I returned yesterday from Louisville, my hometown, where I went to the 141st Kentucky Derby.
It was a beautiful Derby Day, as you’ll see in a minute, and a record crowd of 170,000 turned out.
The Derby is a permanent sellout, with the vast majority of Grandstand and Clubhouse seats owned by corporations or people who have held the seats for decades.
One time I was able to buy tickets by writing to Churchill Downs months in advance — and those seats weren’t very good. Usually, I buy tickets outside the track. That was the case this year, and because I was on my own, I had no trouble.
Immediately upon arriving at a track-perimeter gate, I was able to buy a clubhouse ticket for $200 — $10 over face value — from a guy who was standing around trying to sell a couple of tickets he had acquired. The fact that I arrived at the track very late — about 2;30 p.m. — helped me get a ticket at close to face value. At that point, I was the only person around looking for a ticket.
But I have lots of photos for you, so let’s get the show on the road!
This is from the first-floor clubhouse, the area where I try to get tickets. You can’t see much of the race live, but you can see the races on a large video board in the infield…Note the famous Twin Spires between the two upper-level sections.
A closer look at the Clubhouse , which essentially consists of the seats in the area near the finish line. The first elevated level is the third floor. Above that are the “Millionaires’ Row” levels — very pricey and virtually impossible to come by without serous connections.
A most wonderful hat.
More hats and a collection of Derby glasses. (When you buy a mint julep, for about $9, it comes in that year’s Derby glass.)
The Derby isn’t all glamor.
Ditto.
The men seem to come up with the most bizarre outfits.
Ditto.
Now there’s an outfit. That guy came all the way from Kansas City, I understand.
This guy and I both liked Mubtahiij, an Irish bred, who finished eighth.
Happiness abounds.
Amid all the hubbub and excitement, sometimes you just need to collect yourself.
This is called the “walkover,” when the horses — accompanied by throngs of people with connections to the owners — are led from the stables to the paddock area. The No. 4 horse is Tencendur, who finished well back.
This is the Post Parade, where the horses come onto the track about 15 minutes before Post Time. No. 18 is the eventual winner, American Pharoah.
The horses have just passed the finish line for the first time and are heading into the Clubhouse turn. That’s Dortmund (8) leading on the rail. (He finished third.) Firing Line (10), who finished second, is next to him, and American Pharoah is third. It’s unusual for the horses leading in the first turn to stay up front all the way around the track, but that’s how it went Saturday.
After the Derby is prime time for people who live near the track to sell barbecue, hamburgers, hot dogs, beverages and other items to hungry and thirsty people headed to their cars. the infield video board and a small section of the racetrack stands are visible behind the utility poles and at far left. 
I’ve been parking for several years with Charlie and Barb, who make their side yard available to a limited number of people. They used to jam cars into every part of the yard but stopped doing that a few years ago.
And then…it’s all done.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Nice recap, Jim … watched it on TV, just not the same without the “AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME” announced … argh! All said, your red jacket looks terrific, hopeful you didn’t come back with any angel wing tattoos, though.
I couldn’t hear the announcer very clearly, with the crowd in full roar. “Down the stretch they come” was the hallmark call of former Derby/Preakness/Belmont announcer Dave Johnson. It did make the spine tingle. Here’s Dave’s call of the 2000 Derby, won by Fusaichi Pegasus. That day I managed to get a “Millionaires’ Row” ticket for $200. (Face value was $500. It’s much, much more now.)
Fun pictures, Jim! Love your hat, jacket and tie!
And loved the picture of Charlie and Barb. Salt of the earth people.
I watched at home.
Cheers,
Laura
I’m glad to hear you especially liked the photo of Charlie and Barb. I debated whether to include it but decided to do so…He wasn’t asking any particular price, but I gave him $50 for the parking accommodation.
So THAT’S where you were! I thought maybe the beach.
Something I’ve always wondered: do you have to get permission from all those people to take their picture?
The hats! I saw one in an on-line story that cost $3500!
Good question, Gayle. Some of the pictures I took surreptitiously — like the one of the statuesque woman and the one of the guy standing along the green and white wall. (About that one, I quickly took one frame and then looked down at the image to see what I had. When I looked back up, he was looking at me, probably suspecting I had just taken his picture.)
Most of the time — at an event like that, anyway — people are thrilled to have their photos taken. That was the case with the two African-American guys and also the guy smoking the cigar and wearing buttons touting Mubtahiij and Upstart. I specifically stopped him and asked if I could take his picture…At the Derby, I’ve never had anyone say, “Why are you taking my picture?” or “Don’t take my picture.”
…An interesting thing on the women’s hats. At the airport on Sunday — day after Derby — officials from domestic abuse shelters, I believe, accept donations of women’s hats. They’re a pain to carry on planes, you know, and, besides, fashionable ladies like to get a new one every year!
Hat’s off to you for another amusing post.
That’s all I need to hear to keep pushing on, Michelle! Thank you.
Hats off to you JimmyC
“I got the horse right here, his name is Paul Revere.”
Rosanne says you are right out of Guys and Dolls, Fitz.
Tell Rosanne I’m flattered.
Strong entry from a great American event.
Thanks, Larry. The strongest entry was trainer Bob Baffert with American Pharoah and Dortmund. (Separate betting interest, though.)
Geez, about time. What are we supposed to read while you’re dilly dallying around half way across the country?
Nice post.Fitz. The race is just an excuse for all the other stuff that makes it an “Event” worth going to in much the same way that the Indy 500, or a Stones concert is/was. Your outfit certainly did kansas City proud, but given the selection of pictures, you’da thought your wife was watching you take the pictures.
I didn’t make it to the infield, John, where a bunch of people usually get arrested for disorderly conduct. That would be a different atmosphere altogether. My son Charlie and his buddy weighed into that a couple of years ago…But Charlie didn’t give me a report. He’s the discreet type.
Another great dispatch, Jim. I, too, have noticed a little more…discretion…in your photography.
Thanks, Tim…Personal improvement is a lifelong journey.
That was a compliment? Thank God we didn’t send you to Sturgis.
The people in these photos look very uncomfortable with you taking their picture. You seriously snapped a pic of a pack of cigarettes in someone’s back pocket?
Poor material here.
Ehh, never mind. Not as bad as I originally thought.
“Sometimes you just have to let art flow over you.”
(Anybody who recognizes that line, raise your hand.)
Like almost every other penetrating problem in life, I had to Google it.
The Big Chill, 1983
Excerpt:
Sam Weber: [Sam enters a room where Nick is up late watching TV] What’s this?
Nick: I’m not sure.
Sam Weber: What’s it about?
Nick: I don’t know.
Sam Weber: [Sam shakes his head, pats Nick on the shoulder, then sits in a nearby chair] Who’s that?
Nick: I think the guy in the hat did something terrible.
[shot of TV shows a man being thrown through the glass window of a door; all the people on the TV screen are wearing hats]
Sam Weber: Like what?
Nick: You’re so analytical! Sometimes you just have to let art… flow… over you.
[Sam rolls his eyes]
…Everybody can now put their hands down.
Did you cheat in school, too? :-)
Just once, but if I hadn’t, I would have never made it out of high school.