Saturday, May 07, 2005

all bets are off

okay, so i am from kentucky and the derby is a huge deal. it always has been here...probably because i live just about as close to louisville as possible without constantly being amidst the craziness that is the derby festival. i've grown up loving the derby. just something about it brings happy thoughts. i remember watching the derby with my dad when my brother was little...it must have just been right after he was born (according to the year). it was 1989 when sunday silence won. it was my dad's horse, and therefore it was my horse as well. i remember cheering at the tv waiting for our horse to win. and then, it happened. sunday silence won the derby...and i was so excited. my dad even gave me a dollar. that was the first time i actually remember watching the derby. about 5 years after that we started going to a huge derby party. it was thrown by a family from church and it was a huge event. there would always be tons of food, a million kids running around, and tons of people everyone and everyone cheering on the races.

when i was in high school i actually went to the derby twice. it was awesome. i love crowds, so it was great to me. people everywhere...crazy people betting on horses. it's absolutely nuts, but so much fun.

this derby i had to work and wasn't even sure i'd be able to see the race. it had been a few years since i'd made an appearance at the derby party...and the crowd isn't what it used to be, even though there were still over 50 people there when i arrived. i wasn't sure if i'd get there before they ran the race because i was going straight from work and knew that i'd be cutting it close. so i asked my mom to place two $2 bets for me. one on giacomo to show and one on high fly to show. last night i was telling my mom, roy, and nate about the horse i'd originally chosen, which was giacomo, and they were making fun of me. "there's no way that horse will win! it's odds are 50-1." hmm...funny, because giacomo is this years derby winner. well...who's laughing now kids? i'm $65 dollars richer than i was this morning.

i'll tell you how i pick my horses. there's no rhyme or reason. no eeny meeny miney mo. i just pick the names i like. it's that simple. i'm not sure why...but i liked giacomo...it sounded cool. and i decided to go with high fly because i needed a safer bet in there. if i'd only bet for giacomo to win.

4 comments:

emily said...

I do not remember much of the Derby other than watching it on tv. I lived in Ky for 23 years never been to the derby. A few weeks ok, I was told that you do not say that you are going to "the derby" but you are going to "Derby", I thought about making a Derby Pie for work this week to culturate them in it, but I didn't have the materials handy. Congrats on your picking!

Anonymous said...

weird. i've never heard it called "going to derby." kentucky's crazy.

Anonymous said...

oh yeah...i love me some derby pie!

Anonymous said...

because, chad, it's awesome. that's why!