Anyone else "into" the Kentucky Derby?

[flippy]

Re: Anyone else "into" the Kentucky Derby?

I am sorry, I don't mean to Troll this thread but I never understood the excitement. Watching horses run in circles never really excited me. Can someone try and explain it?

1. The horses are amazing. Seeing the horses up close and personal makes the experience for some.

2. Betting is fun. And many people feel like you can make an educated bet with an advantage toward winning. If you bet and win just once, you'll be hooked easily.

3. The history - They've been doing the KD for 136 years. Tying yourself into history is one of the great experiences for many people.

4. The pageantry - The hats, the dresses, the horses, the jockeys, the owners, the min juleps. It's a great spectacle. Takes you back in time.

5. The party - 150K people at an event. It's like going to the Indy 500 with 500K+ people. Or Octoberfest with 1M+ people. The sheer size of these events make them memorable.

6. Check out Calvin on Mine That Bird. Check out where he wins the race at 7:30 in the video. It was a $9500 horse that had 50-1 odds. At 9:30, you can see this horse come from the end of the pack and blow by everyone to win by a large margin.

[youtube:2ujouxoy]AjY-rrAoTl8[/youtube:2ujouxoy]

[ANPSTEEL]

Re: Anyone else "into" the Kentucky Derby?

I am sorry, I don't mean to Troll this thread but I never understood the excitement. Watching horses run in circles never really excited me. Can someone try and explain it?

1. The horses are amazing. Seeing the horses up close and personal makes the experience for some.

2. Betting is fun. And many people feel like you can make an educated bet with an advantage toward winning. If you bet and win just once, you'll be hooked easily.

3. The history - They've been doing the KD for 136 years. Tying yourself into history is one of the great experiences for many people.

4. The pageantry - The hats, the dresses, the horses, the jockeys, the owners, the min juleps. It's a great spectacle. Takes you back in time.

5. The party - 150K people at an event. It's like going to the Indy 500 with 500K+ people. Or Octoberfest with 1M+ people. The sheer size of these events make them memorable.

6. Check out Calvin on Mine That Bird. Check out where he wins the race at 7:30 in the video. It was a $9500 horse that had 50-1 odds. At 9:30, you can see this horse come from the end of the pack and blow by everyone to win by a large margin.

[youtube:23pyey88]AjY-rrAoTl8[/youtube:23pyey88]

It is possible his ride this year, 11 lengths back, through serious slop, is even more impressive.

[flippy]

Re: Anyone else "into" the Kentucky Derby?

Makes me wonder if Calvin woulda won on any horse?

I also heard on the radio today that after taxes the 1st place jockey takes home about $100k, 2nd - $14K, 3rd - $10K, and the rest $300 for 4th-20th. And the jockeys have to even pay to get there and pay for their own parking. I wonder how these guys can make any kind of living doing this. Maybe this is why the good jockeys like Calvin are so good.

Re: this race being more impressive, I think it was interesting that no one was willing to ride against the rail and I wonder if SuperSaver was able to run faster because the track against the rail was the only smooth portion of the track.

[ROLROC]

Re: Anyone else "into" the Kentucky Derby?

Eh, smart ride by Borel but no where close to last year's feat. Everyone else avoided the rail due to Churchill's off-track history of having a mid-track bias.

Ice Box was the best horse on Saturday but was checked hard. A better ride from Lezcano (or Zito putting a better jock on like Prado) on the 2, and he wins.

Super Saver has a good shot to win the Preakness but will fall short of a triple crown bid if Ice Box remains healthy and especially if Eskendereya is able to come back.

[ANPSTEEL]

Re: Anyone else "into" the Kentucky Derby?

Makes me wonder if Calvin woulda won on any horse?

He certainly seems to have it going right now. I wouldn't discount him on any horse.


I also heard on the radio today that after taxes the 1st place jockey takes home about $100k, 2nd - $14K, 3rd - $10K, and the rest $300 for 4th-20th. And the jockeys have to even pay to get there and pay for their own parking. I wonder how these guys can make any kind of living doing this. Maybe this is why the good jockeys like Calvin are so good.

I am not 100% certain on this- and I would imagine the top guys might negotiate a premium, but I think the jockeys receive 10% of the purse... could be completely wrong.

Re: this race being more impressive, I think it was interesting that no one was willing to ride against the rail and I wonder if SuperSaver was able to run faster because the track against the rail was the only smooth portion of the track.

One of the analysts commented that the 1 slot and outside the 8 slot were firm- everything in between was crap.

[ANPSTEEL]

Re: Anyone else "into" the Kentucky Derby?

Eh, smart ride by Borel but no where close to last year's feat. Everyone else avoided the rail due to Churchill's off-track history of having a mid-track bias.

Ice Box was the best horse on Saturday but was checked hard. A better ride from Lezcano (or Zito putting a better jock on like Prado) on the 2, and he wins.

Super Saver has a good shot to win the Preakness but will fall short of a triple crown bid if Ice Box remains healthy and especially if Eskendereya is able to come back.

I agree with you on pretty much all points.

my comment about this being possibly more impressive than 2009 was based upon the track conditions.

I was telling everyone around me- "the winner is going to be a front runner or just off pace. No way does a horse come from way back, in this slop, with 20 horses."

So that Borel takes a good, not great horse right to the rail- in those conditions (keeping in mind the 1 post horse got absolutely hammered -twice- to crush any chance of victory) and coming from 10+ lengths back at the 2nd turn- having to go around a fading noble's promise- to win... in that kind of slop-

pretty dang impressive.