run for the roses

Noun

run for the roses (plural runs for the roses)

1. (usually capitalized and preceded by the) The Kentucky Derby horse race.
2. (idiomatic) A college football game or series of games played with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the championship Rose Bowl game.
   • Looking back at Ohio State's run for the roses, there might be some who will insist the Buckeyes were lucky to escape defeat at least once. . . . the Buckeyes whipped a jinx in the form of premature Rose Bowl talk.1954, Lloyd Larson, "Ohio Comes Through Like Real Champ," Milwaukee Sentinel, 23 Nov., part 2, p. 2 (retrieved 24 Aug. 2009)
3. (broadly, idiomatic) A hard-fought competition or demanding challenge of any kind.
   • The time had come, Dundee acknowledged, to decide if he was serious about making a run for the roses. It was only mid-1990, but presidential campaigns had evolved into two-year affairs, and if he really had that famous "fire in his belly," now was the time.1984, Lawrence Sanders, The Passion of Molly T., →ISBN, page 226
   • I thought about leaps of faith, runs for the roses, and reaching for the stars.2007, Kathleen Bacus, Calamity Jayne Heads West, →ISBN, page 136