How many days until the 2008 Kentucky Derby

How many days until the 2008 Kentucky Derby?

Insight and commentary on the world of thoroughbred horse racing.

Thoughts and opinions about the fascinating sport of thoroughbred horse racing from a racing insider.

How Many Days ‘Til Derby 134??

I experienced a split second of embarrassment and regret right after Street Sense ran past Hard Spun to win Derby on Saturday. Any Given Saturday was no where to be found and a very logical result was about to be posted. But that moment of ‘what the hell was I thinking?!! lasted only a split second. Granted I had the very generous exacta a few times, that helped for sure. But any regrets I had were soon washed away by the happiness I felt for Calvin Borel and Carl Nafzger, two good guys who know what the Kentucky Derby is all about.

Most of the jockeys who won stakes on the Oaks and Derby Day undercards were a little more exuberant than usual. Both are huge days and it’s a big deal to win a big race in front of six figure crowds. But after Louisville Breeders’ Cup on Oaks Day I had to check my program to see who the wild man was riding winner Fiery Pursuit back to the winner’s circle. ‘Oh, it’s Calvin Borel’. On Derby Day it was the same after the La Troienne, a half crazed Borel guiding his winning mount (Silverinyourpocket this time) back to the winner’s enclosure. ‘If this guy wins the Derby he might just explode’, I thought.

Luckily there was no spontaneous combustion after his absolutely brilliant ride on Street Sense. Borel has ridden at Churchill Downs for years and actually rode a filly that I owned a small piece of to victory in a $10,000 claimer a few years ago. He knows what it’s like to ride past that infield winners circle day after day and now he’s finally earned a visit to that Promised Land. That’s why any regret I had lasted so shortly. Borel, and Mr. Nafzger too, deserved to be in that winners circle. Not one of the other trainers, jockeys or owners would have had any more appreciation of just how special and transcendent it is to walk onto that pagoda and be handed those marvelous trophies.

I’ll go out on a limb and say this Derby will go down as one of the best Derbies of all time. Street Sense and Hard Spun (and Curlin too) are all top notch colts and I suspect that we’ll be watching them battle all summer long (fingers crossed).

Some other thoughts from a long, full throttle, Derby weekend:

An awful lot of very cool people come to Louisville for the Derby…

The infield seemed especially crowded this year…

Leif couldn’t quite get Curlin home, but he did arrange for our band of Derby revelers to crash a $300 a plate Derby Eve party. No celebrities though, just some stodgy well-to-do folks doing the Electric Slide. But the free dinner and drinks were nice…

I’ve now had the great privilege (and I mean that) of attending last 16 runnings of the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby and somehow the whole experience just gets better and better…

There is a little ‘bar’ on Rodman St. about a block away from the Kentucky Derby museum. As far as I can tell it’s only open for Oaks and Derby, but the crowd that gathers there after the races on Derby weekend is about as diverse and fun and happy as you’ll ever see. Maybe Mint Juleps are the key to world peace…

After watching the replay, Any Given Saturday actually ran a pretty good race, but the Derby was just a furlong too far…

Ok, now I can wallow in a little embarrassment and regret for ignoring all the signs that Street Sense was the best horse ready to run a huge race…

Street Sense killed the Derby rule for two preps and the Breeders’ Cup/Juvenile Champion ‘jinx’. It was really only a matter of time….

Along with a big assist from Barbaro last year, Hard Spun once and for all killed the 3-4 week layoff rule by running a winning race….

If Curlin gets bumped from a far outside post he probably doesn’t get shuffled back like he did from the two hole. But what a huge race from a colt with only three starts…

Yes Virginia, there is such a thing as Post-Derby Depression…

Matt O'Neil has been a racing enthusiast since the mid-1980's. He is a freelance writer and thoroughbred marketing consultant and editor of the breeding journal Owner-Breeder International. Contact Matt O'Neil