By Design, Twin Spires Became a Trademark

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —  In 1895, a young architect, taken with a single spire atop a nearby mental institution, designed two spires that were built on the roof of the new grandstand at Churchill Downs.

The twin spires, the brainchild of Joseph Baldez, have become the most recognizable feature of Churchill and the Kentucky Derby, and one of the most recognizable landmarks in sports.

They’ve been called towers, cupolas and steeples by visitors to the Derby, but to the locals they can only be the spires. They rise majestically above the elongated stands that stretch from the top of the homestretch to the clubhouse turn.

The spires are a registered trademark of Churchill Downs and last year, launching a branding program to unify the corporation’s other properties, including Hollywood Park, Churchill made them a part of the company logo.

George Holter of Prairie Village, Kan., shows up at the Derby every year wearing a large hat in the shape of the twin spires. His trademark hat is 19 years old.

“You either love horses and the Derby or you don’t,” Holter told the Lexington Herald-Leader in 1995. “To me, the Derby is not the greatest two minutes in sports, it’s the greatest two minutes in the universe.”

When Baldez completed his twin-spires project, Matt Winn, later a vice president and general manager of Churchill Downs, said to him:

“When you die, there’s one monument that will never be taken down. The twin spires.”

He was right.