhibits exploring the training and racing of thoroughbred horses.
Havre de Grace (horse) over Flat Out, joining the 2009 American Horse of the Year, Rachel Alexandra, as the only female horses to win the race. Her Woodward victory was followed by the October 1 Grade I Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, in which she scored by 8 1/4 lengths over eventual Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic winner Royal Delta. Havre de Grace closed out her 2011 campaign in the Breeders' Cup Classic on November 5, 2011, at Churchill Downs where she was again pitted against male horses. However, she fell short in her attempt to join Zenyatta in becoming only