It's My (first) Derby!

I’ve watched it on TV several times, but this is my first, real-life, Kentucky Derby!! Big hats here I come!! The reality of it all hit me Tuesday morning as I was standing trackside with Ronnie watching the Derby and Oaks horses parade by a foot from where I was standing.  

Orb, Revolutionary, Oxbow, Mylute, Black Onyx, Goldenscents- to name a few. I looked over at him and asked, “Is this really my job??” He just laughed. Later that day, Ron Turcotte  (Secretariat’s Jockey) and Rosie Napravnik (riding Mylute and could very well be the first female jockey to win the Kentucky Derby) were in the Museum. I mention her in my programs on the road quite often. The girls love it. I’m rooting for you Rosie!  

We always have a resident thoroughbred stabled here at the Kentucky Derby Museum to give guests a chance to see one of these magnificent creatures during their tour. We recently acquired a new one for a limited time only. Ladies and Gentlemen, would you please welcome the winner of the 2009 Kentucky Derby- MINE! THAT! BIRD!  He loves attention and really hams it up for the camera. Mine That Bird will be with us until mid summer, and he is absolutely amazing. They are in the process of making a movie about him. I believe it will be titled after his odds, 50-1. He was quite the longshot. It’s unreal.

He has a blast with Winston- that’s the little guy. Winston turned 20 on Derby Day this year, and he stays at the museum to keep our resident thoroughbred company. Horses are companion animals so they like to have a friend around. These two have become buddies. 

Today only, Funny Cide (our 2003 Derby Winner) joins MTB to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his win at our museum. This is a huge deal!!  I am especially excited, because there are three big pictures that I take on the road with me to show students during my introduction. The first captures the field coming around the turn with the packed Churchill Downs grandstands in the background. The second is taken in the Derby Winners Circle, and the third one is a close up of two horses racing toward the camera. Both of these champions that are here today are in the pictures that I take to show kids all around the state. MTB is one of the two racing in the close up, and Funny Cide is in the Winner’s Circle photo.   Be sure to watch on Saturday to see which thoroughbred I’ll be telling the youth of Kentucky about for the next year.