Secretariat’s iconic Kentucky Derby win is front and center on this year’s commemorative Woodford Reserve bottle.
Woodford Reserve unveiled its 2023 Derby bottle, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s win in the 1973 Run for the Roses.
The bottle features the artwork of Kentucky native Jaime Corum, known for her intricate horse portraits. Her painting depicts Secretariat in the Winner’s Circle at Churchill Downs, with the famed Garland of Roses draped over the colt.
The special bottle retails for $55 and is available for purchase globally.
Secretariat is largely considered one of the greatest thoroughbreds of all time. A Triple Crown winner, he still holds the record for the fastest race time at the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont.
“This is our most collectible Derby bottle yet, as Secretariat is perhaps the most revered and most loved racehorse in history,” Woodford Reserve Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall said in a news release. “Even 50 years after his stunning achievement, Secretariat’s Triple Crown run is still considered one of the most iconic achievements in sports.”
A University of Kentucky graduate, Corum spent her formative years riding horses, painting and drawing them in her free time. She focused on her equine subject after receiving her Master of Fine Arts. Corum said that each equine artwork begins with the foundation of her understanding of equine shape and movement and enhances that with the intangible quality of the horse’s character.
Woodford Reserve’s Derby bottle has been an annual collector’s item anticipated by bourbon and racing fans since 1999.
