Watching the Kentucky Derby each year has become a tradition at our house.
Right around the time I met G, I’d started reading a lot of non-fiction. Other than movie star biographies, I was mostly a fiction girl for years. My non-fiction gateway? Seabiscuit by Laura Hillebrand.
Other than one horse ride in my twenties, the only references I had about horses came from, you guessed it, pop culture. Mr. Ed. The Clydesdales in the Super Bowl commercials. Trigger and Silver, the horses of Roy Rogers and The Lone Ranger, respectively. Oh, and let’s not forget about Li’l Sebastian.
Seabiscuit was a surprising page turner. I didn’t have to equate non-fiction to dry textbook reading anymore. I became a non-fiction junkie. Seabiscuit led to Fast Food Nation which led to The River of Doubt which led to Devil in the White City…you get the idea.
I’d just had this crash course on horse racing when, on one of our early visits to G’s hometown, his family took me to the track in Saratoga Springs.
I spent the day studying the race form, watching the races, watching the crowd rip up their bets after its horses failed to bring home a win.
I was excited to add new words to my vocabulary like farrier, companion pony, and quinella.
farrier: a craftsman who trims and shoes horses' hooves
companion pony: helps racehorses stay as relaxed as possible and allow them to focus on the impending competition, rather than the rambunctious crowd
quinella: a bet in which the first two places in a race must be predicted, but not necessarily in the correct order
Once G and I were back home, we started the annual tradition of watching the Kentucky Derby, the first Saturday in May. What an event! Day long coverage, hats and fascinators galore, a giant excuse for one big party.
Naturally, my first question was, what food do they serve on Derby Day?