Diane Lane is attending the Kentucky Deryb for the first time in her life. The 45-year-old former Oscar nominee plays horse owner Penny Chenery in the movie “Secretariat,” due out Oct. 8 and co-starring John Malkovich. Some of the filming was done at Churchill Downs racetrack.

The movie about the 1973 Triple Crown winner follows the story of how Chenery took over her ailing father’s racing stable despite her limited knowledge of the sport. Against the odds, she succeeded in the male-dominated sport as Secretariat swept the Derby, Preakness and Belmont stakes.

“I was very impacted by the heroism of Secretariat’s performance,” Lane said at the Kentucky Derby Museum. “I feel so humbled and hopeful to honor everything that’s involved in the story.”

Lane and Chenery served as grand marshals of Thursday’s Pegasus Parade through the streets of downtown Louisville.