Many Kentucky radio listeners will hear a familiar voice at the start of coverage of the Run for the Roses.  

Over an instrumental version of “My Old Kentucky Home,” Louisville-based 840 WHAS is featuring Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introducing the news radio station’s coverage of this year’s 141st running of the Kentucky Derby. “This is Sen. Mitch McConnell. Welcome to one of our commonwealth’s most treasured traditions, filled with colorful pageantry, remarkable speed and stunning surprises. It’s the first jewel in horse racing’s Triple Crown,” McConnell says in the recorded promo. “The Kentucky Derby on NewsRadio 840, WHAS.”  

McConnell’s involvement brings to mind the horse racing-themed ad his campaign ran during the 2014 cycle.  

The recorded introduction to start the broadcast is an annual part of the WHAS coverage of festivities at Churchill Downs, with Democratic Gov. Steven L. Beshear and John Calipari, the University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach, among those to record the introduction in the past.  

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