Image 9 of Kentucky alumnus, vol. 04, no. 44, 1974

l · PI' fl O 1 6 BOB GORHAM — Race Track Manager i 1 l 1 , l E l l f ' E Bob Gorham, a native of Wilmore, earned a B.A. degree from UK a minimum of problems compared to what could have in 1956. Before assuming the position of resident manager at happened. But now it was time to Work on the 101st Churc-hill Downs, he was director of the PGA (Professional Golfers' Derby. Association) Press for two years and a sports writer for the Chat- _ _ j mnooga (Term) News Free Prem A record crowd indeed was on hand in 1974, a record l Gorham thinks will stand for awhile. The infield was f g l. e »:__ L packed with 98,000 paid admissions and hundreds of T ‘ · 4 v employees, policemen and band members for the 1974 U _, · race. ln 1973, there were 77,000. , f··'l··-— There was the usual rowdiness, a small percentage of ,. _ f ` , streakers, a need for more restrooms and stronger fences in ~ ° _e °'l V the infield. Already the Downs directors are considering ' j Q fg; _ _ limiting the size of future infield crowds. Gorham has made i Z gr 3;; g ``i· plans for strengthening the fences and providing additional l . _ _’·' · · entries to facilitate the flow of pedestrian traffic next year. , i _; _____ True excitement exudes from Gorham as he talks about T l.— · the race itself. "The mystery and intrigue of the race," he j _ , i >_ gays, "i5 in watching how the horses are belrlg COI"ldllLlO¤€d, é ` _. · { ing wondering if each will peak out for the r21CB." < - 1 He finds himself in the same position as other race fans. i He bets (and only occasionally) on his own interpretation g L . p. `,_. , _> . Q of the horse’s past performance, his preference for jockey, , ry- ` I . A·)A A · ` y y i m · ‘~t as trainer, owner, horse’s name or intuition as the case may »* ~" 4 xr * i , , · ..,, . ¢¤~ i i ·r* ~. . · ¤ 3:* c ~.» ‘ ` 4 if = . as be I ’~Lg, _ 4 . There have been a lot of celebrities on hand for this t g_ v _ i`}- ,;-‘ =—- famed race, ln the spring of ’69 -— Gorham’s first Derby - ) ge . —_;_ ’ A ` President Nixon and a group of Republican Governors were i ‘ ` if- ‘s` W guests of former Governor Louis B. Nunn. i · S if » j S "We built a special section, Section 0, with 256 seats. l M Q ` i_'‘‘ , ` ‘: Then there were additional security arrangements to in- i · , { clude body guards, to secure the area and the President’s 4 if ` * P movement from the fifth floor, where the accommodations Q _ . , ‘ V for him were built, to the third floor where Governor Nunn , Y l " ~ ` was seated. , I ln comparison, Princess Margaret’s visit was simple. "She i Q At 6 a.m. on May 5 Bob Gorham ’56 was out of bed, by had 14 people which we needed to accommodate and she ; , 8:30 a.m. he was perusing his notes, assessing the success of was only at the Downs for four hours. Part of that time she r the 100th Run for the Roses that had taken place just 16 was involved with greeting people and probably saw about , y hours earlier. four races." _ Gorham is resident manager of Churchill Downs. lt is he Does planning for the Derby ever get boring? "Never! , who carried the burden of coordinating the inordinate Everyone is unique from start to finish. We’ve started our , details of this momentous occasion . When it was over he conditioning for 1975 and hope to peak perfectly on the felt a lot of relief that it went off well, that there were only first Saturday in May." , 7 l