(I get a kiss from the lovely Leigh Ann after Sovereignty wins the 151st Kentucky Derby…please click on the link below)

Derby 151 Gene Wins

Editor’s Note:

There are very few things in this world that I enjoy more than the Kentucky Derby. It’s more than just a race. It’s more than just 2 minutes in time. It’s more than just the clothes and the hats; the ample food and the sampling of drinks.

It is so much more.

At the very least, it is so much more to me.

It is the months leading up, watching, carefully mind you, all the prep races and how the horses are progressing.

It is the hours dedicated to the handicapping and the work doing all of the analysis and homework to try and pick a horse who you think can win. Against all others. Against the odds. And, then standing up to support and defend.

It is the weeks of celebration that penetrates more than just Louisville in this Commonwealth and touches more than just the sleeve of the garment.

It is the pride the swells in the hearts of us Kentuckians. After all, we are known around this entire world as the best in the business of breeding, producing, growing, raising, and, forever more, racing Thoroughbreds.

It is the overwhelming feeling of camaraderie that overcomes the head and floods the heart, and makes all of us reach out to friend and foe to sing one more song. We may sing, “Weep no more my lady,” while all the time fighting back a tear that wells in our eyes and, more importantly, in our souls.

It is what makes us smile when we are in a foreign land and someone asks where we are from. When we say, they always respond with two things:

Kentucky Fried Chicken.

And…

The Kentucky Derby.

It is what makes us angry when fools like the Courier-Journal’s Joe Gerth and other minions like him try to destroy our heritage and our sport in the name of stupidity.

It is what makes us defend the sanctity of our event; our race; our Derby with all our fiber against those that have cheated before and may think they can ever try to cheat us again.

It is what makes us stand, sing, and remain standing until every last one of those 20 cross the finish line. Sometimes they win. Sometimes they don’t. But always they try. And, always we cheer.

It is the bind that ties us all Kentuckians into a human ball of love — for the moments leading up; for the friendships that it bonds; for the hugs that it forges; for the memories that it carves and saves.

Kentucky Derby 151 was one of the best ever for Gene McLean. Partly because of the fact that we picked the winner; we touted the winner; we never wavered from the winner; and we bet and WON on the winner.

But it was more than just the money, which soon will be separated, shared with the wind; and departed.

It was standing side by side with friends and family throughout the week leading up and through the big race. It was cheering. It was eating. It was drinking (in moderation, of course). It was salivating. It was kissing. It was sweating. It was…

It was celebrating. Together. Each day. Each moment in time. That day. And, forever more.

It was standing and watching THE race. It was watching with fear and trepidation. It was watching with anxious times and butterflies. It was watching and waiting for the right time for horse and human to move into contention. It was hoping.

Until it all erupted into that moment in time when you and the people at the table next door, whom you didn’t even know by name, were now holding onto each other and cheering with everything you’ve got for more; for more; for more.

In the end, it was a celebration of victory.

And, just imagine if I ever were to be so lucky to have my own horse in a race like this? Right?

Better order the pallet of Depends now, I guess.

Go ahead Churchill Downs and build that next phase of construction. The Kentucky Derby — no matter who tries to bring it and us down — will always stand tall like those Spires that reach to the heavens. I just got to think that among those 100,000 people that came on Friday for the Kentucky Oaks and the 150,000 or so people that came on Saturday for the Kentucky Derby there are more of them that love these days like me, than those who don’t.

Go ahead Churchill Downs and celebrate what you have already built, too. The greatest day in racing. The greatest day in the life of Kentucky and most Kentuckians. And, one of the greatest days of the year for me — each and every year.

Here’s a few looks at our week. It is why we come to May with love in our hearts each and every year.