From the Red Carpet, to Millionaire’s Row, to the Paddock, to the Grandstand, to the brand new terrace above the Starting Gate, this was a Derby for which there are not enough superlatives.
No, we didn’t have the 5-17 exacta, because as always there’s a Horse that crashes the party (Commanding Curve, really?). The favorite proved worthy of its hype. My favorite part of that story is the interview I heard on the radio going over, in which I learned that the DAP on the jockey’s silk was an acronym for Dumb Ass Partners.
How cool is that? Well, how cool were the three dudes from Atlanta, or the nice couple from Austin, or those blokes from New Zealand, or seeing Pat Day spending the day meeting fans, or seeing jockeys walk over to their mounts in the Paddock, or that lady’s toilet-themed hat, or having the best live view of the race in my lifetime, or reeling off correct answers to Derby Trivia at my son’s after-party, or even watching bad Karaoke at Check’s Cafe with a cheeseburger to end the evening.
Check it all out here, plus my amateur video of the big race.
