Does the word "derby" as associated with "Kentucky Derby" have any relation to a derby hat?

JaneofGaunt

Sort of! There is a style of hat called a derby. It was named because people who went to a certain horse race used to wear this style of hat, but it wasn’t the Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Derby is part of what is called the Triple Crown. The Kentucky Derby is the first of three annual races, the second being the Preakness Stakes and the third, the Belmont Stakes. At the time the Kentucky Derby was named, the word derby was beginning to take on the meaning of a race. That was in about 1875. In 1934 the word was used in the name of a race for kids in un-motorized toy cars; that was the soap box derby. But the Kentucky Derby was named after another older horse race that’s part of another triple crown, this one in England. The English race, called the Epsom Derby was established 100 years before the Kentucky Derby. http://podictionary.com/?p=454 May 01 10, 11:56 AM

Baloo55th

And there is no connection with the City of Derby. The race was named for the Earl of Derby - and his title came from the family estates in the Hundred of West Derby in Lancashire and not from the city in the Midlands. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_of_Derby#The_Stanley_Creation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derby_%28horse_race%29 (Baloo lives in the Hundred of West Derby.) May 01 10, 1:34 PM