138th Kentucky Derby Derby Day May 5, 2012

Friday, May 4, 2012, was a day of rest. Ha Ha Laundry to do, shopping to do but had a nice prime rib dinner at Elks Club in Jeffersonville, Indiana. We have had hot weather up to 95 degrees and humid.
The first Saturday in May, is set aside for the "Running of the Roses" also know as the Kentucky Derby. The shuttle bus (air conditions mini bus) started to run at 8:00 and will run all day. I managed to get up, dress, put my hat on and catch the 9:00 shuttle.
 We had to wear all this stuff around our necks  all day. One was the ticket for the Derby another was for the shuttle (old school bus)from where our shuttle dropped us off in Papa John stadium to catch a bus to Churchill Downs and another ticket to get into the Sunny Side Lounge.

The price of the ticket says $146 only because they are printed before the Derby but actual cost is over $700 per person for bleacher type seats without backs and in the sun. There are thirteen races today with the Derby being the eleventh.

Viewing Stands Across the Track

The Infield Filling Up

In the Stands

Between Races

Ninety-Five degrees and 65,000 guests pack Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby. All the folks enjoyed the drinks at $22.00 for a Mint Julep and $12.00 for a beer. By the end of the day I counted sixteen commemorative glasses under their seats of the four young people in front of me. The ladies were spectacular in their hats and matching outfits.

First Race of the Day

Watched the first, second and third races, bet on the first and won and bet on the second and third and lost. That's about the size of how my betting went. Getting hot in the sun and wondered down to the Sunny Side Lounge for some shade and found the jockey of Seattle Slew signing autographs of Seattle Slew in winning the 1977 Kentucky Derby. His name is Jean Cruguet and he rode the "Slew" to the Triple Crown that year. Seattle Slew was the only undefeated horse to win the Crown. Notice how big my hat was.

Stayed in the Sunny Side Lounge for the next 5 races visiting with friends in our group and betting on the races. ( Didn't do to good)

This was my view of the race track for the Derby. Everyone standing up on their seats making the view not very good.

Between races the people sat down.

Its Derby time and everyone finds their seats and stands on them. Wall to wall people for the race. Thank goodness the race has a good announcer. There off!! and I can't see a thing. A long shot "I'll Have Another" won at long odds. Paid $32.60 to win. Boy were a lot of people disappointed.

65,000 thousand people trying to leave at once. Standing in lines so they can catch their buses. Very limited parking at Churchill Downs.

I thought I did good to leave early just after the Derby but I caught a bus in which the driver had no idea where she was going. I knew I was in trouble when she stopped and asked a guy standing on the corner where she should go.

It took her 45 minutes to drop me off at my stop just a mile away. She even followed the governor's motorcade to the train station. Boy was I thankful to see our bus.

Derby week was a great experience and I cherish my time spent at the Derby but will pass the next time and watch it on TV.

Derby Day May 3, 2012

Another early morning, 6:30am as we board the bus for Dawn at the Downs, breakfast on Millionaire Row and our tour of Churchill Downs. Breakfast was a beautiful buffet with all you could eat and, of coarse, you could order your first Mint Julep at $22.00 per commemorative glass of the day. After breakfast we were able to watch the Derby horses workout. I was finally able to wear one of my hats.

NBC Commentator Donna Brothers

Daddy Knows Best

Dullihan

Dullihan and Union Rags

Hansen

What a thrill to see the Derby horses working out two days before the Derby. The next day is the Oaks, a day of racing for the fillies. All the ladies will be wearing pink and I thought I would go but didn't think so after I found out that the tickets were about $700 for bleacher seats.

After watching the workouts we toured Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum which houses the Triple Crown Trophy and the Kentucky Derby Trophy. In the Museum one could watch all the Derby races from the past.

 

 

 

Next on the tour was the film Kentucky Show about the founding of Kentucky and interesting facts about the state. Downtown Louisville where we went shopping and had lunch on Main Street. You never know what you might see in downtown.

The next day was race day of the paddle boats of which this one was just coming in for the race.

 

After lunch we met at the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory.

Factory with Big Bat

Babe Ruth  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One interesting picture below shows how Louisville treats its unoccupied buildings by painting windows and store fronts on the buildings so they look occupied.

Going back to the Louisville Metro KOA and it is 5:00pm and we are getting mighty tired. A day of rest tomorrow and it is really needed.

Derby Day May 2, 2012

Second day of the tour catching the bus at 11:15am and heading out to My Old Kentucky Home State Park in Bardstown. Stephen Foster supposedly wrote My Old Kentucky Home while staying with his cousins at their home of Federal Hill. It is a beautiful restored 1795 home. No pictures were allowed inside (had the most unusual wall paper).

 When John Rowan built Federal Hill he wanted to show his appreciation of the new United States so as you look at the front of the mansion you will see thirteen windows, inside there are thirteen steps in each landing to the second floor. There were many more interesting built-ins that reflect the new nation.

Stephen Foster is suppose to have composed "My Old Kentucky Home" here while he visited his cousins but historians disagree with that story.

The Rowan family cemetery is on the grounds with the earliest death in 1795.

We hopped on the bus and headed to our tour of the Heaven Hill Distillery producer of Evan Williams Bourbon and many more brands. To make bourbon one must have corn, hops, etc., and aged in a new charred white oak barrel for 6 plus years. Haven Hill created the Haven Hill Distillers Bourbon Heritage Center in 2004 as a visitors center with a tasting room. We entered the tasting room and had samples of 8 year bourbon and 12 year bourbon which was lost on me because I don't like bourbon or whiskey.

Bourbon in its barrel is stored in these warehouses on racks, sixteen barrows across and eight high and forty-eight long. All barrels are stored with their plugs on top so it takes some skill to roll them so they land upright. The black on the warehouses is a fungus due to the aging bourbon. Entering one of these warehouses one smells the sweet smell of the fermenting bourbon. The warehouse was cool and dark with only electric lighting for the tourist. We saw the original barrels marked one million, two million etc.up to six million stored in this tourist warehouse. They have over 900,000 barrels aging in these buildings.

 
One stop left before we head for home, St. Joseph's Cathedral in Bardstown. The first catholic church in Bardstown established in 1783 with the current Cathedral's cornerstone laid in 1816. In 1808 it was named the 5th Diocese in the United States.

Back on the bus we head for home and a buffet dinner at the Derby Dinner Playhouse. One of the best buffets we have had. After dinner a play, Happy Days, was enjoyed by all.

Kentucky Derby April 30 and May 1

In November 2011 we signed up for the Kentucky Derby Rally Caravan and the time is finally here. This was a gift to ourselves for our 50th anniversary .We arrived at the Louisville Metro KOA in Clarksville, IN a day before the Rally started.  The schedule for the next week is unbelievable, packed with things to do. A meeting the first day to get acquainted and to receive our name tags, wind breakers, itinerary, hats, etc.
 Day two started with the bus loading at 6:45am to spend the day in Lexington visiting horse training center, farms, parks, all celebrating the horse. On the way to Lexington on the bus we had a guide who informed us of the different points of interest along the way such as Shelbyville is the center of the Saddlebred Horse county. 
Our first stop outside of Lexington is the Thoroughbred Training Center where the first Keeneland sales arena was. The arena is no longer used for the sale but is quite the show place. Just imagine horses walking on this stage and the seats filled with buyers from all over the world bidding on colts they hope might be in the Derby in a year or two.

The Training Center is vast and has acres of barns and training areas.

Next we stood at the fence rail of the track and watched the two and three year olds work out and learned that if a workout rider has his stirrups lengthen means he is riding a young unpredictable colt or filly. The inside of the tract was for horses running fast and the closer they are to the outside fence the slower the workout.

While standing at the fence I turned around and saw a trainer cooling his horse off using a hose and spraying water. I walked over and he told me it was a filly and she was two years old and had just completed her workout. Two and three years old have workouts for 15 to 20 minutes a day to condition them to race. I asked if she was fast and he only said time would tell. The filly enjoyed being petted so I felt very lucky to pet her. At one end of the track was a three horse starting gate. All horses must pass the starting gate test in order to break from the gate and race.  We continued to the barns where a trainer answered questions like "How do you make them run?" answer "you can't, they have to want to run". "Who do you like in the Derby?", "Don't know". We found out that was the standard answer to the Derby question. 
Our next stop was at Keeneland Race Track.

Beautiful horse farms line the roads in all directions with painted barns in white and red. The fences snake in fields meant for horses to run. These three panel fences cost $18,000 per mile with another $7,000 to $8,000 to paint. There are no corners in these fields because they want the horse to run free without having to stop for the corners. Some times we see double fences and these are to keep stallions enclosed. The land is gently rolling hills.

Keeneland Race track is the next place to visit. It is truly a beautiful area with parking in shady area and everything so green.

The tract is beautifully groomed and sparkly clean.

The track is a composite of rubber, plastic telephone coating and is about 18 inches deep. Never have to worry about a muddy track since it drains completely. Horses run on these artificial tracks or turf or dirt. A horse may run on all three types to find out which one is the best for it and will run on that surface forever. Not all tracks have a choice of surfaces.
Because Keeneland has not changed much since the 30s several motion pictures have been filmed here most notable was Seabiscut.

I learned that each racing rack has only certain horseshoes that can be ran on its tract and that they are posted somewhere in the walkway to the track.

Keeneland Race Track has these jockeys painted to reflect horses that have won in the major races this year. The colors are changed spring and fall. Some of the Derby horses were listed.

This is the new sales center for Keeneland. Keeneland uses its profits from the sales to fund the tract and a breeding program. In 2008 over $400,000,000 in sales was produced. The horses sold are from all over the world and rated to sell at different sales. The sale lasts over many days and is twice a year. The sale prices have dropped to half of the 2008 total.

 

We next went to lunch at Natasha's in down town Lexington. Lexington has a pretty down town with some interesting sculptures. This one is at a bank.

Our next attraction is the Kentucky Horse Park dedicated to all things to do with horses. One could wonder the park for hours and see everything about horses.

 Without Secretariat no horse park would be complete. This is the greatest horse in my time.

The flowers were blooming.

 The Arabian is one of the prettiest horse with its beautiful dished face.

Man-O-War was one of the greatest horse ever to have lived. He raced 22 times and lost once due to jockey error.

 We watched Parade of Breeds show that showcased the Morgan, the Arabian and the English Gypsy Vanner.

Gypsy Vanner

The strangest horse I saw was this Kathiawar horse from India. His ears almost fold together at the top of his head.

We hopped back on the bus and headed to Frankfort with a drive by the Capitol and Governor's Mansion. It was raining so we did not stop to take pictures. This picture is of the floral clock that our tour guide's father created.

 

We had left at 7:00am and returned at 6:00pm tired but happy about the things we had seen. Good memories.