Kentucky Derby 133 prophecy
Saturday, May 5, 2007
A friend of mine is at the Kentucky Derby this year (right now, actually). She’s the kind of person who throws Derby parties and sips mint julep every year and has always wanted to go to Churchill Downs. So I was excited for her when she arranged to go Louisville this May.
Last week, before she left, she extended the following invitation to me: “Here’s your one-time offer to pick a REAL Kentucky Derby winner. If you win, you get $$$. If you lose, you get a GENUINE losing ticket from an ACTUAL clerk at Churchill Downs! You just can’t lose!!! Email me your winning horse by Thursday.”
She signed the email “The Derby Queen.”
So, last Wednesday, being the idiot who knows nothing about horses that I am, I formulated my all-important thoroughbred-betting methodology. Basically I just looked at the field and picked out the coolest-sounding name I could find, which was: Circular Quay, who had 8-1 odds. I also kind of liked the name Liquidity, a 30-1 entry. I told The Derby Queen to put down a couple of dollars for me on both horses.
Now that the Kentucky Derby has just ended, where did my pony picks come in? Well, I’m not exactly in the money, as they say. The two favorites, Street Sense and Curlin, finished first and third, and Hard Spun came in second. As for my thoroughbreds of choice, Circular Quay finished sixth and Liquidity finished 14th out of 20.
Clearly I’m not a horseracing prophet. But at least I’m going to a genuine losing ticket from an actual clerk at Churchill Downs, right?
If you missed the race or didn’t bother to turn on the TV (like me), you can watch it at ESPN.com.