|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
From the Backside Showing the early speed can win the day
Posted: Saturday May 06, 2000 12:06 PM
By Mitch Gelman, CNNSI.com The key to success on Derby Day at Churchill Downs is finding the early speed. It's all about getting out first, getting in first and getting started first. On the backside, at turn one and under the bleachers -- where many-a-mint julep is poured -- getting set up right is what the morning of the first Saturday in May is all about. Roger Velez, the jockey who will be riding Hal's Hope out of the number four slot, was thinking about his horse's early speed. Taking Hal's Hope out front to get position heading into the first turn was on Velez's mind Saturday morning. "When I get on Hal's Hope, I will give him a hug and a kiss, try to calm him down," Velez said, standing outside his horse's stall. "I was kind of edgy and a little grumpy this morning. So was Hal. He was kicking the barn last night. So, I guess we're both ready to do something," Velez predicted. Hal's Hope will be challenged for the front by Trippi, the horse coming out of the number five hole. Velez and Trippi's jockey, Jorge Chavez, glanced at each other in the jockey's room on Friday and exchanged a few words. "We agreed we'll both come out running," Velez said. If getting to know a horse early has anything to do with how the horse is brought up, then Hal's Hope trainer, owner, breeder Harold Rose has the advantage over the field. He has known Hal's Hope since the horse was two days old. "He was intelligent, even at two days old," Rose said. "Usually you can't get near a two-day old, but he came right up to me from the start. He's a well-rounded horse, not one of these screwballs." On Saturday morning, while Velez and Rose were crafting their race strategy on the backside, thousands of fans were pouring into Churchill Downs; many had been lined up on the street since dawn. Linda Knowles, who waits tables at the track part-time, used her employee pass to get in before the crowds and to stake out a picnic table right at the edge of the rail on the first turn. She woke up at 4:30 a.m. and entered the track shortly before the gates opened two hours later. "We have friends in town from Chicago," the Louisville resident said. "It's Derby! We wanted to show them a fine time." Meanwhile, under the bleachers, in a cool and dark area referred to as "the dungeon," Syndy Timberlake was preparing for another part of the Derby tradition. She was setting up the elements needed to prepare a few thousand mint juleps. With more than 150,000 fans expected at the track, tens of thousands of the bourbon-sugar-ice-water-lemon-mint cocktails are expected to be served. "The ice comes in early and then keeps being delivered all day," Timberlake said, "and we have all the ingredients ready to go." The drinks go on sale for $6.50 starting at 10 a.m., proving that besides early speed, there is one more thing central to success at the Derby: Pace.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
