Kentucky Derby 2010

Trifecta, so are you pushing your wheelbarrow to the bank or what?

 

Two hours of prerace coverage. Two minutes to run the race.
Three hours and counting for a fucking optional Derby story from the AP. WTF!? They did this last year, too. Having never covered a Derby, is there something procedural that takes the AP so long to write this story? Are they driving around trying to find a WiFi signal at a McDonald's?

 

They're gambling on the last three races.

 

You might have. You just wouldn't know it if you had.

 

Not a bad pay day for the superfecta.

 

It was only a moderately profitable day, thanks to a nice win bet on Super Saver, but even then I held back a bit because I didn't think I was getting good value; he was 15-to-1 on the morning line and then 7-to-1 on race day. I would have been painting the town red if I'd had enough guts to hit the "all" button and throw in everyone else with Super Saver and Ice Box. I said in an earlier post I wasn't going to include Paddy O'Prado in any of my tickets and I didn't. But any time I walk out of the track with more money than I had when I walked in, I don't complain. But it's nice to have play money on hand for the Preakness.

Another very nice effort from Calvin Borel. And if I'm the owner of Conveyance, I'm a little PO'd at the jockey I hired. If trying to win by going wire to wire was the strategy, that's fine, but a half-mile in 46 seconds was idiotic.

 

He's learned to read the last few years, with I believe the help of his fiance. Was an elementary school dropout and racing horses when he was old enough to sit up in the saddle. Real simple guy, real simple family.

Bob Heist (formerly of the Lafayette Advertiser and currently of Pensacola News Journal) did a real nice piece on Borel and his family last summer. Accompanying the story was a fantastic video/slide show set to a soundtrack of his family talking about him. You can find the video at this link:

http://www.theadvertiser.com/section/videoNetwork#/Calvin+Borel%3A+An+American+success+story/51718666001

 

That's three wins and an in-the-money finish in four years for Borel.

He DOES get Churchill . . . and he's an absolute idiot savant when it's wet.

Know a guy who beat Rachel with Kent's 10-1 shot Friday (rode with him on that one), and keyed SS on top of Ice Box and Paddy (and
two others) in the tri. He may never have to work, again.

 

Total disaster for Louisville paper. It couldn't print last night.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100502/NEWS01/100502007