In the midst of protests and a pandemic, the Kentucky Derby's grandeur is muted

The road to the Kentucky Derby is lined on both sides with rented chain-link fence. Though COVID-19 precautions will prevent the general public from attending America’s preeminent horse race on Saturday, the stretch of Central Avenue adjoining Churchill Downs has been fortified in anticipation of a large and potentially unruly crowd.

Protests over the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician who was shot and killed by police in her apartment in March, are expected to gravitate from downtown Louisville to the site of the nation’s oldest continuously held major sports event.

Though Friday's Kentucky Oaks Day was staged without disruption — with Louisville trainer Brad Cox's Shedaresthedevil outrunning odds-on favorite Gamine in record time — heightened security included weapons checks as well as mask requirements.

The 146th Run for the Roses will be dramatically different than any previous edition at Churchill Downs, and that’s assuming there’s a minimum of drama outside the property. Rescheduled from May as a concession to the coronavirus, Saturday’s Derby will be the first one staged in September and the first one in which racing’s Woodstock may seem as muted as chamber music.

Related:What to expect during this most unusual Kentucky Derby Week

“I went out to eat (Monday) night and it’s not the same, obviously,” Jack Knowlton told a pool reporter. “There aren’t people around. There’s no energy. And our driver had a hard time finding some of the restaurants he likes because they’re closed up.

“Monday of Derby Week? Restaurant closed? No.”

The operating manager of New York’s Sackatoga Stable, Knowlton is the amiable ownership face behind Tiz the Law, the 3-5 Derby favorite seeking a second leg of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown. Knowlton's first trip to the Derby, in 2003, was made memorable by the long-shot victory of Funny Cide and by an unpretentious ownership entourage that arrived for the race in a yellow school bus.   

Knowlton said he had received clearance to bring his partners back to the track via school bus this week, but simulating the rest of their Derby experience may be difficult. Instead of navigating a Churchill Downs crowd that has numbered as many as 170,513, spectators will likely be limited to fewer than 2,000 owners, invited guests, staff and credentialed media.

“We know there are some who disagree with our decision to run the Kentucky Derby this year,” Churchill Downs said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon. “We respect that point of view but made our decision in the belief that traditions can remind us of what binds us together as Americans, even as we seek to acknowledge and repair the terrible pain that rends us apart.”

Read this:Why Derby is a 'symbol of segregation,' not unity, for Black residents

Some of those traditions will be on hiatus this week. Instead of the parades, parties and unscheduled pandemonium that normally surround Louisville’s signature event, visitors will bear witness to boarded-up storefronts and uncongested streets. Instead of commanding four-figure room rates and four-night minimums, GoToLouisville's Karen Williams said local hotels are operating at only 30-35% occupancy. The riverfront Galt House was advertising weekend rooms for as little as $114 per night Thursday afternoon.

In another sign of abnormal times, a statue of the unfortunate Louis XVI, the guillotined French king for whom the city was named, was removed from its downtown pedestal Thursday after losing a hand and gaining multicolored graffiti during recent protests.

Barclay Tagg, Tiz the Law’s 82-year-old trainer, has repeatedly expressed concerns that the protests, mostly peaceful thus far, could escalate. Among the groups expected to demonstrate outside the track are the local Justice and Freedom Coalition, which has employed the slogan, “No justice, no Derby,” and the Black militia known as the Not F***ing Around Coalition.

“I don’t know what these guys are going to do, these rioters," Tagg said following Tuesday’s draw for post positions. "Who knows? All I know is you’re not allowed to shoot them, and they’re allowed to shoot you. That’s what it looks like to me, so I don’t know what to think about it.”

See also:Protest planned during Derby seeks to amplify Breonna Taylor message

Pastor Timothy Findley, who leads Louisville's Justice and Freedom Coalition, said he expects Saturday's demonstration to be boisterous, but peaceful.

"My expectation of everyone is to be passionate, to be fiery, but to be nonviolent," he said. "Because the truth is the reason we’re protesting is we believe this city can be better, and we want this city be better and we’re demanding that this city be better.

"Nobody’s talking about burning anything down."

Along with anxieties about how the weekend might unfold, the most common complaints heard this week at Churchill Downs include a sense of longing for what the Derby normally represents and what this year's will be missing.

“I’ve always talked about if I got here, I’d bring everybody I know,” said John Finelli, co-owner of Ny Traffic. “I would have certainly done that. But with eight tickets, it’s a little hard. Obviously, it’s not going to be the same experience.”

Tim Sullivan: 502-582-4650, tsullivan@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @TimSullivan714. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/tims.