The Churchill Downs red carpet was in full force again on Saturday as celebrities returned to Louisville for the 148th Kentucky Derby.
Before the Run for the Roses, celebrities from far and wide posed as they walked down the carpet, with no shortage of colorful statement hats, seersucker sport coats and winning horse predictions.
Even an inflatable Tyrannosaurus Rex (Rexy, who, yes, wore a fascinator) promoting the latest installment in the Jurassic Park franchise stomped the red carpet.
Derbygoer for the first time, Jason Aldean, who gave an impromptu performance of “Pink Houses” at the Barnstable Brown Derby Eve Gala the night before, said he loves hanging out with other country music stars at the party.
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Like a number of celebrities who spoke to The Courier Journal, Aldean said he didn’t do too much homework on his horse hoe.
“I don’t know anything about horse racing,” said the country star. “I’ll say, ‘The horse looks cool. It looks like it might win. That’s my strategy.’”
Rapper Jack Harlow perhaps caused the biggest stir when dozens of his entourage flooded the red carpet. Onlookers shouted his name as he passed, phones in hand, trying to snap a picture of the Louisville native.
Harlow was also working at the circuit on Saturday, filming a music video for his new song “Churchill Downs” with rap superstar Drake.
Actor Michael Gross returned to Louisville this Kentucky Derby weekend. Before starring in Family Ties in the 1980s, he lived in Old Louisville in the mid-1970s and worked at the Actors Theater of Louisville.
Although he admitted he had no idea how to place his bet on Saturday, he said he was grateful to be back in a place that means a lot to him.
“I never came to the derby because I was always busy,” he said. “I’m here because I watch people.”
Among the current and retired athletes who walked the red carpet in style on Saturday were a number of football players, such as University of Kentucky quarterback Will Levis, former University of Louisville stars Brian Brohm and Eric Wood, per the Hall of Famers Warren Moon and Franco Harris, and recently drafted Atlanta Falcons QB Desmond Ridder.
Ridder, a graduate of St. Xavier High School in Louisville and the University of Cincinnati, was joined by his fiancé, Claire Cornett, on Saturday.
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The couple said they are preparing to travel to Atlanta in the coming week as minicamp approaches and they still have to lock down shelters.
Famous faces of the Churchill Downs red carpet returned this year including TV personality Star Jones (to mark her 10th Derby), singer Taylor Dayne and singer-actor Joey Fatone.
He wore one of the flashier jackets, with a wide array of colors and flowers, which Fatone said he got from a store in Orlando, Fla., where he goes every year for his Derby outfit.
Although Derby is old hat for Fatone, new this year was his daughter Briahna at his side. She wore a light purple wide-brimmed hat that she had bought in Louisville.
“I’d never brought a woman to Derby before,” Fatone said, “so we were like, ‘Oh my God. We need to get you a hat.’”
Reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at 502-582-4000, [email protected] or on Twitter at @MattGlo.
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