Churchill Downs Racetrack Releases the Official Food and Beverage Menu for the Milestone 150th Kentucky Derby
New head chef Robert Lopez celebrates classic Derby traditions and unique and seasonally inspired Southern dishes
LOUISVILLE, KY., (March 14, 2024) – Churchill Downs Racetrack (“Churchill Downs”) and hospitality partner Levy today released the official on-track menu for the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby® presented by Woodford Reserve. Guests at the track for Longines Kentucky Oaks® on Friday, May 3 and the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 4 will enjoy bespoke food and beverage experiences that pay homage to and celebrate this global entertainment event.
This year’s menu was created by Chef Robert Lopez, head chef for the 150th Run for the Roses® and Senior Executive Chef for Levy. This year marks Chef Lopez’s first Derby and the 23rd consecutive year Levy has partnered with Churchill Downs to deliver world-class hospitality for the legendary race weekend.
Under Levy, Chef Lopez has led culinary teams at prestigious horse racing venues across the country, as well as storied ballparks and iconic entertainment events. He now brings his expertise and an inspired new perspective to the dining scene at Churchill Downs, creating a menu that fuses Southern specialties and vibrant spring flavors, making for a culinary experience that will be as thrilling as the historic race itself.
“Any chef who’s created culinary experiences in a sports and entertainment venue dreams of the opportunity of the Kentucky Derby,” said Chef Lopez. “This event has an unmatched taste tradition built on contributions from so many incredible chefs. 150 will never happen again, so our approach in creating the menu was to elevate the classics and take advantage of the wealth of seasonal ingredients in our community and region. We sourced local ingredients like asparagus, peas, bourbon, and cherries to strike a balance between rich, bold flavors of iconic Southern staples and the freshness of spring. My team and I are incredibly excited for guests to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime experience in every bite.”
In addition to the signature menu items, Churchill Downs will be offering an array of other delectable bites and pouring classic beverages and staple Kentucky Derby cocktails for all attendees to enjoy at the track.
For more information, including recipes and images for the official menu, please visit https://www.kentuckyderby.com/official-derby-menu. To learn additional details about this year’s race, please visit https://www.kentuckyderby.com/.
The Official Kentucky Derby 150 On-Track Food Menu
Spring Pea Pasta Salad
Locally grown English peas, pecorino cheese, country ham, green onions
Spring Panzanella Salad
Lemons, English cucumber, scallions, sugar snap peas, croutons, asparagus, feta cheese
My Old Kentucky Bibb Salad
Bosc pears, toasted walnuts, blue cheese crumbles, red onion, chives, herbed buttermilk dressing
Herbed Gournay Wiesenberger Grits
Chicken stock/broth, roasted corn, Boursin cheese, green onion, Kenny’s cheddar cheese
Roasted Cauliflower & Brussel Spouts
Garlic cloves, red onion, peppadew peppers
Bourbon Cherry Brisket Burnt Ends
Veal demi-glace, cherry juice, cherry preserves, Levy BBQ sauce, Woodford Reserve Bourbon®, fried onions
‘Nduja Shrimp Pasta
Dry white wine, crushed tomatoes, lemon zest
Kentucky Derby 150 Beverage Menu
Old Forester Mint Julep
Old Forester, simple syrup, fresh mint, crushed ice
Finlandia® Oaks Lily®
Finlandia, sweet and sour, Triple Sec, cranberry juice, blackberries, lemon wedge, crushed ice
Woodford Reserve Spire
Woodford Reserve, lemonade, cranberry juice, lemon twist, ice
Herradura Horseshoe Margarita
Herradura Silver, fresh lime juice, agave nectar, lime wheel, ice
Kendall-Jackson 2021 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon
Kendall-Jackson 2022 Mendocino County Chardonnay
Kentucky Derby Dining By The Numbers:
- 20,000 pieces of assorted desserts
- 10,000 lbs of smoked brisket
- 9,000 lbs of shrimp
- 1,000 lbs of cheese
- 1,000 lbs of mint for Mint Juleps
- 24,000 bottles of Old Forester Mint Julep Bourbon Cocktail are expected to be used
- 20,000 bottles of Woodford Reserve are expected to be used
About Chef Robert Lopez
Chef Lopez joined Churchill Downs as the Chef and Culinary Expert for the 150th Kentucky Derby. As Senior Executive Chef for Levy, he oversees Churchill Downs and Matt Winn’s Steakhouse. As a culinary leader for Levy, Lopez has dished out incredible elevated food and beverage experiences for fans at NBA arenas, MLB ballparks and F1 Grand Prix. For the 150th Derby, he brings his one-of-a-kind racetrack bites and fresh spin on classic Kentucky flavors to ring in this pivotal year at Churchill Downs.
About the Kentucky Derby
The $5 million Kentucky Derby takes place on the first Saturday in May at historic Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Inaugurated in 1875, the legendary 1 1/4-mile race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds is the longest continually-held major sporting event in North America and the first leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown series. Also known as, “The Run for the Roses®” and “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports®,” the Kentucky Derby is the most attended horse race in the nation. The 150th Kentucky Derby will take place on Saturday, May 4, 2024. For more information, please visit www.KentuckyDerby.com.
About Levy
Authentic The disruptor in defining the sports and entertainment hospitality experience, Levy is recognized as the market leader and most critically acclaimed hospitality company in its industry. Twice named one of the 10 most innovative companies in sports by Fast Company magazine and one of the top three Best Employers for Diversity in America by Forbes, Levy’s diverse portfolio includes award-winning restaurants; iconic sports and entertainment venues, zoos and cultural institutions, theaters and music festivals, and convention centers; as well as the Super Bowl, Grammy Awards, US Open Tennis Tournament, Kentucky Derby, Coachella and Stagecoach Music Festivals, and NHL, MLB, NBA, NFL, and MLS All-Star Games. For more, visit levyrestaurants.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and X.
This news release contains various “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” “scheduled,” and similar words or similar expressions (or negative versions of such words or expressions).
Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Important factors, that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include the following: the occurrence of extraordinary events, such as terrorist attacks, public health threats, civil unrest, and inclement weather, including as a result of climate change; the effect of economic conditions on our consumers’ confidence and discretionary spending or our access to credit, including the impact of inflation; additional or increased taxes and fees; the impact of any pandemics, epidemics, or outbreaks of infectious diseases, including possible new variants of COVID-19, and related economic matters on our results of operations, financial conditions and prospects; lack of confidence in the integrity of our core businesses or any deterioration in our reputation; loss of key or highly skilled personnel, as well as general disruptions in the general labor market; the impact of significant competition, and the expectation the competition levels will increase; changes in consumer preferences, attendance, wagering, and sponsorships; risks associated with equity investments, strategic alliances and other third-party agreements; inability to respond to rapid technological changes in a timely manner; concentration and evolution of slot machine and historical racing machine (HRM) manufacturing and other technology conditions that could impose additional costs; failure to enter into or maintain agreements with industry constituents, including horsemen and other racetracks; inability to successfully focus on market access and retail operations for our TwinSpires sports betting business and effectively compete; online security risk, including cyber-security breaches, or loss or misuse of our stored information as a result of a breach including customers’ personal information could lead to government enforcement actions or other litigation; reliance on our technology services and catastrophic events and system failures disrupting our operations; inability to identify, complete, or fully realize the benefits of our proposed acquisitions, divestitures, development of new venues or the expansion of existing facilities on time, on budget, or as planned; difficulty in integrating recent or future acquisitions into our operations; cost overruns and other uncertainties associated with the development of new venues and the expansion of existing facilities; general risks related to real estate ownership and significant expenditures, including risks related to environmental liabilities; personal injury litigation related to injuries occurring at our racetracks; compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or other similar laws and regulations, or applicable anti-money laundering regulations; payment-related risks, such as risk associated with fraudulent credit card or debit card use; work stoppages and labor problems; risks related to pending or future legal proceedings and other actions; highly regulated operations and changes in the regulatory environment could adversely affect our business; restrictions in our debt facilities limiting our flexibility to operate our business; failure to comply with the financial ratios and other covenants in our debt facilities and other indebtedness; increases to interest rates (due to inflation or otherwise), disruption in the credit markets or changes to our credit ratings may adversely affect our business; increase in our insurance costs, or inability to obtain similar insurance coverage in the future, and any inability to recover under our insurance policies for damages sustained at our properties in the event of inclement weather and casualty events; and other factors described under the heading “Risk Factors” in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.