Saturday, May 02, 2009

Run For The Roses....Have a Great Derby Day...

Dan Fogelberg.....( live 2003...)

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Video How to Make a Mint Julep
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This Years's Derby 2 Minute and 29 seconds- the last 50 seconds is amazing...::::

For any that don't know it....I have a real fond place in my heart for Horses...all Horses...if you click the title you can read why... " The Story of Luther" that I posted in 2007 on this blog....on another level ....I grew up in Baltimore....( and my Kentucky heritage Or something...)But I used to love to watch these races and the horses and I have been to a few too....( drunk in the infield wearing jeans and mud shoes and drinking cooler drinks and eating egg salad sandwiches....not with the swishy crowds in the stands wearing ostentatious hats and looking absurd......In the summers we would also gather for the Derby and make Mint Juleps and that would require many pounds of ice and bags of mint julep, and making gaudy TP hats and yelling at the TV.... So I have two Day at the Races Triple Crown.Stories...Here is one... I call it "Tube Top Women and Honey Pot Brawls"....
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1979 Preakness....
( God help me if my sister ever sees this she will kill me...but here it goes)
So in late Seventies I was living in Baltimore. going to school.....I had a big old 1966 Cherry Red Oldsmobile Cutless with creamy white interior with a bitching sound system...and I loved going anywhere in that car....it was the only time I ever offered to pick folks up at the airport or take my 79 year old blind great aunt lingerie shopping ( hey,she had a "boyfriend")....So I was used to doing favors in that whale of a car....

So my sister invited her "Boyfriend" ( I use that term loosely as she always had atleast three) up to Baltimore....and take her young fella " Dash" from North Carolina to watch the Preakness...... So I said fine...so off we go to the Big Event.....and we sit in the Infield...which is nothing but brawls, women in tube tops ( it was the Seventies..) .....more brawls at the Honey Pot Line....and people falling out of Lawn chairs....and more women sitting in broken lawn chairs eating KFC out of big drippy buckets and yelling " Dwayne, bring me another beer Hon, and find me my smokes ".....and then the end of the day the Tube Top Chicken Women as we called them brawling at the Honey Pot......( pay attention to these lush scenic details as it is important later..)

So.....Now almost to the End of the Day....Dash, sweetheart Southern boy that he is...says in his way, " Oh dang, I forgot my wallet and I want to bet one for you sis, can we go get it out of the car ? ".......So I say, " well, sure..." ( To this day he sounds like Bill Clinton in my mind...) Anyways...So we go out to the car.....and we get his wallet....but we can not find the ticket to get back in to the Racetrack....AND the race is about to start in 20 minutes....THE race...and there is not enough time to get to anywhere to watch it....like a bar or anything...So then we see the Place we will watch the Race.... A HUGE 24 Winnebago is parked at the end of the lot...and there are fine folk there with more lawn chairs and much food and liquor....So Sure enough I wander over with Dash and he honey talks our way into their group ( It was an interesting group , like 20 Larry the Cable Guys...but real real nice)....and yes, we all piled into the Winny to Watch the Race....and we had a Great Time watching the Race in the Pimlico Parking Lot...

So we get home that night....sunburned like fresh bacon and my sister says " Did you have a good time ? "..."Oh yeah " says Dash ...." It was quite an experience"....My sis says " well, we are KNOWN for This Race...I bet the Horses were beautiful" and he says "Oh, yeah...I bet they were " ....She looked puzzled...but she then said ...." Well, I can't wait to see the photos".....and Dash looked over at me with Mock Horror..." well, I won't be here for that " and then he laughed....and gave my sis a hug...

NOW...Why would Dash give me THAT look ???...here's why.....

So NOW....The thing is.... That morning my sister had given me her camera and said "Please take lots of pictures"....( because Dash is a Photography Major or photojournalism or something)......Sooooo, we did. ALL day....ALL of it...the women in the Tube Tops....the Honey Pot Brawls....and the Women in tube tops eating KFC with the buckets nuzzled on their laps....and then we even took photos of the Party in the Winny in the Parking lot....BUT there was not a Single photo of One Single Horse...much less a race....

So 7 days later....my sister comes banging on my apartment door with a packet of photos in her hand " WHAT THE HELL ????THIS is what you and Dash did at the Races...Biggest Day in Baltimore... and you took photos of THIS ???? OMG....you are never ever to be a Tour Guide for MY boyfriends again....got it ???"

I mumbled something like " but Dash does take great photos".....

So Christmas 1978 Dash received a VERY interesting Christmas Card from us, and yes it was one of His Photos blown up.... we signed it "Your Baltimore Women ".....

13 comments:

enigma4ever said...

my apologies to anyone anyone that was offended...no disrespect to larry the cable guy....or tube top women...or mercy...KFC...

LOL....

Fran said...

Thanks for sharing this story of Horsing around back in the day.
I can almost smell the grease of KFC in the air.

KFC earned their own reputation....
They are selling grilled chicken now.... to go along with the mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, white flour biscuits, etc. (healthier??)

I year ago they were trying to tout their product as healthy "low carb".... I remember hearing someone editorializing.... they sell their product
**in a bucket**...for hell's sake.

NEWSGUY said...

Great story. I attended two or two or three Kentucky Derbys in the '70s. Saw the actual real Colonel Sanders in his white suit once in his box seat.

My father in law (a longtime Kentucky resident) told a story about Colonel Sanders murdering a rival once. They both had little chicken restaurants (the Colonel started with a gas station) across the road from each other, so the story goes, and there was an altercation about competing advertising billboards. It ended up with Colonel Sanders shooting the other business owner and killing him. My father in law swore this wa a true story. I wonder.

Colonel Sanders got his title from the Kentucky governor who hands out such titles to anyone with the least connections. I even got to be a Kentucky Colonel, due to my father in law's efforts, but I have long since lost the document attesting to my commission.

enigma4ever said...

Oh too funny....my daddy too had one of those Colonel Certificates....and I too remember hearing that ominous story....ton of relatives in Kentucky ....( there's plenty of intrigue and wild stories in Louisville...)

Fran::::
I know...even that smell can make my mouth water..shame on me.....even though I don't eat it anymore...let's put it this way- Drunk women should not wear tube tops....and Dash got some very interesting photos...lordy...

anyways...it still makes me laugh and when they pan the Inner Circle Infield area I always look for people with buckets and beer....but now it has gotten all fancy...I liked it when it was more for the common people- not just the rich folks...

( I have a couple of other stories...about winning...but that is a story for another day...)

enigma4ever said...

damn....
"I Want Revenge pulled out " shoot...

that is who I am rooting for ..

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West Side Bernie
Musket Man
Mr. Hot Stuff
Advice
Hold Me Back
Friesan Fire
Papa Clem
Mine That Bird
Join In The Dance
Regal Ransom
Chocolate Candy
General Quarters
I Want Revenge -- pulled from race
Atomic Rain
Dunkrik
Pioneerof The Nile
Summer Bird
Nowhere To Hide
Desert Party
Flying Private

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Okay....Here are my pics,....Atomic Rain.....Nowhere to Hide and....Mr.Hot Stuff....

there you go...

enigma4ever said...

6-6 came in..
"Jeez, can't believe you are watching this....don't ya remember last year...that poor horse......."

( I completely forgot....lordy...ooooops...)

enigma4ever said...

6;15 PM...
So they are playing My Old Kentucky Home..( I love this song it reminds me of my great grandmother- who
was blind- but she played a mean piano....and she would sing it...and play...drink shots of bourbon and we would let her listen to the Derby over the radio.....she was amazing- she was legally blind- raised two boys and taught piano....in her little apt....for 40+ years....she was Southern...a steel magnolia....

Okay...none of my horses are being talked about...too funny....Horses are on the track...very muddy track...shoot should have picked mudders...
( Choclate Candy was bred by JennyCraig's owners ???that sounds fishy)

Atomic rain...it's his bday...very pretty little horse...
18 Nowhere to Hide...hmmm....beauty...little hi-strung...

( my other two barely got mentioned...or noticed..)

enigma4ever said...

hmm Nowhere to Hide is on the outside....

Mr.Hot Stuff is LAST....

my horses are all in the back....LOL....

HOLY crap...MInd that Bird WON...out of nowhere...won by HUGE amount...50:1.....

Somebody WON big Money.....wow....what an amazing story- poor jockey is covered in mud...misses his parents...he is crying- poor guy...
really pretty horse...seems like a really nice guy....older fella...Kelvin? nice horse....really mellow....

enigma4ever said...

His trainer and owner drove him there with a pick up truck hauling him there....9500 dollar horse ( hey take that you rich Saudis !!!!!)....

truly the hard luck Dark Horse hero....

enigma4ever said...

( now they are interviewing the trainer- he is the one that has a totally fractured ankle- 1700 miles with a messed up ankle...hauling the trailer for NM...)

USA today:::
Mine That Bird, with Calvin Borel riding, broke free along the rail down the stretch to win the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
Longshot Join in the Dance and Middle Eastern-bred Regal Ransom set the early pace, with Pioneerof the Nile lurking.

The Churchill Downs track had sloppy conditions for the race.

Favorite I Want Revenge was scratched Saturday morning with an ankle injury. It is unclear how long I Want Revenge will be sidelined.

Friesan Fire was the favorite in late betting at 7-2, followed by Dunkirk at 5-1 and Pioneerof the Nile at 6-1.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Florida | New York | Middle East | Kentucky | Churchill Downs | Belmont Park | Derby | Calvin Borel
Derby week began with three horses sidelined in as many days. A quarter crack kept Florida Derby champion Quality Road from a scheduled five-furlong workout at New York's Belmont Park on Monday, eliminating him from consideration. Square Eddie (shin) and Win Willy (ankle) followed him to the sidelines in the next two days

enigma4ever said...

Calvin:::
25 year career...
and lives in Kentucky...from cajun country....:::
Calvin H. Borel (born November 7, 1966, in St. Martinville, Louisiana) is an American jockey in thoroughbred horse racing and rode the victorious mount in both the 2007 Kentucky Derby and 2009 Kentucky Derby. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his fiancee, Lisa Funk. Calvin Borel hails from south Louisiana, the heart of Cajun Country famous for its production of many top jockeys during the last twenty years. Like Randy Romero, Kent Desormeaux, and Shane Sellers, Borel began racing horses in the bush tracks near his hometown of Catahoula. One such track was called Evangeline Downs in Carencro, Louisiana and is where Borel began riding in match races at the age of eight.[citation needed]
Calvin Borel's older brother, Cecil, had a brief career as a thoroughbred jockey but was not able to maintain his weight and turned to training horses at Delta Downs in Vinton, Louisiana. Calvin would later begin his professional riding career at Delta Downs.
Over a career that has spanned 25 years, Borel has become known for his tireless work ethic as well as an ability to slip up the rail to save ground; his colleagues and racing fans therefore frequently refer to him as "Calvin Bo-rail."
He is 5'4" and 116 pounds.
Borel's first significant career win came in the 2007 Kentucky Derby aboard Street Sense, guiding the colt to a 2 & 1/4 length victory over Hard Spun and then had a close second place finish in the Preakness Stakes to Curlin.
In June 2006, Borel won the $750,000 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs with 91-1 longshot Seek Gold, getting up in the final stride to win by a nose over Perfect Drift and paying $185.40 to win.
On July 5, 2007, Borel became the sixth jockey in the history of Churchill Downs to win 6 races on a single race card. With his victory in the July 5, 2008 Bashford Manor Stakes, Calvin Borel became the thirty-fourth jockey in North American Thoroughbred racing history to win 4,500 races. [1].
In 2009, he won the Kentucky Derby on Mine That Bird, a day after winning the Kentucky Oaks aboard favorite Rachel Alexandra.

D.K. Raed said...

Well I didn't watch the race, but after reading this, I feel like I did. You shoulda bena track announcer, Enigma! I'm just glad any time no horse is visibly hurt, especially after a bunch keeled over last week DOA from an "Rx error".

The tube top chicken women sound like a hoot. I've only been to a couple horse races (and one greyhound race). Those big hat women always remind me of the Ascot scene in "My Fair Lady".

enigma4ever said...

yeah..the chicken women were a hoot...

The video all 2 minutes of it is up top...amazing little horse....


( yeah- that Pony error- horrors...so so sad...)