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Lili Kobielski for NBC News
Sports

Photos of the grit and garish glam of the 150th Kentucky Derby

America's longest continuously held sporting event attracts high rollers and high fashion among an estimated 150,000 fans.

By Lili Kobielski and Chelsea Stahl

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs is full of spectacle, whether in the stables, on the track, or in the stands.

The horses, glistening with mud and sweat, are on show for a crowd of 150,000 to see. While they parade around in their saddles and horseshoes before the big race, so do the fans, though with different accoutrements: most famously, towering hats made of everything from satin and feathers to cardboard replicas of Churchill Downs.

Photographer Lili Kobielski has photographed the Kentucky Derby for the better part of a decade. Here, she takes us to America’s longest continuously held sporting event on its 150th anniversary for a glimpse of the grit and glamour.

Fans cheer and take photos in the grandstand at Churchill Downs.
A horse is led down the track at Churchill Downs.
A horse is handled by caretakers in a stable; a woman in a pink dress and large hat laughs.
Women in large hats line up at Churchill Downs.
Two women eat near a sign at Churchill Downs that reads "And down the stretch they come..."
A man wears a cardboard replica hat of Churchill Downs as attendees look; a woman fans herself.
A woman runs her red fingernails through her hair
Horse riders in vests and boots wait near the track.
A man in a flamboyant suit sits near a bronze statue of Matt Winn, a former manager and president of Churchill Downs; two boys in sunglasses in the stands.
A hat filled with York peppermint patties and lined with cigarettes.
A man smokes a cigar at Churchill Downs.
A man in muddy boots and chaps sits on top of a horse on a muddy track.
Attendees in dresses and hats near a statue of Pat Day, a jockey.
Men in colorful and embellished suits at Churchill Downs.
A woman in a flower hat poses in the grandstand.
A wet horse is patted by a man; a woman in a pink dress holds a horse shaped clutch.
Attendees cover themseles in a blue plastic tarp. Their heels and sneakers peek out beneath.
A wet horse is led through the mud on the track.
Women walk in red boots and heels.
A woman walks through the mud in plastic-covered boots; a woman's floral skirt is caked in mud.
A jockey, caked in mud, walks through the muddy track at Churchill Downs.
Women cover themselves in plastic ponchos.
Dozens of fans and TV cameras line the grandstand at Churchill Downs.
Horses and jockeys race at Churchill Downs.
Lili Kobielski

Lili Kobielski is a photographer based in New York. She has photographed the Kentucky Derby for the past decade.

Chelsea Stahl

Chelsea Stahl is the art director for NBC News Digital