The 134th Run for the Roses
Last Saturday, May 3, Southgate Coins turned into horse racing central, as Churchill Downs Race Track was buzzing with anticipation about which horse would capture the 2008 Kentucky Derby. We spent the entire day with the televisions on and the surround-sound turned up, with high hopes of having our favorite horses placing in the top ranks and hopefully even winning the big Kentucky Derby title. Here’s Maya to report on all the excitement:
(Left: Marie and Amy all smiles at the snack table. Right: Marie, Amy, Maya watching the race.)
Well, seeing that this was my second Kentucky Derby Day here at the store, I have to say, Amy and I kept with the tradition---yummy snacks to munch, wonderfully big hats on our heads, “free dress” Saturday (meaning we didn’t have to wear our uniforms), and of course, you can’t forget our losing horses!?
My pick for this year’s Run for the Roses was Pyro. Looking at his stats, where he was placed, and his fairly low odds, I figured this little #9 horse had to be a shoe-in for first place. Turns out I was wrong. My poor little guy got squeezed out of the mix within ten seconds of breaking out of the gate! Amy decided to place her bet on Colonel John this year. And almost the same thing happened to her horse, too. Luckily for us though, it’s the boss’ money that we bet with, so in all reality we didn’t lose anything. Whew!
This year’s race was also surrounded by tragedy as the only female horse to race had to be humanely euthanatized as she broke both of her front ankles after placing 2nd in the race. And I think Rusty put it best as he said that “we have now witnessed the upside to horse racing and the downside to it as well.”
However, not to cloud the excitement for the winner: The title of the Derby went to BIG BROWN!!! We are all crossing our fingers that this powerful horse will be the first horse in a long time to win the next two races in a row to be named the Triple Crown Winner. The first of these two races, the Preakness, will be held in eleven days (Saturday, May 17).
(To the left: Marie is holding up her winning ticket on Big Brown. Way to go Marie!)
Until Next Time, Maya and Amy