The 130th Run for the Roses will be this Saturday. I will be watching it on TV. I'm not one of the fortunate ones who have box seats nor can I afford the prices the "resellers" are asking (a few hundred to a few thousand dollars each).
When I was younger I would go to the Derby and spend the day in the infield. I never saw a single horse when I did that, but it was still fun. I've also been with people who had box seats. The whole experience is very different depending on which side of the track you sit. The older I get, the more I appreciate the seats on the outside of the track.
The day before the Run for the Roses is Oaks Day at Churchill Downs. The Oaks is a race for fillys and is more popular with many Louisville residents who want enjoy the Derby atmosphere without the huge crowd. It's well attended but not to the extent the Run for the Roses is.
I'm not going to it either. Instead I'm going to be home with my kids (another 3-day weekend...pray for my sanity...what there is left of it.) The schools around here always are closed on Oaks Day. Are there any other school systems that schedule a day off because of a sporting event?
You can register to win $5 million by picking the finish order of all the horses in the Run for the Roses. If you do this and win, please see my earlier post. I'll probably give this a try later today or tomorrow. I really haven't been paying much attention to what horses are running this year. Not that I'm very good at picking the winners. Maybe I'll just read off the names and let my daughter pick them, she seems to have better luck than I do when we go to the track.
Her method is pretty basic. You don't need to worry about pedigree or past performances. Two things matter, the horse's name and the color of the silks.
Posted by marybeth at April 29, 2004 01:53 PM Other Stuff