Another Day, Another Derby

Good things about the 133rd Kentucky Derby:

1. Street Sense won. I had Curlin and Street Sense all over the place in my wagers however I disregarded Hard Spun because surely one of those Pletcher horses were going to hit the board. Anyway, my consolation prize was at least the Daily Double, my gratitude extending to that North of the Border turf horse, Sky Conqueror, winning the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (gr. 1).

And when I think "North of the Border" it is only natural to also think "South of the Border" which brings me to ...

2. Derby Day was also Cinco de Mayo. Forget those silly mint julep concoctions. Lone Star had Jose Cuervo Margarita specials on the patio. Come to think of it, I believe they named a race on the card in honor of Jose Cuervo. Isn’t that a great idea? Jose needs to be honored more often, in my opinion.

And speaking of honored ...

3. Ragin’ Cajun jockey extraordinaire, Calvin Borel, received a "last minute" invite to a White Tie dinner at the White House. And if you are a practicing member of the Church of Emily Post, you already know that a White Tie affair is the mother of all formals. My thoughts are that there are very few jockeys that have tails stuffed in their lockers for these types of events. So how would one – especially a fellow that is 5 feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds – secure such formalwear on such short notice? Well, according to Mary Ann Akers' blog at the Washington Post,

The owner of Scogna Formal Wear in downtown Washington has pulled the smallest white tie and tails he has for perhaps the lightest and fastest guest attending tonight's White House state dinner: Calvin Borel, the jockey who won his first Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

Borel got a last-minute invitation from the White House to attend the dinner for Queen Elizabeth after he guided Street Sense from next to last place to the front of the pack and across the finish line by 2 ¼ lengths.

Scogna assistant manager Jerry Morris says they "didn't get any measurements" but guessed that the store's smallest tails -- a 35-short -- should do the trick. "That's the smallest size we have."

Owner Israel Scheinbein says he guesses Borel is "about a 28-inch waist, so this should work."

Speaking of notable jockeys ...

4. Curlin's jockey, Robby Albarado, will be here on Saturday to ride Slew’s Tizzy in the Lone Star Derby (gr. 3). I will make a concerted effort to ask him serious questions, such as, "Do you think that Curlin will improve in the Preakness?" and "Why in the world are you wearing a Breathe Rite strip across your nose in your NTRA bio photo?"

Not-so-good things about the 133rd Kentucky Derby:

1. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, home to the preeminent turf writer and probably the only person who can casually use the term a priori in a horse racing article, Gary West, featured QEII on the front page instead of Street Sense. I found it somewhat disconcerting that visiting British royals were deemed more newsworthy than the winner of the 133rd Kentucky Derby - a great American tradition. I cannot fathom why this would receive more press as I’m pretty sure the Union Jack was never part of the Six Flags over Texas.

2. Todd Pletcher. Expected better. Disappointing finish.

3. Dallas Mavericks. See Todd Pletcher.