--- description: In 1955, LIFE covered what would prove to be a classic Derby, paying special attention to the eventual (longshot) winner and his trainer. title: Kentucky Derby: Classic Photos From the Run for the Roses image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc838597654ac3b7e/698846f635ba6f191bc0c45a/01_00969018.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # LIFE at the Kentucky Derby: Classic Photos From the Run for the Roses by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 17, 2014 6:57 PM CUT  Not published in LIFE. "Trainer Meshach Tenney beds with Swaps in the straw of a Churchill Downs stall just 40 hours before the start of the big race." Not published in LIFE. "Trainer Meshach Tenney beds with Swaps in the straw of a Churchill Downs stall just 40 hours before the start of the big race."John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 17, 2014 6:57 PM CUT The Run for the Roses. The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports. The Chance of a Lifetime. (No horse can ever run it twice, after all.) Whatever nickname best applies, the [Kentucky Derby](http://www.kentuckyderby.com/ "undefined") is a cultural and sporting touchstone that combines spectacle, tradition, bourbon and sheer athletic grit in ways that make, say, a heavyweight title bout look tame by comparison. There’s nothing like it, anywhere. Run every year, for 140 years and counting, on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, the Derby is not the sport’s richest race. (That honor belongs to the [Dubai World Cup](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai%5FWorld%5FCup "undefined"), with a purse of $10 million; the Derby winner’s haul is a mere $2 million.) It’s not the longest contest of horse racing’s Triple Crown. (The Belmont Stakes is a brutal one-and-a-half miles to the Derby’s one-and-a-quarter.) It’s not even the oldest major horse race in America. (The Travers Stakes at Saratoga, the inimitable “Summer Derby,” has been run since 1864.) But no other thoroughbred match-up gets the hearts of aficionados and casual fans alike thumping quite like the Kentucky Derby — and in a close race the excitement as the field pounds toward the wire can verge on the unbearable. In 1955, LIFE magazine not only covered just such a Derby, but LIFE’s John Dominis somehow had the prescience to pay special attention to the eventual winner and his trainer. (See the first slide in the gallery.) The results, both pictorially and editorially, were stupendous — and, as with image 6 in the gallery, occasionally unsettling, in their straightforward depiction of the stark racial divide evident across much of the U.S. in the 1950s. LIFE, meanwhile, focused its attention on the atmosphere, economics and, by and large, on one particular thoroughbred at the track: --- > “” --- As it turned out, though, in the ’55 Derby, Swaps came to run — and he ran brilliantly, beating the great Nashua (the eventual 1955 Horse of the Year) by a solid length and half under jockey Willie Shoemaker. A few months later, in one of the great match races of the century, Nashua and Swaps (and their respective jockeys, old friends Eddie Arcaro and Shoemaker) met again in a head-to-head contest at Chicago’s Washington Park. This time, Arcaro and Nashua handily defeated the Derby winners — although it’s worth pointing out that Swaps, who had a sensational record in the first half of ’55, ran the match race with an injured hoof, and would go on to win Horse of the Year honors in 1956. Both Swaps and Nashua are today in the [U.S. Horse Racing Hall of Fame](http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/index.asp "undefined") in Saratoga, as are Tenney; Nashua’s trainer, the legendary “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons; and, of course, both Arcaro and Shoemaker. The two horses finished their careers with remarkably similar records (Swaps had 11 major stakes wins, Nashua had 13) and played to perfection their roles in one of the sport’s most celebrated rivalries — a rivalry ignited on the storied oval beneath Churchill Downs’ twin spires. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  Not published in LIFE. "Trainer Meshach Tenney beds with Swaps in the straw of a Churchill Downs stall just 40 hours before the start of the big race." John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Buses at Churchill Downs after bringing in spectators for the 1955 Kentucky Derby. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Early birds sleep at the track so they can be first in line at the grandstand admission windows when gates open on Derby morning. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Jockeys outside the Churchill Downs jockey room, 1955. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "Julep-laden waiters line up for pre-Derby inspection outside Churchill Downs clubhouse before serving early arrivals." A solid example of the occasionally unsettling (to today's eyes) manner with which LIFE depicted — without comment — the stark racial divide evident across much of the U.S. in the 1950s. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Fans place bets on Derby day, 1955. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Spectators in the infield at Churchill Downs on Derby day, 1955. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Waiters serve mint juleps to spectators at Churchill Downs on Derby day, 1955. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Spectators watch a race at Churchill Downs on Derby day, 1955. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Spectators watch a race at Churchill Downs on Derby day, 1955. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Spectators at Churchill Downs on Derby day, 1955. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Former Huey Long bodyguard and colorful New Orleans restaurateur Diamond Jim Moran at Churchill Downs on Derby day, 1955. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Fans in the infield line up for beer and water at Churchill Downs on Derby day, 1955. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. The scene at Churchill Downs on Derby day, 1955. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. The scene at Churchill Downs on Derby day, 1955. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Fans cover up as it starts raining at Churchill Downs on Derby day, 1955. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Fans cover up in the rain at Churchill Downs on Derby day, 1955. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Starting gate at Churchill Downs on Derby day, 1955\. Eventual winner Swaps is #7, favorite Nashua is #5. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. The field rounds the final turn and heads into the home stretch during the 1955 Kentucky Derby. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Swaps pulls away from Nashua to win the 1955 Kentucky Derby. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "Delirious winner, whose view of finish was blocked, leaps up as Swaps' victory is announced." Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "Victory vault is made by C. W. Allen who picked Swaps to win. He also had a winner in previous race." Ralph Morse—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Swaps In the winner's circle after the 3-year-old colt won the 1955 Kentucky Derby, with Hall of Fame jockey Willie Shoemaker on board. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3879613/kentucky-derby-classic-photos-from-the-run-for-the-roses/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3879613/kentucky-derby-classic-photos-from-the-run-for-the-roses/"},"headline":"LIFE at the Kentucky Derby: Classic Photos From the Run for the Roses","datePublished":"2014-04-17T18:57:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:44.110Z","description":"In 1955, LIFE covered what would prove to be a classic Kentucky Derby, paying special attention to the eventual (longshot) winner -- and his utterly singular trainer.","url":"https://time.com/3879613/kentucky-derby-classic-photos-from-the-run-for-the-roses/","keywords":["Sports topic","photography","Culture","Ben Cosgrove","Liz Ronk","Kentucky Derby","Horse Racing","Ralph Morse","John Dominis","1955"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc838597654ac3b7e/698846f635ba6f191bc0c45a/01_00969018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc838597654ac3b7e/698846f635ba6f191bc0c45a/01_00969018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"1955 Kentucky Derby","caption":"Trainer Meshach Tenney beds with Swaps in the straw of a Churchill Downs stall just 40 hours before the start of the big race.","creditText":"John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3879613/kentucky-derby-classic-photos-from-the-run-for-the-roses/","name":"LIFE at the Kentucky Derby: Classic Photos From the Run for the Roses"}}]}] ```