Today is Kentucky Derby 151...
Grab a Hot Brown and Join Me in Front of the Television
If you grew up in Kentucky like I did, the first Saturday in May is always penciled in on your calendar. Even if you don’t follow horse racing all year, as a Kentuckian, you show up for the three races (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes & Belmont) of the Triple Crown.
I have been watching—every year, that I am old enough to remember watching. Some years are easy to recall, like the year that Secretariat won. It’s funny what memories seem to remain. Like the urgency of adjusting the antenna (remember those?) with my dad just before the race. And, standing for the entire race afraid to sit down (who knows why).
There is one detail that remains that lends itself to the magic that was Secretariat: after he won, my dad and I danced around the room together. It had been a cloudy day but when Secretariat won, the sun came out from behind the clouds and flooded the room with light as if joining in on our celebration
I’ve been following most of the entrants of this year’s Kentucky Derby since last November while at the Breeder’s Cup Classic races at Del Mar. Getting to know these horses and their stories makes the races a lot more fun. So who will I be rooting for today?
Well, there are several but let me give you my top two: This guy’s name is Baeza. He was only eligible to run in today’s Kentucky Derby if another horse scratched. Sadly, two horses have scratched. (Rodriguez, trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Mike Smith and Grande (owned by Mike Repole and trained by Todd Pletcher) Baeza is trained by my favorite trainer, John Shireffs (79 years old) and owned by CRK Stable, LLC & Grandview Equine.
John Sheriffs won the Kentucky Derby 20 years ago today with a horse named Giacamo (a long shot) owned by Ann and Jerry Moss (of A & M Records). Fun fact, Giacamo was named for singer, Sting’s son Giacamo. More importantly, (to me of course) John Sheriffs was Zenyatta’s trainer.
The favorite in the race (last time I checked) was a horse named Journalism. He won the Santa Anita Derby on April 5—a Derby prep race. The horse that came in second, was Baeza. John Shireffs takes his time and I have a feeling that Baeza is coming into his own…
The second horse that I’ll be keeping an eye out for is Sandman. I know a guy who has an interest in him so I have to root for him, right? Seriously, he is a top contender who won the Arkansas Derby a couple of weeks back. And he’s not bad looking either.
Even though the sun will not be shinning bright on my old Kentucky home today, I’d like to invite you to wrap up in a throw on your sofa, grab some tissues—you know we’ll need them when we sing together before the race and watch the races. Because no matter where you are from, this race and that song speak to all of us. It reminds us of time and tradition and our connection to the past. More importantly we celebrate the mystical connection that horses and humans have.
Who will you be rooting for? Leave your pick in the comments…