Run for the Roses (song)

"Run for the Roses" is a song on the album The Innocent Age, written and recorded by singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg in 1981. Released as a single the following year, it peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has since been used as an unofficial theme for the Kentucky Derby. The chorus mentions "the chance of a lifetime in a lifetime of chance" at once describing the experience of horse racing and life itself.

The song was commissioned by the ABC television network for the 106th running of the Derby in 1980. It premiered on the network's Derby night special the night before. Fogelberg stated that it was written in two days.