The sun shines bright on my old Kentucky home.
There are few words that can stir my heart like the lyrics of My Old Kentucky Home. They always have. Whether it be watching the Call to Post at the Kentucky Derby, or swaying with my fellow students after a University of Kentucky win (or the rare loss) at home. The song is an integral part of what it means to BE a Kentuckian. Like Kentucky, the song has a checkered past that we’re still working on fixing – recognizing, revising, and re-writing the flaws of our past and inserting the hopes for our future. But like Kentucky, we see these flaws and we love it still the same. Instead of a nostalgic look at the past it can represent a chance to be better in the future. In short, the song is rife with meaning for every Kentuckian, and there is no day the song means more than today.
Today is the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby. A day like no other in the state of Kentucky – a state so often marked by what it does not have – for this one day a year we celebrate the things that only we have – a horse racing tradition unlike any other and damn good bourbon.
The race is celebrated from the coal mines of Eastern Kentucky to the Horse farms of Central Ky, across to my ancestral home – the midwestern corn fields of Western Kentucky. But nowhere is it celebrated quite like Louisville Kentucky… I spent 4 years basking in the radiance of Derby week in Louisville. There was nothing like it. The air crackled with electricity – the streets were filled with music, food, and liquor every night – and work slowed to the point of near stopping as we all collectively held our breaths in preparation for the best day of the year.
But for two years now I’ve celebrated away from that electricity. The air is simply humid here – there is no static in it. I expect the air to infiltrate my bones and revive my soul as it did in Louisville, but no such spark occurs. The grocery store does not drastically increase their mint sales, and handles of bourbon are not prominently displayed in every ABC store. The sun does not shine especially bright, the birds do not make music all the day. Because today is just another day. The world turns, life goes on.
It makes me think about identity. About who we are at our core. The series of events and experiences that shaped all of us and our desires to continually seek out those experiences that most make us feel safe and comfortable. It is why we surround ourselves with people like us. With people that remind us of home. Shared experience is the root of all human companionship. This is not inherently right or wrong. It simply is.
So today, I share this as a way to remind you of the duality of human experience and the necessity for both comfort/nostalgia as well as discomfort/new challenges.
Life, like My Old Kentucky Home, does not have to be defined by only what was, what we’ve lost, and what once defined us – it is also about what can be.
Today I sing one song for my old Kentucky home, For my Old Kentucky Home far away.
The Oaks (warmup for the real thing)
PAX opened Derby Day as any Derby should be opened – with the call to the post and My Old Kentucky Home played by the Louisville marching band and sung by the entirety of Churchill Downs on Derby Day.. As the bugle rang out and the song played, the PAX were instructed to alternate between SSH and Mountain Climbers each time they heard the word Kentucky.
PAX opened Derby Day as any Derby should be opened – with the call to the post and My Old Kentucky Home played by the Louisville marching band and sung by the entirety of Churchill Downs on Derby Day.. As the bugle rang out and the song played, the PAX were instructed to alternate between SSH and Mountain Climbers each time they heard the word Kentucky.
WEEEEEEP NO MORREEEEE MYYY LADYYYYYYY rang out over the field as the PAX looked at each other trying to make out the words – no worries – YHC has the entirety of the song memorized by heart – so I yelled Kentucky every time it popped up…
As YHC wiped the tears from his glistening cheeks, we continued our warmup with:
- Willie Mays Hayes (x10)
- 5 burpees
- Good Mornings (x10)
- 5 burpees
- Arm Circles (x10)
- 5 burpees
Call to the Post – (6:41) –The Thang
The PAX began at our corner of the field to begin our own rendition of the Derby filled with fitness, fellowship, and a touch of factual knowledge thrown in as well.
F3 Kentucky Derby – 1.25 mile run around the field, 10 furlongs (1/8 of a mile – horse racing term), stop at the corners of the field where one of the PAX was instructed to pick up the card and read the next fact, which would direct an exercise.
1. The first Kentucky Derby was held on May 17, 1875. A crowd of 10,000 watched 15 three-year-old Thoroughbred horses race for 1.5 miles – 15 burpees
2. The three-year-old chestnut Thoroughbred won the race in just over two minutes and 37 seconds. His jockey, Oliver Lewis, was 19 and never raced in the Derby again. Aristides’ trainer was Ansel Williams, a former slave. 19 diamond pushups (on my down)
3. 40 Fillies have ran in the Derby and 3 have won (1988 – Winning Colors) – 40 drydocks (on my down) + 3 Burpees (oyo)
4. No horse has EVER won from the 17 hole – 17 Burpees (OYO)
5. Donerail (1913) was the longest odds to win the derby at 91-1 paying a sweet $184 on a $2 bet – 91 Squats (on my down)
6. The oldest jockey to win was Willie Shoemaker on Ferdinand in 1986 at 54 years – 54 LBCs (OYO)
7. Of the first 28 Derby’s – 15 of them were won by African American Jockeys – 15 Star Jump Squats (OYO)
8. 13 horses have won the triple-crown – 13 Burpees (OYO)
9. Last year’s triple crown winner – Justify – was retired and sold for $60 million. He now lives the good life in Kentucky, where he enjoys regular time outside, receives a number of visitors each week and breeds two to three times a day for $150,000 each time… 60 flutter kicks (IC)
10. 6 Females have rode in the Derby/ highest finish 5th (Rosie Napravnik on Mylute 2013) – 6 4x4s;
11. It takes 10,000 bottles of Old Forester to sell the 120,000 mint juleps sold over Derby Weekend every year. There is a special julep made specifically with roses from the winner’s Garland that sells for 1,000 dollars and has approximately 22 small sips. Hope it’s worth it. 22 lunge jumps (IC)
After the race the horses have to cool down with a slow lap – so we bearcrawled back to the start.
Triple Crown: After pulling in the 6, the PAX honored the greatest race horse who has ever lived, Secretariat, by listening to his 1973 Triple Crown sealing victory at the Belmont stakes. (x2 each time the announcer says Secretariat). Secretatriat had an unbelievable 26 furlong victory sealing the Triple Crown and a record still unbroken…
Cool down lap back to Mary
- V Up Roll Ups (x12)
- Side plank raise (x10 each side)
Here we stopped to honor Riley Howell – Deanwormer gave a moving look into the life of working in academics and with college students leading into the story of Riley Howell and how he sacrificed himself to stop the shooter at UNC Charlotte. In honor his 21 years we did 21 burpees to close the day…
Eternal rest grant to him, O Lord; and let light perpetual shine upon him. May the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.
5 for Coffeteria
NOW – My DERBY PICKS:
It’s an especially narrow field, but there is no dominant horse as the runaway favorite, Omaha Beach scratched with an epiglottis issue earlier in the week. This cleared the way for Game Winner (9-2) to come in as the new favorite.
This makes picking the top 3 easier, but picking their order much more difficult…
A couple things to know:
My Favorites:
Game Winner (9-2 – the favorite) has not won a race since November… His two races he has lost by nose to Roadster, plus one loss to Omaha Beach (scratched)… That being said, he is the easy favorite in the race and the most solid horse remaining… PLUS The favorite has won 6 years in a row… tough to argue against him winning, or AT LEAST in your top 3.
Roadster (5-1) would likely be my favorite… except for one important fact… He’s running out the 17 slot. The 17 is slot is 0 – 40 in the Kentucky Derby… I’ll say that again. NO HORSE HAS EVERY WON coming out of the 17 slot… He still comes in at 5-1… damn good odds for a sport as superstitious as horse racing. Look for him to possibly break the curse of the 17 today.
Improbable (5-1) is owned by the group that owned Justified (last year’s triple crown winner) – the last time an owner won back to back Derby’s was 1972 and 1973 – with horses Riv Ridge and Secretariat… The history doesn’t look great, but Improbable looks VERY good. Look for him if the weather gets worse – he had a very impressive speed rating at the Arkansas Derby in essentially slop.
Tacitus (8-1): He’s been hot since November with 3 straight wins in challenging fields – and he’s only getting better every race. He’s a good closer, and he’s ridden by Jose Ortiz. He’s inexperienced, which holds him back, but after Justified won last year more or less unraced, does experience really matter when you’ve got an athlete like this?
Long shots (or weather dependant)
Win-Win-Win (12-1): IF the weather is especially bad – look to this guy. This is your mud horse. He’s also going to be a TON of fun to bet on, as his second half speed is unmatched this year (or any year in recent memory). He’s started every race crazy slow, but finished at blazing speeds, racing back to top 3 finish in every race of his career… I’m not sure if he does that for the derby in this field, but he’ll get you screaming at his comeback more than any other.
Vekoma (15-1): Louisville local trained Vekoma makes for a great story, he has some of the best speed ratings, so his post position was going to be everything for him – and he drew the perfect spot at 6. This leaves him as a solid choice to take the lead early and hold it throughout. If the course is more dry – this is a great ticket to have in your hand.
Much love friends,
SDR