Anna Nicole Smith's daughter has 'full-circle' moment wearing her late mom's dress at Kentucky Derby

Dannielynn Birkhead kept her late mother's memory alive at her favorite event of the season the st Kentucky Derby The -year-old daughter of Anna Nicole Smith and Larry Birkhead turned heads wearing one of her mom's iconic looks for the annual race weekend in Louisville Kentucky During an appearance at the Barnstable Brown Gala Friday Dannielynn wore a glamorous black dress with sparkling diamonds across the back a gown Anna Nicole first wore to the same event years ago ANNA NICOLE SMITH'S DAUGHTER DANNIELYNN BIRKHEAD STRATEGIES OUT IN A BOLD RED GOWN AT KENTUCKY DERBYHer father noted that the dress held sentimental meaning for him and his daughter Kicking off kentuckyderby weekend with Dannielynn Larry wrote on Instagram First up The Barnstable-Brown Gala Dannielynn is wearing Anna Nicole s dress that she wore years ago to this same event Life full circle TOBY KEITH'S KENTUCKY DERBY DREAM BECOMES REALITY A YEAR AFTER COUNTY STAR'S DEATHAPP USERS CLICK HERE TO VIEW POST She revealed she chose the dress because it was her Mom s and 'super cool ' Next up the Kentucky Derby races We are glad to spend time with my niece Chloe pictured I am going to try not an embarrass them with my dance moves LIKE WHAT YOU RE READING CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSDannielynn perfected her late mom's signature blonde updo with help from stylists Ryan Austin and Janna Allgeier Her signature red lip and bold eyes were credited to makeup artist Rick Bancroft On the red carpet Dannielynn talked about the dream halter gown and its connection to her mom CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER I feel good in it she recounted Access Hollywood before admitting she was holding back tears I can't know my mom sadly and this is one of the only reasons and solutions I can This is the closest I'll ever be getting to a hug from her The Barnstable Brown Gala which benefits the Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center at the University of Kentucky is one of the greater part sole and star-studded Derby eve parties Taking part in the Kentucky Derby festivities is an annual tradition for Dannielynn and Birkhead Birkhead met the late Playboy Playmate at the Kentucky Derby in and despite keeping their relationship relatively private at the time he's continued to return to the historic annual event as a way to honor the past and continue creating new traditions with his little girl We had a really great time and it's kind of been a tradition that we would go every year he previously notified Fox News Digital of the annual affair at the Barnstable Brown Derby Gala That's where I met Anna Nicole Smith And it's something that I've taken my daughter back every year since She's old enough to kind of understand what it is Since I did meet her mom there it started off just kind of me taking her back and showing her around and kind of letting her know the stories that you know this is kind of where I met your mom and things And then it came to kind of people look for my daughter there because I really don't let her do any community events And so in all honesty the Kentucky Derby is kind of the improvement chart for Dannielynn Smith died in at the age of when Dannielynn was just months old Birkhead fought to establish his paternal rights when Dannielynn was born in the Bahamas in September and became a central figure in inhabitants court battles after Anna Nicole's death Feb after multiple people attempted to claim paternity After a DNA test in April a judge declared Birkhead the father and he has since raised his daughter out of the Hollywood spotlight and in his home state of Kentucky