Derby Day

Some people might think my family has weird priorities. On my Dad's side of the family, we don't celebrate Easter in April, but on the first Saturday in May, we celebrate the running of the Kentucky Derby. Dad makes corned beef and puts out munchies and Brian and I are expected to attend. Sometimes my Aunt and Uncle come out, but not always. If I am not there at least 2 hours before post time, my phone is ringing. The week before my Dad will start reminding me, so that I don't make plans, as if I could forget. This same ritual takes place for the Preakness and the Belmont, but since the Derby is the first race of the Triple Crown, it is special. This is the race where we get behind a horse to win the Triple Crown, hopefully. If someone in our immediate family won the Lottery, it wouldn't even be a question or a discussion, I would be online booking our plane tickets and hotel accommodations to Kentucky, Maryland and New York for next year's races. I would be getting an extra ticket for Maryland to bring Jonie of course. Every since I was little, that was a dream for me: to wear a sundress and a great big hat to the Derby, to visit Ruffian's grave at Pimlico and leave her a single rose, to be in the stands for the singing of "New York, New York" before the final race.
We start looking at horses and making Derby predictions about a month or two in advance, usually after watching the Santa Anita Derby and a couple of other pre-Derby races around the country. Our betting styles are unique. My Dad bets odds and jockeys, never picks a dead-on favorite (called a "chalky") and usually doesn't care what the horse is named, and usually just bets one horse to win or place. My Brother likes long shots because if one hits, they pay big, and he will usually bet a trifecta or an exacta, mixed with chalkies and long shots. I pick one horse to win or place: that perfect combination of odds (2nd or 3rd favorite), jockey, starting position, name (picking the horse whose name I liked worked great for me at the track as a kid and I got a lot of Toys R Us money out of it), trainer, and if I have watched them run before or not that may also be a factor in my choice.
This year for the Derby, just like last year, the first horse I was looking at ended up not running. A local horse out of Santa Anita named after my cat with a jockey I know (talented, but a jerk whom I have met and can't stand) and a winning trainer who went off as the morning line co-favorite ended up being my pick this year. I had seen him race before, but I was a little unsure about him because of the jockey. The other favorite was being ridden by a jockey whom I admire and came from a trainer who had never won a Derby, but being me, I have to pick a horse and stay with it, though I secretly wanted this horse to win.
In my lifetime, I have never seen a Triple Crown winner (a horse that has won the Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont) and every year I hope for 2 things: 1. That no one gets hurt (the last few years of the Triple Crown have been marred by the tragic injuries and subsequent deaths of horses like Barbaro and Eight Belles) and 2. That someone wins the Triple Crown. Last year Mine That Bird and Rachael Alexandra ran AMAZING races, but both canceled the others chances. If only Rachael Alexandra had run in the Derby instead of the Oaks, I might have seen a Triple Crown winner, but oh well.
The horse I picked came in 5th, thanks in part to my hated jockey. But Calvin Borrell, on Super Saver (the horse I mentioned before that I secretly wanted to win) ran away with first place and now I am excited to see him run the Preakness and the Belmont. Maybe I will get my Triple Crown winner this year. In 6 short weeks, I'll know.