Saturday, May 03, 2025
THE KENTUCKY DERBY
Kentucky Derby 2025 – May 3 • Churchill Downs
The Kentucky Derby, first run in 1875, is the opening race of the Triple Crown. The 1¼‑mile race runs at Churchill Downs on Saturday, May 3 - (The Kentucky Derby show starts in mid afternoon on NBC; the race itself begins about 7 p.m. ET -- NOTE: The race itself only lasts about 2 minutes, so do not tune in at 7:05!).
The Preakness (May 17) and Belmont Stakes (June 7) complete the series.
Since American Pharoah’s historic 2015 sweep and Justify’s repeat in 2018, no horse has worn the crown (won all three races).
(Ongoing improvements to training, track surfaces and veterinary oversight continue to try to improve the safety of the horses. I watched the Belmont in person some years ago. The horses are really working very very hard. It is not obvious how strenuous the race is, for the horses, when it is just watched on television.)
The signature drink for watching the Kentucky Derby is the Mint Julep.
THE MINT JULEP
Here's how you make a wicked MJ. (Note: Don't drive or ride a horse or operate heavy machinery after this; don't ingest with anything that will exceed your tolerance for total number of chemicals in the body!) Boil a little bit of water with some washed and dried, torn up, fresh, nice looking mint leaves, to create a strong mint tea and then put it in a cup . (Note: Mint leaves are not always that easy to get, and when you get a bunch, many leaves are often wilted, or blackened. It's important to select the best leaves even if that is only a fraction of the bunch of mint in the package.)
Add quite a bit of sugar. (Optionally -- ideally, in fact -- some sugar could be replaced with a half jigger of a sweet liqueur like Cointreau, Drambuie, or Grand Marnier.) Add about a half jigger of a good Kentucky Bourbon. (After trying quite I few, I found that my favorite is definitely Maker's Mark.) Add this mixture with some additional torn up, fresh, nice looking mint leaves to ice in a crusher.
Crush the mixture of sweetened mint tea, and bourbon to make a tall glass worth of flavored crushed ice. Take a tall, chilled glass, add a long straw, fill the glass with the crushed ice, and then pour in a jigger more bourbon to fill up the cracks. Turn on the pre-race show, and enjoy it!
It's matter of taste what you eat with the drink, if anything. My own preference is Greek or similar appetizers.
Add quite a bit of sugar. (Optionally -- ideally, in fact -- some sugar could be replaced with a half jigger of a sweet liqueur like Cointreau, Drambuie, or Grand Marnier.) Add about a half jigger of a good Kentucky Bourbon. (After trying quite I few, I found that my favorite is definitely Maker's Mark.) Add this mixture with some additional torn up, fresh, nice looking mint leaves to ice in a crusher.
Crush the mixture of sweetened mint tea, and bourbon to make a tall glass worth of flavored crushed ice. Take a tall, chilled glass, add a long straw, fill the glass with the crushed ice, and then pour in a jigger more bourbon to fill up the cracks. Turn on the pre-race show, and enjoy it!
It's matter of taste what you eat with the drink, if anything. My own preference is Greek or similar appetizers.
Update - Final Order of Finish
- 18 Sovereignty (5/1)
- 8 Journalism (3/1)
- 21 Baeza (13/1)
- Final Gambit
- Owen Almighty
- Citizen Bull
- Neoequos
- American Promise
- Admire Daytona
- Luxor Cafe
- Burnham Square
- Flying Mohawk
- East Avenue
- Publisher
- Tiztastic
- Render Judgment
- Coal Battle
- Sandman
- Chunk of Gold
Horses - ordered by Number
- 1 Citizen Bull – Trained by: Bob Baffert; Owned by: SF Racing LLC et al. — 20‑1
- 2 Neoequos – Trained by: Saffie A. Joseph Jr.; Owned by: C2 Racing Stable LLC et al. — 30‑1
- 3 Final Gambit – Trained by: Brad H. Cox; Owned by: Juddmonte — 30‑1
- 5 American Promise – Trained by: D. Wayne Lukas; Owned by: BC Stables LLC — 30‑1
- 6 Admire Daytona – Trained by: Yukihiro Kato; Owned by: Junko Kondo — 30‑1
- 7 Luxor Cafe – Trained by: Noriyuki Hori; Owned by: Koichi Nishikawa — 15‑1
- 8 Journalism – Trained by: Michael W. McCarthy; Owned by: Bridlewood Farm et al. — 3‑1
- 9 Burnham Square – Trained by: Ian R. Wilkes; Owned by: Whitham Thoroughbreds LLC — 12‑1
- 11 Flying Mohawk – Trained by: D. Whitworth Beckman; Owned by: Two Eight Racing et al. — 30‑1
- 12 East Avenue – Trained by: Brendan P. Walsh; Owned by: Godolphin LLC — 20‑1
- 13 Publisher – Trained by: Steven M. Asmussen; Owned by: Gus King & Estate of B.C. Jones — 20‑1
- 14 Tiztastic – Trained by: Steven M. Asmussen; Owned by: Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC et al. — 20‑1
- 15 Render Judgment – Trained by: Kenneth G. McPeek; Owned by: Baccari Racing Stable LLC et al. — 30‑1
- 16 Coal Battle – Trained by: Lonnie Briley; Owned by: Norman Stables LLC — 30‑1
- 17 Sandman – Trained by: Mark E. Casse; Owned by: D.J. Stable LLC et al. — 6‑1
- 18 Sovereignty – Trained by: William I. Mott; Owned by: Godolphin — 5‑1
- 19 Chunk of Gold – Trained by: Ethan W. West; Owned by: Terry L. Stephens — 30‑1
- 20 Owen Almighty – Trained by: Brian Lynch; Owned by: Flying Dutchmen Breeding & Racing LLC — 30‑1
- 21 Baeza – Trained by: John A. Shirreffs; Owned by: CRK Stable LLC & Grandview Equine — 30‑1
Horses - ordered by (Friday evening) Odds
- 8 Journalism – Trained by: Michael W. McCarthy; Owned by: Bridlewood Farm et al. — 3‑1
- 18 Sovereignty – Trained by: William I. Mott; Owned by: Godolphin — 5‑1
- 17 Sandman – Trained by: Mark E. Casse; Owned by: D.J. Stable LLC et al. — 6‑1
- 9 Burnham Square – Trained by: Ian R. Wilkes; Owned by: Whitham Thoroughbreds LLC — 12‑1
- 7 Luxor Cafe – Trained by: Noriyuki Hori; Owned by: Koichi Nishikawa — 15‑1
- 1 Citizen Bull – Trained by: Bob Baffert; Owned by: SF Racing LLC et al. — 20‑1
- 12 East Avenue – Trained by: Brendan P. Walsh; Owned by: Godolphin LLC — 20‑1
- 13 Publisher – Trained by: Steven M. Asmussen; Owned by: Gus King & Estate of B.C. Jones — 20‑1
- 14 Tiztastic – Trained by: Steven M. Asmussen; Owned by: Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC et al. — 20‑1
- 2 Neoequos – Trained by: Saffie A. Joseph Jr.; Owned by: C2 Racing Stable LLC et al. — 30‑1
- 3 Final Gambit – Trained by: Brad H. Cox; Owned by: Juddmonte — 30‑1
- 5 American Promise – Trained by: D. Wayne Lukas; Owned by: BC Stables LLC — 30‑1
- 6 Admire Daytona – Trained by: Yukihiro Kato; Owned by: Junko Kondo — 30‑1
- 11 Flying Mohawk – Trained by: D. Whitworth Beckman; Owned by: Two Eight Racing et al. — 30‑1
- 15 Render Judgment – Trained by: Kenneth G. McPeek; Owned by: Baccari Racing Stable LLC et al. — 30‑1
- 16 Coal Battle – Trained by: Lonnie Briley; Owned by: Norman Stables LLC — 30‑1
- 19 Chunk of Gold – Trained by: Ethan W. West; Owned by: Terry L. Stephens — 30‑1
- 20 Owen Almighty – Trained by: Brian Lynch; Owned by: Flying Dutchmen Breeding & Racing LLC — 30‑1
- 21 Baeza – Trained by: John A. Shirreffs; Owned by: CRK Stable LLC & Grandview Equine — 30‑1
Labels: Kentucky Derby, Mint Julep
