April 30, 2025. Louisville, KY. – There is a new queen of the Ohio River! The Mary M. Miller was declared the winner of the 2025 Shepherd Insurance Great Steamboat Race and reclaimed the silver antlers for Louisville. The Mary M. Miller competed against the Belle of Cincinnati in the 62nd annual rivalry on the river, after the Belle of Louisville was scratched the day before the race.
“Derby week would not be complete without the Shepherd Insurance Great Steamboat Race,” said Matt Gibson, Kentucky Derby Festival President & CEO. “The Mary M. Miller may be small, but she showed us she has a lot of horsepower in her first time competing in this decades old tradition.”
The boats raced a 14-mile course on the Ohio River that started and finished at the Clark Memorial Bridge. The Mary got off to an early lead at the start of the race and crossed the finish line first. After some debate between the Captains and Judges, the Mary was named the winner during the Awards Ceremony.
During the ceremony, Captain Alan Bernstein insisted he was automatically the winner because the race was supposed to be between the two Belles, but he eventually acquiesced. Bernstein was presented with a miniature set of antlers for the Belle of Cincinnati’s second place win. The plaque was engraved with the word “Loser” on it.
While the Belle of Louisville was not able to participate in the race, the boat still hosted passengers for a dockside celebration at the 4th Street Wharf.
In the 62 years of the Festival’s Great Steamboat Race, six other boats have competed and won the race: Delta Queen, Belle of Louisville, Julia Belle Swain, Natchez, Spirit of Jefferson and Belle of Cincinnati. (The Spirit of Jefferson filled in for the Belle of Louisville for the 1999 race after a pinhole was discovered in the Belle’s boiler system.)
Shepherd Insurance is the Title Sponsor of this year’s race. Official Patient Care Provider: PPL Therapeutic Services, PLLC. Official Bourbon: Brough Brothers Distillery. Official Tequila: Casamigos Tequila. Supporting Sponsors: Belle of Louisville and Belle of Cincinnati. Media Sponsor: Q103.1.
