The Kentucky Derby is one of the most famous horse races out there, and it’s also an event that’s closely linked to flowers – and roses in particular.

The race is also known as the ‘Run for the Roses’, with the winning horse and jockey presented with a huge garland of roses at the finishing post. This year however, on the night before theDerby, it was a floral dress that was drawing the attention.

At the Unbridled Eve gala, model Rachel Wagoner strode through the cocktail hour wearing a dress made of 600 roses. Created byLouisvilleflorist Amy Streeter of Susan’s Florist, the dress consisted of a mini-skirt onto which roses had been wired by hand, plus several rows of roses strung like Hawaiian lei to cover the chest.

At the same time that the dress of roses was turning heads, the actual garland that would be given to theDerbywinner, I’ll Have Another, was being created by a team of floral specialists, using 400 roses in a design that weighed 40 pounds.

And while a horse carrying a 115-pound jockey wouldn’t mind another 40 pounds, the skirt-and-top ensemble of 600 roses weighing about 75 pounds was giving Ms. Wagoner a tough night!