Beautiful Churchill Downs

Union Rags was the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby at 9/2.

When they were off and the race began, Union Rags fell to the back of the pack.

Trinniberg was off to a good start and led for a little while before Bodemaster took the early lead, racing steadily at about 35 MPH.

Bodemaster had the lead at the far turn, even leading by five lengths in the home stretch.

Then, out of nowhere, I’ll Have Another started gaining ground from the far outside.

100 yards away from the finish line, Bodemaster and I’ll Have Another were battling it out for the lead. But Bodemaster tired out and the horse named after a cookie obsession took the lead.

I’ll Have Another finished a length and a half ahead of Bodemaster and won the 138th run for the roses.

Finish order:

#19 I’ll Have Another (13-1)
#6 Bodemaster (6-1)
#5 Dullahan (11-1)
#13 Went the Day Well (28-1)

Animal Kingdom had never raced on a dirt track before.

First time’s a charm.

» Continue reading “Animal Kingdom Wins the Kentucky Derby”

Meet Rosie Napravnik.

23 years old.  Standing 5 feet 2 inches, she weighs 111 pounds but don’t ever think you can push her around.

Rosie is the fifth woman in the history of the  Kentucky Derby to be riding for the roses.

Beautiful.  Tough.  Focused.  Self-assured. Despite injuries that would fell the grittiest of athletes -  broken collarbone, broken wrist, a shattered leg, back fracture – her eyes stay focused on the prize.

» Continue reading “Could History Be Made Today At the Derby? We Sure Hope So.”

No horse has ever won the U.S. Triple Crown in my lifetime.  Affirmed won it seven months before my birth, but he was the last. Much like long-sufferering Chicago Cubs fans, Arizona Cardinals fans, and any Cleveland fan, I keep hoping for it and each Road to the Roses fills me with anticipation “that this might be the year.”

So, can it happen this year?  To get there, you need to win that first one, the most famous one.  So here’s the down and dirty on the beauty pageant this Saturday also known as the Kentucky Derby:

» Continue reading “Greatest Twenty for the Greatest Two”

photo by Cee Angi

I don’t think I had ever heard of the Kentucky Derby until I was ten, when I moved to Louisville.

Typically my teacher would read us a chapter a day from an R.L. Stine Goosebumps series book, but she surprised us all when she pulled out some colorful drawing and map that looked like it should be on a place mat at McDonald’s.

It was the Derby Festival guide. I had no idea what that meant, but it was colorful and was a precursor to all of the celebrating that was to follow.

At the elementary level, the Derby celebrating is basic: Thunder Over Louisville for fireworks, Chow Wagon for pork sandwiches, Pegasus Parade for free candy, Derby Hat contest for students at school, and then watching the big race at home.

In choir that week, we learned the lyrics to “My Old Kentucky Home,” and I learned how to play along on the glockenspiel.

I left Louisville shortly after my 12^th birthday and, though I’d occasionally pay attention to the horse racing when I saw it on television, it wasn’t something I thought about often.

» Continue reading “This Week, All Eyes Are On My Old Kentucky Home”