In a fitting farewell to last year’s spectator-less Kentucky Derby weekend, jubilant crowds in pink poured into Churchill Downs for Friday’s 147th Kentucky Oaks, shaking off a year of pandemic life with the help of mint juleps, flawless skies and temperatures in the 70s.
Limited to 40% to 50% in reserved seating and 25% to 30% in the infield, sometimes-masked but always sharp-dressed fans turned out to enjoy a half-portion serving of normalcy on Louisville's traditional local day at the races, which closes business and schools ahead of the Derby.
While the infield was sparse in some areas, including a few specs of chairs in the third-turn home of historic debauchery, and box seats were spaced out, many loved not having to plow through wall-to-wall crowds in seersucker and long beer and betting lines.