LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Kentucky Derby, perhaps more than any other sporting event, prides itself on tradition.

From the tasty mint juleps to the meticulously constructed Derby hats to the playing of "My Old Kentucky Home," the nation's oldest continuously run sporting event — as the sign in the paddock reminds you — is an annual step back in time.

Yet four-time Derby-winning trainer D. Wayne Lukas envisions a day when the race run on the first Saturday in May for the last 135 years will move into primetime.

"I think it's inevitable," he said.

For proof, Lukas simply points to the newly installed lights that surround the track, including four that jut right in front of Churchill Downs' iconic twin spires.

"If you ask somebody standing here 20 years ago if we'd ever have lights at Churchill, they'd say 'Absolutely not, that would never happen,"' he said. "And here they are."

The track experimented with temporary lights last summer to see how fans would react to night racing toward the end of the sometimes steamy spring meet.

The response was so overwhelming, with crowds averaging nearly 30,000 a night, the track invested $3-4 million over the winter to make the lights permanent.

"The decision was really a reflection of the commitment we have to make sure that we're having special events and special nights for the industry," said Churchill Downs president Kevin Flannery.

Flannery likened the move to the one the Chicago Cubs made 20 years ago when lights were finally installed at Wrigley Field.

"We're an iconic track, we're an iconic facility and just like Wrigley we have to give the customer what they want and we have to do things that spark demand for our product," Flannery said.

Never is that product in greater demand than on Derby Day, when 150,000 crowd the grandstand and the infield and millions more watch on TV.