Kentucky Derby Trip--Day 2

Here we are all ready for the first day of racing. You will notice lots of pink. Even Norman had on a pink shirt! The feature race of the day was the Kentucky Oaks for three-year old fillies. It is comparable to The Derby which is largely considered a race for three-year old stallions. A filly enters The Derby once in a while, but not often.

Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Oaks have a partnership with Bright Pink, which is the only national non-profit organization focusing on the prevention of breast and ovarian cancers. Since it was the 141st running of The Oaks, there was a parade of 141 cancer survivors from across the country right on the racetrack. I should probably say that our "pink" outfits were pretty tame compared to some we saw.

There were over 123,000 people in attendance on Oaks day. That broke a previous record of over 116,000. This photo was taken from the Street Sense Lounge where we had lunch provided and could stay as long as we wanted. (Street Sense won the Kentucky Derby in 2007).  This is just a very small group of people that were gathered around the paddock area where the horses are saddled before going out on the track.                                             

The horses walked right underneath us as they came from the track to get saddled and then went back again to the race. As the day progressed we tried to read up on some betting tips and guess which ones would win. The Oaks was the 11th race of the day with 14 entries allowed. Each filly had to earn the right to be entered by winning prestigious races earlier in the year. There was a $1,000,000 purse guaranteed to be paid out in the race. Each owner had to pay $41,700 to enter their horse. Lovely Maria was the winner.

We were also able to watch the jockeys come out of their changing room and walk to the paddock. They are small! The fillies in the Oaks carried a total of 120 pounds and the tack is about 7 pounds. It has been said that jockeys sometimes sacrifice their health by eating so little to maintain the limited weight.

After watching Lovely Maria add her name to the history books, some people had winnings to collect. Then we headed for the bus. And we were very glad not to have to try to get out of there any other way! However, Churchill Downs is a big place, and some of us had to walk the long way around because we exited the wrong gate. Good thing we had comfortable shoes!

Dinner that evening was at Bravo-Cucina Italiana. The food was delicious, and then it was back to the hotel to rest up for the big day.

In case you don't know by now, American Pharoah won the Preakness today! He is now two thirds of the way to the Triple Crown. He won by seven lengths in a torrential rain storm. They say he had cotton in his ears to keep him from being bothered by the thunder. He didn't have any mud on him because he led all the way!