Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr.

Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. (January 27, 1846 – April 22, 1899) was the founder of the Louisville Jockey Club and the builder of Churchill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby is run. Life and career He was grandson of explorer and Missouri governor, General William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. His father was Major Meriwether Lewis Clark, "aide de camp" and in-law to General Stephen Watts Kearny, of Mexican–American War fame (Kearny married Mary Radford, the stepdaughter of Clark). His mother was Abigail Prather Churchill, from one of the first families of Kentucky. The Churchills had moved to Louisville in 1787 and bought of land in a rural area south of the city. When his mother died, "Lutie" (as Clark was called) went to live with his aunt and her sons John and Henry Churchill. They had inherited most of the original Churchill property, and they donated the land on which Churchill Downs was built. Living with the Churchills, Lutie developed a taste for expensive things, including horse racing. He made two trips to Europe and married twice, both of his wives dying young.