Got your derby horse picked out?

I just spent an hour trying to figure out which was my favorite. I can't bet, but I can pretend I'm there and pick a horse, right? I'm drawing the line at putting on a dress and hat though. LOL

I am going to go with Flower Alley, just because I know nothing about horses, but I know a little about flowers. :)

After that, I like Bellamy Road and Bandini, in that order.

LOL I've never been to the races....but if I had the opportunity...I would go with Flower Alley. I think you're supposed to pick horses by something...I forget...which is why I'm glad I don't bet on horses or anything else for that matter...LOL Good luck!! even if it is pretend

My DH picked Flower Alley, but I said Afleet Alex. Was I stunned when mine made it into the top 3. :) Too much hype about Bandini and besides the owner of Bandini owned about half of the horses in the race. None of his came into the top 8, I believe. They showed him on the news tonight and he looked like a kid that his lollipop taken away. In all fairness, he has won many KY Derbys.

The winner, Giacomo, was named after Sting's son. The owner of the horse also owns A & M Records and is good friends with Sting. The odds were 50-1 and they had the 2nd highest payoffs of any Derby race. And.......if you won the Superfecta (the first 4 horses in the winning order), a $2 bet paid out $1,728,507.00. Can you imagine!!!

This message was edited May 7, 2005 11:42 PM

I thought Flower Alley was going to at least show, until close to the end.

Did you hear the story behind Afleet Alex? It sounded like an awesome story. I'm not sure I remember exactly how it went, but the owners of the horse lost their young daughter to, I *think* cancer last year. Her name was Alex. I believe she was 8. I'm sure there's more to the story, but I only caught part of it.

I saw the family on TV when the race was going on. The woman was so excited, but then when Giacomo won, she started crying. I knew there was a story, but I hadn't heard that. If I had, I would've understood her crying like that.

I told my DH, he made it into the top 3, he'll have a good payoff for them and also be remembered for that.

All of my children (grown) were working security at Churchill Downs today and my daughter has been working there all week. One daughter and our son are supervisors; they've done this for years. Long hours, 14 to 16 hr days and they come home very, very sunburnt. My son was the supervisor for the infield which is all sun!!! The other two worked the gates and that's where they get to meet all the stars :) Big parties going on in Louisville tonight and last night. Too much for me to handle, I get tired watching it on the news and it is a three week festival leading up to Derby....sort of like Mardi Gras. Phew!

Oh, lucky kids! Someday I hope to be able to go to the derby. Right after we win the lottery or something. LOL

Joan, If you want to go to the Derby, you can come and stay at my place. :) Won't cost you anything at my house...And see what a $2 bet will get you? But I do think it was $60 for a ticket to get into the Derby and they were sold out before the gates opened this morning. Go figure!

Hey Kathy, I'll definitely keep that in mind! Might make DH more willing to go if we didn't have to worry about a motel room. We'll see how it goes. Won't be next year because our last baby is graduating next year, but after that we should be able to travel a little bit more. Right now we can't leave a teenager at home alone. :) THANKS!

Boy, do I remember those days! It doesn't get better. Sometimes I feel like I can't leave the adult children at home, LOL. The door is always open here Joan. :)

Heck, something has happened to my sattelite connection and I can only get ONE channel.. and not the channel to watch the Derby. : (

Darius, go to www.wave3tv.com or www.whas11.com or www.louisvillechannel.com I think both of them have players where you can watch previous programs. It's a thought.

Nah, now that I know who won, it's not important anymore, LOL.

BTW, I ALWAYS root for the underdog. : )

Yes, I thought there was too much hype on Bandini and Bellamy Road. But you can catch up on news in my neck of the woods on those stations as well. Also, find some great ideas for when you come to visit :)

I missed the Derby this year as usual, but I do watch it if I am at home. The favorite almost never wins. Now on to the rest of the Tripple Crown! Secretariat was the last to win it, we are due again I think.

Yeah, I'd love to see that, especially with an underdog trying for it. I thought Funnycide was going to do it a couple years ago, came so close, but lost the third race.

I think the third one is the one that gets them. Often they win the first two and finish the 3rd one way back in the pack. It's a tighter course with more turns, plus being the third major effort without quite enough time off in between, so it takes a superior horse to get it done. I don't remember which one is the longest but as I recall they are 1 1/4 miles (Derby), 1 1/8 and 1 1/2 for the other two. And the competators are young horses that are still growing and developing for the next couple of years. Sure they are big, but not mature. It's a real stress test.

Well, all my "kids" called me today with stories of their jobs at the KY Derby. Lots of money won and lots of people looking for security guards to walk them to their vehicles. Funny, I would never think of that! They gave them great tips. My son won $60 for a $2 bet and was excited. He had all of the first three horses, but on two tickets!

And then I heard on the news tonight about the guy in Phoenix (I believe) that bought $100 worth of tickets from OTB I think and had a winning ticket that would net him over $900,000, but he can't find that one ticket!!! He claims the clerk remembers him buying all the tickets and they said that they do have a winning ticket out there, but he can't find THAT ticket. Sorry, but it sounds a bit hoaxy (is that a word?) to me.

My son wanted us to go to the Derby, he had passes for us, but to try to get to the Churchill Downs is a nightmare, then walking in there is a bigger nightmare, and we had so much planting to do. Guess you know what won!