Another first Saturday in May is here, and the eyes of America turn yet again to Louisville. The Kentucky Derby is as much spring rite as sporting event. Once more mint juleps will flow, ladies will wear hats so outrageous they can only be seen in public this one day of the year, and tears will slide down countless cheeks as the sad lyrics of “My Old Kentucky Home” drift across Churchill Downs.

The race has been run without interruption since 1875. But once it not only missed May, it came within a whisker of not being run at all. This is the story of the year there almost wasn’t a Kentucky Derby.