Kat’s Eye: Derby Day Success

Yesterday morning was the dawn of Derby Day and I was eager to attend the Kentucky Derby for the first time. Over the past couple of days, I had been getting familiar with Churchill Downs and I left my hotel mid-morning, in a cotton dress and comfortable shoes.
The media parking lot was - well, let’s say - remote.  Located two miles from the race track, they use old school buses to shuttle esteemed members of the press back and forth.  Because of the constant running that many of us have to do during race day, starting the day with a long walk isn’t exactly the best idea, so the bus was full as we sat in traffic with many of my colleagues grumbling that they were missing meetings.
Churchill Downs was relatively quiet when I arrived, and I stopped by the media center for a program and some bottled water before climbing the stairs to the Jockey’s Room.  My friend, defending Kentucky Derby winning jockey Victor Espinoza, had invited me to hang out with him again while he prepared for his races - a total of three, culminating in “the most exciting two minutes in sports … the Kentucky Derby.

I bid good morning to the security team on the terrace and at the entrance to the lounge discovered that my jock was already down in the paddock mounting his horse for the third race. I grabbed a seat and watched on the TV in the lounge, but Victor and his mount, Big Ben, failed to make the board.
Shortly after the race Victor entered the lounge, hugged me in greeting and we quickly snapped a photo together.  (I’m so focused on other things most of the time that I generally forget to do this)  It was almost five hour to his next race, so when Victor told me he was going to catch a nap and relax I decided to catch some of the undercard races from the seat he had gotten for me the previous day.

The crowd in the grandstand was still building just before noon when I found my spot and chatted briefly with Victor’s agent and some friends who had made the trip to cheer him on.  It was a great vantage point to catch some racing action and take in the breadth of attendance at the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby - which turned out to be a record-breaking 170,513 by the end of the day.
When I found out I was headed to the Derby, friends who had previously made the trip offered great advise on what to pack - comfortable shoes, layers for the drastic change in temperatures from morning to race time, a hat, sunscreen and rain gear.  The latter turned out to not be needed, which was fortunate, but the combination of bright sun and high temperatures caused me to seek the shade and air conditioning afforded by the media center after an hour.
When I returned to my seat, the sun had moved behind the grandstand and my situation was dramatically improved, increasing my enjoyment of the races and people watching.  The crowd had reached epic proportions by the time I tried to navigate back through the clubhouse to the Jockey’s Room, a sea of pastels and hats.
Victor had a horse in the tenth race, so I waited for him and watched from the lounge as he guided Finnegan’s Wake to a thrilling, photo-finish victory.  Had I known the race would be so close, I would have stayed in my seat to capture some photos, but that’s horse racing.
Now there was a 90 minute break in the action before the Derby, and the room started to get busier.  A big smile crossed my face when hall of fame jockey Angel Cordero Jr. entered and began talking and trading stories with just about every jock in the room.  Victor was so full of energy after his win in the tenth race that he practically bounced out of the dressing room, wearing the blue and yellow silks of Zayat Stables.  
He came over to the table where I was sitting and chatted for a few minutes, giving me the opportunity to ask him for a bigger margin of victory in the next race.  He smiled, laughed and said, “I know, right?”  Then he turned and went to talk with Angel.

Those who have met Mr. Cordero know that he is a generous and genial man, animated in his story telling to the point that I scold myself for not knowing Spanish well enough to fully understand what has my friend Victor laughing so hard.  Angel remained in the room talking with other jockeys, and Victor danced in and out, passing by me to tap me on the shoulder with his fist.  

At one point the coordinator from NBC Sports was frantically running through the dressing room and lounge, asking “Where’s Victor?  I need Espinoza … where is he?”  When no one answered, he moved on, and a few minutes later I saw my friend on live TV, sitting with Bob Costas.
I stayed in the lounge while the jockeys gathered in the dressing room for a private moment together, and then they came out onto the deck for the traditional group photos before gathering in the entry to the Jockey’s Room and taking their first steps out into the crowd and making their way down to the paddock.

With 25 minutes until post time, I had plenty of time to get down to the track and find a spot amidst the throng of media waiting for the start of the race, but I got turned away when I tried to get trackside, even though my media credentials gave me that access. The security guard said he was told something different this morning than on previous days and was highly apologetic.  Not about to give someone a hard time of doing their job, I was grateful that Victor had secured a seat for me, so I made challenging journey back up to box 318 just in time to hear the call to the post.
My heart started pounding as soon as the horses and jockeys stepped out of the tunnel onto the track. Granted, I’m not doing anything, but wanting something so badly for someone who has worked so hard and is so deserving can create a lot of pre-race anxiety.  Looking down on the track, Victor was composed and seemed to be enjoying himself as the crowd sang “My Old Kentucky Home” and the post parade continued past the starting gate and along the far turn.

The process of loading the horses into the starting gate seemed to go really smoothly, and before I could take another breath you heard the announcer say, “Annnnd, their off.”  A few seconds later, as riders were settling into positions for the first turn, they passed the grandstand for the first time and Victor was well positioned, on the outside and just back of the leaders.

As the field entered the backstretch we had to watch progress on the giant screen that is anchored on the backside of the track, and then they were making the turn for home with Victor swinging American Pharoah wide and driving him down the home stretch.  It was three horse race - Dortmund, Firing Line and American Pharoah - as the horses ran through the shadow of the twin spires on the dirt track, and Pharoah dug deeper at Victor’s urging and inched ahead of his competition.

A moment later, he had won the 141st Kentucky Derby, and Victor - the self-expressed “luckiest Mexican on Earth” - had become only the sixth jockey in the history of the sport to win back-to-back Kentucky Derbies.  The crowd, and his friends in the stands with me, were ecstatic.  Even from that distance, you could tell that his smile practically wrapped around his head.

Knowing that the winners’ circle celebration and post-race interviews would have him happily occupied for some time, I headed back to the Jockey’s Room to gather my things and begin my journey to the very remote media parking lot.  As I reached the lounge, I was gifted with a rose from the winners’ circle by the camera crew I had gotten friendly with over the past few days, and we promised to see each other in Baltimore.
The Preakness Stakes, the second jewel in the Triple Crown, will be contested in two weeks at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.Victor and American Pharoah will be there and I look forward to joining them.