NFT Art Project Party Horses Teams With Maker’s Mark for Derby

A look at a Party Horse bottle. Courtesy of Maker’s Mark

NFTs are coming to the Kentucky Derby this year. NFT art project Party Horses announced today Maker's Mark is its official bourbon partner for 2022 and will supply limited-edition Party Horses commemorative labels to 1,000 early adopters going forward.

NFTs (non-fungible tokens) in the project are produced as generative artwork that live on a blockchain. Using an Ethereum smart contract that is created through computer code, algorithms uniquely assign traits to each piece of art during a process called "minting."

Party Horses began as a Louisville-based project by co-founders Justin Delaney, a serial entrepreneur and successful multi-exit CEO, and Brook Smith, a philanthropist and prolific racehorse owner.

Per its website, Party Horses is a collection of 10,000 NFTs on the Ethereum Mainnet. Its vision is to create a future where NFTs create access and special experiences in perpetuity, backed by great art and web3. The Party Horses NFT is an evolving NFT that will generate real-world benefits, from bottles of rare bourbon to exclusive event access.

"We want our mission to be simple to understand," said Delaney. "Use Web3 for good, have fun, create beauty, destabilize the disappointing and collaborate with others to build amazing things."

Delaney and Smith teamed up with an experienced software engineer, Izaak Prats, whose pedigree includes Meta (formerly Facebook). The project also includes a Team of award-winning designers, Louisville event planner Joey Wagner, and other Louisville-based Web3 enthusiasts. Before the project formally launched, Smith brought in Danish model Helena Christensen and designer Camilla Stærk, after spending some time in the space and realizing the gap in representation for women.

"I've known Helena and Camilla for a long time through other business ventures, and their creativity is rivaled only by their eye for equitability," said Smith. "This is an opportunity to knock down some walls in Derby circles, and also fight for equal representation in the Web3 community."

The premise for the NFT art? What if horses attended the Kentucky Derby to cheer on the human race?

The first digital event occurs on March 1, 2022 when a list of 2,000 early adopters will be able to pre-mint, granting whitelist access. 10k Party Horses will mint two weeks later, on the Ides of March (March 15) unless otherwise notified. NFT holders will be able to access exclusive events, like an exclusive pre-Derby concert featuring a Grammy award-winning artist, with more to be announced soon.

Want to learn more? A list of information and frequently asked questions can be found at PartyHorses.com.