Ah, spring! The birds and the bees are frolicking like hormonally-challenged teenagers and the scent of horse manure permeates the air! Yes, horse manure; you read that right. The first Saturday in May is upon us, and that means only one thing: “Riders Up!”
I was in fourth grade when I watched my first Kentucky Derby on television. The year was 1964. Northern Dancer, the horse I picked as they paraded to the starting gate, won that race. I was instantly hooked. I cut the picture of the horses crossing the finish line out of the newspaper and pasted it in my scrapbook. Someday, I vowed, I would see the Derby up close and personal.
Someday has not yet arrived.
I have watched the Kentucky Derby on television for the past 45 years. Oh my God, has it really been FORTY-FIVE YEARS?! And during that time, I have picked many winners during the post parade, often basing my selection on my limited knowledge of trainers and jockeys, but more often on a “hunch”— that gut feeling that likes the looks of a certain horse just as “the most exciting two minutes in sports” is about to begin.
Slow-motion replays capture the beauty, the fluidity of motion, the amazing power and grace of these thoroughbreds, but nothing compares to the pulse-racing excitement of watching the race in “real time.” All 120 seconds of it.
