It's My Derby

Dan Malorni – Columbus, Oh

admin — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:08:44 +0000

I go to the derby every year and this year was something special so i decided to commemorate it with this years derby logo and I plan on getting one every year or until i run out of room.

Tim

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:00:46 +0000

I started coming to the Infield in ‘77 with my high school friends. From 79 thru 84 I introduced my college crowd to the fun. My sons, now teenagers themselves, attend with me. After more than 30 years in the Infield and countless memories of the first Saturday in May, I had the Twin Spires roofline tatoo’d on my right arm so I can take a little Derby with me everywhere I go. Rain, snow sleet or sunshine, I’ll see ya in the Infield!

Paul Pasqualini – Dillsburg, PA

admin — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:35:07 +0000

At 4:00 pm on Oaks Day 2005 my then girlfriend and now wife and I were sitting in our town home’s basement office outside of Baltimore Maryland talking about the Derby looking at the website and listening to the link for “My Old Kentucky Home”. I finally said “this is ridiculous, we should be there”. My wife’s reply was “well let’s go”. So, despite knowing all we could get were General Admission tickets we decided to go. We dropped her two older children off with some friends and we packed up our five month old son and some appropriate Derby clothing finally leaving somewhere around 7:00 pm to drive all night long to my sister’s house in Louisville. We got to Louisville around 5 am on Derby Day. We took a quick nap and headed to Churchill Downs around 11am.

We hung out at the track having a blast. My sister was there as well in a box that just happened to have a few no shows. So in the end we did get into the bleachers to watch Giacomo (who came in second in the Hollywood Futurity the day my son was born five months earlier) shock the everyone at 50 – 1 beating our choice Afleet Alex.

In 2009 we saw there were some tickets available on line a week or two before The Derby. This time we were sitting in the kitchen of our new home when my wife asked me if we should buy them and go. Our now four year old son, who was playing in the adjoining TV room, stopped what he was doing came into the Kitchen and said…”I want to go to the ‘Tucky Derby”. We bought four tickets and once again on Oaks Day, much earlier in the day this time, we packed up our car with snacks and all of our children and headed to Louisville. We arrived around 9:30 pm that Friday evening in plenty of time to head to the Kroger to see the Derby blanket being made. The next day we had a blast in section 125.

As an aside, 2009 was also the year we bought our first thoroughbred broodmare a four year old Repent mare. In March of 2010 she had her first foal, an Afleet Alex Filly.

And just like our love affair never ends The Derby our Derby stories never end, we’re on line looking for tickets to write the next chapter of our Derby Story!

Thanks for letting us tell our story! We love The Derby!!!!!!!!

Jamie Johnson

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:26:21 +0000

My first Derby was back in 1993 we had just moved to Ft. Knox with our brand new baby girl. My mom, grandma and my Godmother had come out for a visit and wanted to go the the Famous Kentucky Derby. Being new to the area I had no idea that you got tickets years in advance. Someone told me about the infield where you could see just as well and would be an even better experience then the main facility. So I got us tickets for the infield so we could experience our first Derby.

My family made festive hats and wore beautiful dresses because that is what they heard you do at the derby. The weatherman talked about the rain that was coming in that morning he even said that there might be a downpour. Boy was he right! When we got to Churchill Downs water was everywhere and we saw the workers drying off everything in sight. We knew we were in for a dry day except for the track. We followed the signs for the infield pushing the stroller carefully with our new baby avoiding the water puddles so not get our things dirty. Then as we came up the hill from the tunnel all of our jaws dropped to see mud covered people everywhere!

People were sledding on tarps, trash bags or whatever they found they looked like a bunch of pigs in a pen. My elders looked to me for an explanation but I could only think that the person who suggested the infield had never been there and Yes it is one big party but weren’t we there to celebrate? So we found a small area that wasn’t too mud covered and layed out a blanket for us to have a seat. My whole family abandoned me to go find the much needed Mint Juleps so it was just my new baby, the derby program and me. With nothing left for me to do other then people watch I began to study my program so I could pick my winning horse.

I read the program reading the comments that were in there about each horse and never have been to any kind of track or watched a horse race ever I decided to go with a horse that was known as a “mudder”. Well I knew that there was mud everywhere and I really loved his cool sounding name, so I choose a 30 to 1 (whatever that meant) horse named Sea Hero. When my family finally had a few Mint Juleps in their systems they finally decided to rejoin me. My mom asked me if I had chosen my horse yet and I proudly gave her my pick, she asked me if I was out of my mind that Sea Hero would be lucky to finish. I told her that I read the program and I felt good about this horse.

Reluctantly she took my money and placed it on Sea Hero to win, she said she got a few looks and they even asked her if she was sure that was the horse she had wanted to put her money on. She explained that it was her daughters first time to a track and I had no idea what I was doing but that she couldn’t change my mind and that is who I wanted and my mind was made up. She came back with my ticket that I proudly showed my baby girl Erica and said look it is the winning ticket. I’m pretty sure she cooed and smiled, even she knew we had picked the winner. The bugler came out and gave notice ten minutes to post. Then I had my first Mint Julep ever and waited for the race to begin. People were getting excited crowding around the large screen and fence to get to watch the horses run by, each holding what they thought was the winning ticket. Then I heard “And Their Off”.

I could hear the commentator giving play by play of what the horses were doing and what position they were in and then I heard something I recognized. Something about Sea Hero coming up the edge driving towards the front out of no where. My “mudder” with a grin on my face I stood too now to see if I could see the big screen. Closer and closer Sea Hero drove to the front 30 to 1 my foot he was going to win!! Yes, I Jamie chose the winner that day. My first Kentucky Derby I choose the long shot of the day and went home a little richer and with a little more respect from my experienced betting family. I love the Derby and even though we have moved on since then we make it a point to watch and try to pick the winning horse. Thank you Churchill Downs for the amazing memories.

Sincerely ,
Jamie Johnson

Donna Fry – Louisville, Ky

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:42:30 +0000

We come every year as soon as the gate opens on Derby Day with just general admission and we run straight over and grab a bench (in the Aristides Garden) and camp out for the whole day. We bring our food and from 8 o’clock in the morning until 7 o’clock at night, we camp out all day long. We love coming to Derby. We sit there all day. We get boxes, we make little tables out of the boxes and we call it our “box seats”.

Woody Zorn – Louisville, Ky

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:42:02 +0000

A gentleman ran to the Winners’ Circle and gave a great (flash) to the crowd, receiving a standing ovation from all the ladies, half the men and three horses winked at him. Then he ran off towards the U of L’s marching band and the ladies in the band used their instruments to block the police and he got away.

Gary Lucas

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:41:48 +0000

The last time I was in the infield was probably my favorite Derby memory. I think it’s still a record for the Derby (100th running) and I was actually sitting near the flagpole the streaker went up. So I got to see the guy climb the flagpole, drop his drawers then get arrested.

Amy Jones – Louisville, Ky

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:41:30 +0000

It was 2004. My family had tickets to the Derby and they had their box and I said no. I’m going to the infield, I’m in college and I’m going to be with my friends. I am going to be a hooligan… all of a sudden the sky just opens up, probably after the 5th or 6th race and the sky just opens up and it just starts pouring raining and everybody’s running for cover and finally it’s like… this is a lost cause and everybody just went with it. We’re getting drenched and it’s just disgusting- people are having mudfights and there’s mud and dirt and rocks and it’s just horrible!. … We’ve been mud fighting and I hear someone say the race is going off in 15 minutes…. I took off from the infield all the way to the paddock and trying to get to my box in time and I mean I was just running and I’m covered. I’m just disgusting looking and I hear “My Old Kentucky Home” and I keep running, finally I get to the box and see (Smarty Jones) thundering down the stretch. He wins and we’re so excited and it’s the best time ever and then, they look at me… with a disgusted look on their faces before we all celebrated, it was great!

Bubba Hester- Louisville, KY

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:41:09 +0000

Soon as those gates open 8 o’clock in the mornin’ we’re there and gotta find that spot where you can actually spot a horse every once in a while and see a big screen to keep up with your horses. After awhile there, bettin’ on the horses becomes the second thought and you’re just there for the party, just leading up to the anticipation of the Kentucky Derby. You’re always very excited- it’s like Christmas. You’ve got all these tickets and you really want to cash on the Derby and most of the time you don’t but you’ve got that chance. And you just feel like if you could hit it- you could brag about that for years to come sayin’ ‘Hey, I had the Kentucky Derby Winner!’

Boyd Hurst- Louisville, KY

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:41:38 +0000

Growing up in south Louisville, I could hear the track announcer from my back yard. Also, my father was on duty for every Oaks and Derby day as a fire inspector for the Louisville Fire Dept. My favorite Derby horse of all time was Native Dancer. I was devastated when he lost his only race, the Derby, after being bumped. 1953… It’s my Derby.