run for the roses

plural runs for the roses

1. usually capitalized and preceded by theThe Kentucky Derby horse race.
2. idiomaticAmerican footballA 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. broadlyidiomaticA hard-fought competition or demanding challenge of any kind.

   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

   1 more example

   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