09.05.20
Posted in Churchill Downs, Kentucky Derby, Thoroughbred Racing at 7:59 pm by Thomas
It was certainly a surreal day at Churchill Downs today for the 146th running of the Kentucky Derby. The weather could not have been better and the track was certainly fast so maybe its appropriate that Authentic, ridden by John Velazquez at 8 to 1 odds won the race convincingly in a time of 2 minutes 0.61 seconds over Tiz The Law.
It marks trainer Bob Baffert’s 6th Derby win though the day wasn’t without incident for him with one of his other horses, Thousand Words scratched after he reared up and went over backward in the paddock stalled and hit his head which is an automatic scratch by track vets. Then after the race, while they were putting the Roses on Authentic he spun and knocked Bob Baffert to the ground, but it is 2020 what can you expect.
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05.01.14
Posted in Kentucky, Kentucky Derby, Louisville, Rolex Kentucky 3 Day Event, Thoroughbred Racing at 9:10 pm by Thomas
I am not sure there is a bigger week in Kentucky that defines us as the Horse Capitol of the World like the 10 days from the start of Rolex through Saturday’s Kentucky Derby this year. There are a number of interesting factoids in regards to these two events. The Rolex Three-Day Event takes 4 days from Start to Finish, the Kentucky Derby is decided in 2 minutes plus or minus a few seconds. Both events are consider a leg of the Triple Crown in their respective sports. A number of successful Rolex horses are Thoroughbreds that started out as race horses and transitioned to Eventing. Generally Jockeys are short and only weighing about 100 pounds, Eventers tend to run the gambit on body size, William Fox-Pitt who won this year’s Rolex is something like 6′ 5″. The Rolex is in Lexington, The Derby in Louisville, two cities defined by Horses and Basketball both with a taste for Bourbon. Both events draw big crowds with significant economic impact both locally and on a State basis. The Derby does beat the Rolex in the area of TV coverage, 4 days of Rolex are turned into 1 hour of TV a week after the fact, where as the 2 minutes of the Derby equals many hours of live coverage across several channels. The obvious difference is that you can’t bet on the Rolex, well technically I guess you could, but who would want to, and if you do, you probably need to seek help. Another thing they have in common is that men and women compete equally and women are certainly a force to be reckoned with in the horse world, maybe more so there then anywhere else in business. I am sure that last sentence will draw some comments and I don’t have any scientific studies to back that up but feel pretty good about the validity of that statement. All of this is to make the point that we are The Horse Capitol of the World and that is a pretty cool thing, especially this time of the year.
Kentucky Colonel
Thomas P. Demond
KyWEGO
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07.02.10
Posted in Attractions, Louisville at 11:17 pm by Thomas
Going to take some time over the next couple of weeks prior to the Games to talk about some other attractions to see for people coming to our Wonderful Commonwealth for the first time. Today I am going to talk about the Louisville Zoo which is easy to do because we spent the day there. We try to go at least once, usually at the same time we are in Louisville for the Kentucky State Fair, I wish the Games had been earlier so that those coming could of had the opportunity to visit our Fair which is one of the largest in the World but I digress.
I do not know exactly how the Louisville Zoo ranks with other zoos around the world, but we had a thoroughly enjoyable day there. The zoo just opened a new habitat for the seals and sea lions as part of the build out of their new Glacier Bay area which will be fully opened by next Spring and will house the new Polar Bear habitat which looks pretty cool (no pun intended) from what has been completed up to this point. The zoo also had the good fortune of having a baby Giraffe born this year and he is a site to see.
Another new exhibit this year is a Dinosaur walk which I recommend, though it is an additional $5 per person for non zoo members but I think its worth it. The exhibit is 16 life size robotic Dinosaurs in a very natural setting that may cause you to pause before you walk up closer to them to be sure you haven’t been transported back in time.
The zoo is less then an hour and a half drive from Lexington via I-64 and for all the latest information and exact directions check out their website at http://www.louisvillezoo.org/ .
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09.24.08
Posted in Louisville, Volunteerism at 9:17 pm by Thomas
The Kentucky Horse Park put on a Soiree for the players and staff of the 2008 Ryder Cup at Churchill Downs last Friday night. The Soiree consisted of 16 horses, numerous Horse Park staff and volunteers and was met with great weather and a wonderful crowd. As for me personally I had a great time, these are the kind of events that are like iceing on the cake of volunteering.
The Ryder Cup of course was great fanfare for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and provided a glimpse of the attention the Commonwealth will receive in two years with the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. I can’t say enough good things about the efforts the Horse Park does to promote the State and to show why we are the “Horse Capital of the World”. As always I will say if you have some time on your hands and would like to get involved in a great cause volunteer out at the Horse Park, whether you are a horse person or not you will find it a great experience.
Thomas
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