Our Kentucky Derby trip
The Kentucky Derby is truly a unique experience. It was a childhood dream made real. A horse became immortal; Street Sense will be remembered as long as anyone remembers horse racing. And when he came from dead last, passing all the other horses in just a few seconds, sneaking up the rail, bursting dramatically to the lead, it was right in front of our seats!! That was the best. That two minutes was worth sitting in the sun for six hours, all the security measures, standing in huge long lines forever, having sore feet and sunburned skin. It was SO worth it. I may never do it again, but that glorious two minutes I will never forget.
Churchill Downs--click for large version:
The view from our seats in the second floor grandstand section 223 at the Kentucky Derby, May 5, 2007. This is early in the day; it got much more crowded later. The white octagonal tower left center marks the special winner's circle used only for the Kentucky Derby. The finish pole is visible near the right center, at the end of the honor guard line. You can see corporate luxury boxes in the infield, and on the clubhouse turn. The tall building off to the right is the clubhouse, containing Millionaire's Row where the Queen was seated. Above us are the Jockey Club Suites; Michael Jordan was up there. You can see one of the Twin Spires between the two buildings. Because of all the structures in the infield, we couldn't see the other side of the track when the horses were running up the backstretch; we had to rely on the jumbotrons. So when Street Sense burst into the lead, it was a huge surprise, because we didn't see him start his move. Just suddenly, there he was.
Five New York church musicians melting in the Kentucky humidity:
We didn't do Derby hats; we decided it would be too hard to manage them on the plane. L had one, sort of, but not a proper one. I had a proper "outfit" I had planned to wear, but the weather was so miserable that I decided to forego it in favor of the coolest shirt I had. The gentlemen both wore ties with jockey silks on them.
I never was able to get my photo i.d. replaced before the trip, but Continental and the security people were very nice about it. I just had to go through extra screening, which only took a few extra minutes.
We arrived on Thursday, and went directly to Churchill Downs, hoping for a quick tour of the Derby Museum just before it closed. I have to tell you, seeing those iconic Twin Spires in person for the first time was a little like the first time I walked into King's College Chapel. It was like being on holy ground, in a way.
On Thursday night we had a fabulous meal at L & N Wine Bar. Although the wine tasting flights were the main attraction, I had the best salad I have ever had, made of mixed greens, Point Reyes blue cheese, pear slices, candied walnuts, and lavender honey champagne vinaigrette, followed by duck breast with creamy butternut squash, parmesan risotto, port wine & cranberry reduction, and brussel sprouts with shiitake mushrooms. Creme brulee for dessert. Unlike Lexington where all the old money is, Louisville is mainly an industrial town and they are trying to get a hip urban scene going, with lots of interesting restaurants like this.
Friday was our day in Lexington. We got up early and drove to picturesque Keeneland, where we had a great country breakfast at the track kitchen and watched the horses training. The main event was our visit to Lane's End Farm to visit some of our favorite racehorses who are now standing at stud. (The Queen stayed at Lane's End also--she was there looking at stallions too--but she hadn't arrived yet when we were there.) I got to renew my bond with the very sweet Pleasantly Perfect, fed a peppermint to the $150 million stud A.P. Indy, and best of all I got to see Rock Hard Ten, who is just as gorgeous in person as I imagined. Then we had lunch at the Woodford Reserve distillery and took a tour. With a little time to spare, we swung by the Kentucky Horse Park to see my hero Cigar, then stopped in at the Horse & Barrel to get another notch on our Bluegrass Bourbon Club tasting cards--I had Jefferson Reserve and Elijah Craig 12-year-old, C had Buffalo Trace and I forget what else. The day was capped off by a lovely dinner at Holly Hill Inn. I had a chilled terrine of foie gras with bourbon-smoked sea salt, shallot-red wine confit, apple and Port wine aspic. The entree was a pan-seared filet mignon with morel mushroom Diane sauce, roasted fingerling potatoes and extremely fresh and good asparagus. Dessert was a rich Bourbon dark chocolate torte with white chocolate Bourbon cream.
Saturday was all Derby all day. After finalizing our handicapping on C's laptop, we left for the track around 11:30. I have never seen so many people in one place in my life, and there is no parking at the track on Derby day, but the city was very organized, offering free parking at a nearby convention center with shuttle buses to the track. It only took about a half hour to get there and get to our seats. Our seats, unfortunately, were in the sun, and it was very hot and humid, but the mint juleps helped. We saw races 2 through 9, but the big one was, of course, the Derby, race 10. After following the careers of those 20 horses for a solid year, seeing them in person was just tremendous. And when my favorites did so well... well! As icing on the day, I hit the trifecta, correctly picking the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place horses (as I had posted here) for $440. And my final placing in the online game? 367 out of 21238...!!!!!!!!
Even though it was nice, of course, to win the money and to score so well in the game, that really isn't what was important to me. Just to be there, to experience it in person, the speed, the power, the iconic Twin Spires, horses going down in history... I will probably never do it again, but at least now I can say I did it once. "With my own eyes I beheld the Derby."
Churchill Downs--click for large version:
The view from our seats in the second floor grandstand section 223 at the Kentucky Derby, May 5, 2007. This is early in the day; it got much more crowded later. The white octagonal tower left center marks the special winner's circle used only for the Kentucky Derby. The finish pole is visible near the right center, at the end of the honor guard line. You can see corporate luxury boxes in the infield, and on the clubhouse turn. The tall building off to the right is the clubhouse, containing Millionaire's Row where the Queen was seated. Above us are the Jockey Club Suites; Michael Jordan was up there. You can see one of the Twin Spires between the two buildings. Because of all the structures in the infield, we couldn't see the other side of the track when the horses were running up the backstretch; we had to rely on the jumbotrons. So when Street Sense burst into the lead, it was a huge surprise, because we didn't see him start his move. Just suddenly, there he was.
Five New York church musicians melting in the Kentucky humidity:
We didn't do Derby hats; we decided it would be too hard to manage them on the plane. L had one, sort of, but not a proper one. I had a proper "outfit" I had planned to wear, but the weather was so miserable that I decided to forego it in favor of the coolest shirt I had. The gentlemen both wore ties with jockey silks on them.
I never was able to get my photo i.d. replaced before the trip, but Continental and the security people were very nice about it. I just had to go through extra screening, which only took a few extra minutes.
We arrived on Thursday, and went directly to Churchill Downs, hoping for a quick tour of the Derby Museum just before it closed. I have to tell you, seeing those iconic Twin Spires in person for the first time was a little like the first time I walked into King's College Chapel. It was like being on holy ground, in a way.
On Thursday night we had a fabulous meal at L & N Wine Bar. Although the wine tasting flights were the main attraction, I had the best salad I have ever had, made of mixed greens, Point Reyes blue cheese, pear slices, candied walnuts, and lavender honey champagne vinaigrette, followed by duck breast with creamy butternut squash, parmesan risotto, port wine & cranberry reduction, and brussel sprouts with shiitake mushrooms. Creme brulee for dessert. Unlike Lexington where all the old money is, Louisville is mainly an industrial town and they are trying to get a hip urban scene going, with lots of interesting restaurants like this.
Friday was our day in Lexington. We got up early and drove to picturesque Keeneland, where we had a great country breakfast at the track kitchen and watched the horses training. The main event was our visit to Lane's End Farm to visit some of our favorite racehorses who are now standing at stud. (The Queen stayed at Lane's End also--she was there looking at stallions too--but she hadn't arrived yet when we were there.) I got to renew my bond with the very sweet Pleasantly Perfect, fed a peppermint to the $150 million stud A.P. Indy, and best of all I got to see Rock Hard Ten, who is just as gorgeous in person as I imagined. Then we had lunch at the Woodford Reserve distillery and took a tour. With a little time to spare, we swung by the Kentucky Horse Park to see my hero Cigar, then stopped in at the Horse & Barrel to get another notch on our Bluegrass Bourbon Club tasting cards--I had Jefferson Reserve and Elijah Craig 12-year-old, C had Buffalo Trace and I forget what else. The day was capped off by a lovely dinner at Holly Hill Inn. I had a chilled terrine of foie gras with bourbon-smoked sea salt, shallot-red wine confit, apple and Port wine aspic. The entree was a pan-seared filet mignon with morel mushroom Diane sauce, roasted fingerling potatoes and extremely fresh and good asparagus. Dessert was a rich Bourbon dark chocolate torte with white chocolate Bourbon cream.
Saturday was all Derby all day. After finalizing our handicapping on C's laptop, we left for the track around 11:30. I have never seen so many people in one place in my life, and there is no parking at the track on Derby day, but the city was very organized, offering free parking at a nearby convention center with shuttle buses to the track. It only took about a half hour to get there and get to our seats. Our seats, unfortunately, were in the sun, and it was very hot and humid, but the mint juleps helped. We saw races 2 through 9, but the big one was, of course, the Derby, race 10. After following the careers of those 20 horses for a solid year, seeing them in person was just tremendous. And when my favorites did so well... well! As icing on the day, I hit the trifecta, correctly picking the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place horses (as I had posted here) for $440. And my final placing in the online game? 367 out of 21238...!!!!!!!!
Even though it was nice, of course, to win the money and to score so well in the game, that really isn't what was important to me. Just to be there, to experience it in person, the speed, the power, the iconic Twin Spires, horses going down in history... I will probably never do it again, but at least now I can say I did it once. "With my own eyes I beheld the Derby."