Saturday, May 06, 2000
Diversity puts fresh twist on Derby
By Patrick Crowley
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LOUISVILLE — It's 150,000 people, $90 million in wagering, 80,000 mint juleps, 19 horses, a worldwide television audience, an African-American jockey, a female trainer, a few dozen celebrities, weeks of hype, months of preparation, a year of anticipation and — whew! — more than a century of Twin Spired-tradition.
Seems like an awful lot for a measly two minutes of horse racing.
But, oh, what a couple of minutes the Kentucky Derby can be.
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AT A GLANCE
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• Post time : 5:27 p.m.
• Race time: 5:38 p.m
• TV: 4:30-6 p.m., ABC
• Distance: 1 1/4 miles
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For the 126th time, 19 of the costliest, most-pampered thoroughbred horses in the world will burst out of the gate at Churchill Downs to make the Run for the Roses.
The Derby — the oldest continually held sporting event in the United States — takes on some special qualities every year, and the 2000 race is no different.
For the first time since 1921, an African-American jockey will ride in the race. Marlon St. Julien will be aboard Curule, a 50-to-1 long shot.
Women will also be represented in the race. Jenine Sahadi is the trainer for The Deputy, a horse that at 4-to-1 odds has a good chance of winning.
Since 1875, 712 trainers have entered horses in the Kentucky Derby. Only nine have been women. The closest a woman came to winning was in 1992, when Shelley Riley's Casual Lies finished second.
As Post Time approaches this afternoon, the rich and connected will be ensconced high above the track in a trio of long skyboxes known as Millionaire's Row.
There, they will sip champagne, munch on shrimp and Beef Wellington, and rub elbows with the likes of supercelebs Reggie Jackson, Bo Derek and Loni Anderson. Also, presumptive Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush will attend his first Derby with his father, former President Bush.
Meanwhile, 80,000 infield revelers will hold a hedonistic gathering of bourbon, barbecued food, a few topless women and hundreds if not thousands of people who probably won't see a horse all day.
Enquirer wire services contributed.
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