On May 2, 2009, the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby will end with another horse necklaced by roses and another horse-owner with dreams of a Triple Crown. And me.
Horse racing is as much an American pastime as hot dog-eating contests and whittling. In Louisville, it is less than a religion but more than a sport as each year at Churchill Downs thousands flock to watch the Kentucky Derby.
Churchill Downs is where the faithful go to pray for winnings and where the immortal are laid to rest. One such immortal legend is Secretariat.
Secretariat was 1,200 pounds of chiseled glory. The revered legend produced more than 650 foals, but lives on today in the hearts of many ambitious foals and online as well.
Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby in 1973 in record time on his way to the Triple Crown that same year.
This May a new class of speed-bred horses will test their talents in the hopes of becoming immortal. Louisville will be abuzz with horse couture, and the out-of-town hordes of horse-racing spectators and aficionados will be abuzz with mint juleps. They would almost have to be to wear those hats.
Thousands of tourists trek from all corners eager to play, gamble and pretend, even for a moment, that their lives are not dour jerkwater, and instead carelessly swim throughout the intoxicating waters of a Gatsby-inspired illusion. Oh, those hats.
And us. Francis X. Bova III and myself, Joseph Welsh, will be attending this year’s event and will be sending the excitement and surreality back to you all in Athens via the Post’s blog.. Part Hunter Thompson, part Studs Terkel, Bova and I will be down there to find the story among the cacophony of these grandiose realities, horse-whispering entrepreneurs and tourist-tired locals.
Bova is a senior studying journalism at Cleveland State University. He is currently interning at Cleveland Magazine. I am a senior studying journalism at OU and can do the worm.
So stay tuned, fellow Bobcats, as these two carpetbaggers cross the Mason-Dixon line and try to figure out what this world-famous event is all about.
We will also be investigating other lines like,
-
What is the Dubai connection to this year’s race?
-
What is Gallopalooza?
-
What is exactly the deal with those hats?
-
What is the Triple Crown?
-
Why not a drug-free race?
Among others.
-Joseph Welsh
