Kentucky Derby with Noah: A Rainy Kentucky Derby 145 with a Twist

2019 Derby 145 was certainly a Derby for the record books. 2018 - we set records for rainfall. This year was the first time the horse that finished first was not the winning horse. More about that later.

I had spent the previous night with April, Momma, Kyle and Missy at Tim and Courtney's house in Indiana. They got ready and then took me over to meet everybody else at Bill's condo so that I could get ready. No big rush. We got over there at a decent morning hour.

We took Bill's truck and April's truck over to the backside and had no problem getting both vehicles in and pulled them both right up to the track - the same place we had staked out the previous day for Oaks. It was party all day from there on out.

Yes, it did rain a lot; and yes, there was a lot of mud - but we were ready with water boots, duck boots, ponchos, hat covers and even hat umbrellas (which are apparently not allowed as they spook the horses, but ours definitely did not have anything to do with the first-ever first-finishing-horse-does-not-win thing. I should add that Chris bought the hat umbrellas... added just-in-case for legal reasons.

We all made our bets. We all made bets for others (Fred, Cindy, Talis, Derek, Jessica). We spent the whole day on the backside. Bill and I walked around the majority of the backside looking for Derby horses. We found out that a Sheriff's Deputy is posted to guard each Derby horse so anywhere there is a Sheriff's car on the backside by a stable, there is a police officer guarding a Derby horse. We made our rounds and Bill made photos of pretty much all of them. I do not think, however, that we found Country House for a photo.

Just like Derby 144, we all watched the Derby race from the third turn standing on top of the picnic tables. It is the perfect place to watch the Derby as all of the Derby horses walk that turn before they line up for the race and we get to see each one of them up close right before the race. It is even better than the Paddock area.

We watched all of the horses race down the back stretch and around the third curve and on to the finish line. There was a huge rules violation when Maximum Security crossed several lanes and blocked several horses just after passing the third curve (nothing to do with umbrellas). This rule about crossing lanes has never been enforced for the Derby, but it was enforced this time and Maximum Security was disqualified. Country House was named the winner for the 2019 145th Kentucky Derby. Everyone was amazed.

None of us had money on Country House except for Derek. Derek had $5 on Country House which won him over $330. He was very happy. Congratulations, Derek!

When we all eventually left the track that night, we were going to the VFW; but we did have a pretty big argument about driving home or taking an Uber. Bill and Chris were adamant about driving. The rest were pro-Uber. Kelly won the award for Best Actress (awarded by Chris), although she had been trying to stay out of the argument. Strangers walking down the street stopped and said "Let's watch what happens from across the street". It was pretty awful, but we finished the night at Bill's condo listening to YouTube videos at high volume well past 2am. I'm not sure how the neighbors did not call the police on us. Poor Chris spent all night trying to think of the name of his favorite song while sitting at the dining room table with his head hanging down. Luckily, he thought of it as soon as he woke up in the morning.

Here are a few Start-the-Day-Pretty pictures:

Kelly (2nd Derby) and Wes (1st Derby)

There were more of these pre-Derby pictures from the condo, but I have not found them. Someone is not sharing.

And then off to the cold and rain at Churchill Downs:

Fred & Cindy's Ticket

Talis' Ticket

These next few photos are all of Kentucky Derby horses walking the track before they line up for the race. Pretty fantastic location for us to see all of them walk right in front of us. Even better location than the Paddock area.

Here are the police horses which probably stopped Bill and Chris from running naked down the back stretch and stopping the Derby. Thanks Mounted Police.

The twist to the Derby this year was that the horse that finished first (Maximum Security) was disqualified and Country House was named the winner. A lot of people won big money on this long shot turnover. In the screenshot below, my buddy Derek won $331 off a $5 bet. Good for him. Wish we all had made some big money. Oh well. Next year.