Churchill Downs!
Ok, so Churchill Downs was actually really cool. For $12 a person, you got to explore a nice 2 floor museum, watch a video in one of those 360 degree theaters, and then take a guided tour of the grounds (the best part!).
They repaint this jockey every year to match that year's Derby winner.
This is the "locker room", as such. Basically, the horses are led out here and paraded around so that the spectators can get a good look (and perhaps run back to the betting windows to make a last minute wager).
This is one of the two spires atop the race track.
the center of the track
The track itself! What I didn't realize was that Churchill Downs is smack in the middle of Louisville. Those students over there in the University of Louisville buildings get a great view of the race--some even from their houses!!!
Back inside the museum, Scott and I played with the various hands-on exhibits. This one was a statue of a horse in a starting gate. You are invited to climb up onto the horse, put your feet in the stirrups and try to match the jockey's position that was outlined on the mirror beside you. (For all of the horse people out there, this is basically two-point with excessively short stirrups.) So Scott tried it!
Then I joined the fun! And lord, it has been a long time since I was last on a horse, real or otherwise.
When a horse wins the Derby, traditionally a HUGE blanket of roses is draped around his shoulders.
And this hole in the ground? This is going to be where they bury Barbaro in another month or so.