This time of year is always kind of busy around our house. This year is no exception; Thursday was Cinco de Mayo, yesterday was our anniversary, today we’re attending a friend’s wedding, tomorrow is Mother’s Day and Monday is Kelly’s birthday.
This is a yearly occurrence and we can always remember this stretch of activities because the Kentucky Derby and the Virginia Gold Cup races always fall in this period of activity.
For those of you who don’t know the Gold Cup is a Steeplechase type race held in Virginia on the same day as the Kentucky Derby and rivals the derby in terms of splendor – all the ladies wear hats, people tailgate using real silver and china and are served by “butlers.”
Of course the Kentucky Derby gets the most publicity and like the Gold Cup, people who don’t follow horse racing go just for the festivities.
On this date the year I was born (1938) the 64th Kentucky Derby was run – the winning horse was Lawrin and was ridden by a pretty famous jockey, Eddie Arcaro.
The winner of the Kentucky Derby has a leg up, of course, on winning the Triple Crown. The two other races that comprise the Triple Crown are the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico in Baltimore and the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
There hasn’t been a Triple Crown Winner since 1978; in fact, there have been only 11 Triple Crown winners. The first was Sir Barton in 1919 and the last was Affirmed in 1978. The others are: Gallant Fox (1930); Omaha (1935); War Admiral (1937); Whirlaway (1941); Count Fleet (1943); Assault (1946); Citation (1948); Secretariat (1973); and Seattle Slew in 1977.
So whether you favor Mint Juleps or Margaritas – it’s always a busy time around here.
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