Decades of Derbies
Hoping to Attend His 85th This Year, John Sutton Jr. Shares His Life Growing Up With the Kentucky Derby
Written by Kelli Kinman, Photography by Danny Alexander
The air was chilly for May, the thermometer only reaching into the 40’s. Bundled up tight by his mother, 8-year-old John Sutton Jr. and his father boarded an old rickety streetcar and traveled up Fourth Street to Churchill Downs. They paid just a couple of dollars to enter and despite the weather, found themselves shoulder to shoulder in the crowd. “We spent most of our time in the men’s room because it was so cold,” recalled Sutton.
This day was a year in the making as he had begged his father to see the Derby after becoming enamored listening to the famous race on the radio. “The announcer, Glen McCarthy, was very emotional,” states Sutton. “He’d shout, ‘Oh, here comes the horses and they’re battling down the stretch! One knocks the other down.’ And I thought to myself, I’ve got to see that.”
Sutton’s father was a racehorse aficionado and his grandfather a blacksmith, so his life had always been entwined with horses in some form or fashion. Stories his father told late into the night about bloodlines and how to spot different mannerisms and characteristics of horses soaked into him like a sponge.
“He was a very good storyteller and he made me stay up all night listening. It became very handy for me, and I picked that up as a young child. Also, I was really into racing. I could read the racing form when I was 12 years old as well as anybody,” shared Sutton.
Gallahadion was the first horse to cross the finish line on May 4, 1940, earning Sutton his first official Kentucky Derby win. He was instantly hooked on the famous race, never missing a Derby going forward. Using their knowledge and foresight, Sutton and his father could be found posted up at the paddock checking out the horses before each race.
“See that horse, John? See his ears prick? He’s dappled out. He’s alert and ready to run,” Sutton recalls his father teaching him. The ability to see the body movements and gestures of the horse became their key to placing bets. “It doesn’t mean they are going to win. It might not be the caliber you need, but at least it was feeling good,” describes Sutton.
Sutton’s skills at handicapping did not go unnoticed by his father and soon his friends over the years. They learned to count on him to bring that factor into the actual summation of who they were going to bet on. His father trusted him and expressed that he believed Sutton could read the racing program better than anyone he had ever known. Holding on to those sweet memories each year, he began a collection of programs and keeps them as prized possessions in a laminated binder.
“Back then, there were only 8 races, and they didn’t have as many horses running. So, it was easier to pick with less numbers. But of course, now there are 20 or so, so it’s much harder,” explains Sutton.
His love of mathematics and probability took him to the University of Louisville where he majored in Biology, earning his Bachelor of Arts from the School of Arts and Sciences. He went on to the United States Army where he was stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and honorably discharged in 1955. Soon after, he was employed by Brown-Forman as a technician in the Materials Quality Control Laboratory. “I got a job at Brown-Forman later in life, which I didn’t even realize the connection with Churchill Downs until later, didn’t even think about it,” admits Sutton. While there, he received his MBA in Mathematics and was promoted to Vice President and Director of Purchasing before retiring after an incredible 35-year career.
“My boss was from Mississippi. He didn’t know a thing about the races or the Kentucky Derby, but he was enamored with my knowledge. He was a very smart chemical engineer and he thought that we could make some money,” describes Sutton. Leaving work 30 minutes early, he would race down to the public library and pour over horse records, absorbing all the information he could. “We had a statistical program that we had concocted to see if in fact there was a method to our madness, but we found out there was not,” admitted Sutton. “There are a lot of factors and variables involved. I’ve seen even the best horses of all time lose.” But that didn’t stop him from trying year after year.
“We picked up a lot of people to go with us over the years. It was just like going to the movies for us,” claimed Sutton. Each year was a different story and unique experience, including trying out the infield for the first and last time. “Once was enough for me. I couldn’t concentrate out there. I wanted to concentrate. I was trying to win. Most people went to party and socialize, but I was focused. I had no particular purpose other than I wanted to win a little money. It was scarce in those days and even a dollar was a big thing. So, I falsely had that mindset,” explained Sutton.
That mindset paid off in 1967 when Proud Clarion won the Kentucky Derby and Sutton bet on him to win. “Believe it or not, a $2 win ticket paid $62.20,” exclaimed Sutton. That was the 5th highest winning-ticket payout in Kentucky Derby history. Jumping for joy, he and his loyal companion, Bob Wolf, thought they were geniuses. But it wasn’t until 2000 that their “genius” really paid off.
A horse by the name of Fusaichi Pegasus was their choice in the 126th Run for the Roses. They bet him to win, place and show. They even bet it in an exacta, trifecta and superfecta.
“We hit every one of those for the first time in my life and we won, I don’t know how much exactly, but it was enough,” teased Sutton.
John and his friend Bill Roof were a likely pair to find at the Kentucky Derby. Together, they devised a system that paid off big for them both. “Bill always made the choice. I gave him the money and he made the bet. We had that kind of thing going. And in those days, you had to go to different windows and they didn’t have computerized betting. They had these old tickets, you know, and you had to go to separate windows. So, it’s difficult to do,” described Sutton. But their hard work would pay off and in a tremendous way.
“We had a cooler with us, at the time you could bring them in. Bill sat down on it, right in the middle of the paddock to count our winnings,” recalls Sutton. Folks gathered around to watch as numerous hundred-dollar bills were passed between his hands. Having indulged in whiskey drinking throughout the day, Bill wasn’t very steady on his cooler. He soon fell over backwards in his brand-new sport coat, ruining it on the dirty ground littered with cigarettes. Despite the fall, he never stopped counting his winnings. “To tell you the truth, I wish I would have taken a picture,” laughed Sutton.
Keeping the annual tradition of attending the Kentucky Derby didn’t even dawn on him until the early 90’s. It wasn’t until 1991, the year he retired from Brown-Forman, that he realized he had been attending the Kentucky Derby for over 50 years. “Before that, I never even dreamed that I would have been going this long. To tell you the truth, I never even dreamed I’d be alive. It was just tradition. I had nothing planned out, of course, it just all happened. So, I’m hoping that I can get to the 150th,” expressed Sutton.
His love of the Derby was also passed on to his wife, some of his children and even grandchildren. “My wife was rather good at betting. She took what I picked and bet it to place. So, when I lost, she won and she’d let me know by giving me the biggest grin,” shared Sutton. His current racing companion is his grandson, Brandon, who has attended the last few Derby Days with his grandfather and is slowly becoming more interested with each visit. His granddaughter, Amber Sims, even helped him co-author his tell all book, Beating the Odds: 82 Years at the Kentucky Derby.
“I was sitting around here doing nothing and I thought, here I got this all-time record of being the only person on the planet to attend this many races. I should write about it,” remembered Sutton. With a dedicated and determined mindset, he put pencil to paper and wrote down all of his memories by hand. Amber typed up his manuscript and his memories became forever etched in time, cementing Sutton in the history of the Kentucky Derby.
Surrounded by his diverse collection of Derby collectibles and artifacts, Sutton smiles as he remembers each year. His collection of every Derby glass since 1940 bursts at the seams in his pristine curio cabinet. His Triple Crown race tickets for Secretariat are framed and hung in his collection of Triple Crown winning tickets. But his favorite possession? A 100-year-old, green wooden chair from Churchill Downs that used to have a home in the paddock. But don’t bother asking him how he acquired it.
All of the knick knacks, souvenirs and personal photos make up a one-of-a-kind homemade museum of memories. But through it all, he is most excited to attend the 150th Kentucky Derby. “That’s going to be my swan song. It has been an incentive for me to really stay alive to make this 150th. And you know what’s pretty special about 150? It’s on May 4th. My first Derby back in 1940 was on May 4. It’s a full circle moment,” shared Sutton. It will be another grand year in the books for Derby’s biggest fan. Here’s to John Sutton, Jr., the distinguished gentleman who turned the Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports into 85 years of memories.
