Oaks and Derby Plans?

benmarcum

Alright...It would not be much of a Louisville group if I didn't ask. So, What are your Derby and Oaks Plans?!?

My awesome boss is giving me a 3 day weekend (That is very funny if you know I'm self employed...or not...whatever!)

Oaks day I'm getting up early and getting pulled pork working on my smoker. Then I will go about studying the racing form for the Oaks race then all of the races for Derby Day. ...and If I know me there will be booze. It's like an employee appreciation day!

Derby Day...right to the patio, Tv outside, play the races, get the ribs going on the smoker...probably more booze, win gobs of money (or it's what I'm telling myself. Go Baby Go! Papa Needs a new Camera!!!)

then go to sleep.

Sunday, remember that I am not as young as I use to be. Watch bad TV. Recuperate. Drink Gallons of water. Nap.

You?

kimika23

This is my first year in Louisville for the Derby. I'm a little clueless as to what to do, but we have company coming in town, so I need to figure it out quickly!

Problem #1 - We don't have cable, so I'm trying to figure out where we can stream the race live on the internet and just pull that up on our TV through our laptop. Anyone know of a reliable free site that streams the race?

Problem #2 - We are entertaining a 5 year-old, and we don't have kids, so I have no clue what he might like to do, but one thought was the zoo maybe early Saturday morning, but is that just a crazy, stupid idea with race traffic??? Other ideas were a walking Marengo cave tour. We live in Indiana, so it would be easier to stay on our side of the river. OR just staying in and trying to keep him entertained with our cat and dog while we all watch horse racing. Good luck with that, right!?!

I bought some cheesy party supplies and will be making mint juleps, but we'll all probably just drink whiskey and coke and vodka and sprite, knowing this crowd. Maybe some juice for the 5 year-old. That's a little young for mint juleps, no? (I kid, I kid...)

Love the idea of smoking ribs and pulled pork! If my husband didn't work on Saturday, I would ask him to do the same. I COULD attempt to start the smoker on my own and check the water throughout the day, but it makes me nervous. It'd be worth it though. So good!

Where do you place bets online? That would be fun too. I'm such a noob...don't laugh!

What about everyone else?

benmarcum

Wave 3 Normally has the entire race card on Derby day. I think Oaks day too but I am not sure. Wave then turns over to the national NBC affiliate for the big race which is to bad. Churchill's race call is 100% better than the guy on NBC. All that being said, you should be good without cable.

Option 2, and this answers your where to bet online question, set up an account at TwinSpires.com. all bets can be made there and you can stream the races on your computer. (or at least we could last year. I think it should all still be rockin this year. If you think you are going to wager more than $500 in your first 30 days, let me know and I will send you a referral which would award me a $50 credit. Also if you are going to be wagering that much you either know more than I do or just have a ton more money...so can I borrow 20 bucks? (joke joke)

Louisville pretty much is a ghost town on Oaks and derby day, and the people who are working are normally pretty sour about it (or they just don't give a darn about Derby in which case I don't think they are from around these parts).

Your asking the wrong guy about keeping a 5 year old entertained for that long. I normally only have to do it for an hour at a time! .

People have come up with all sorts of clever kids games around race day. Consult google, you will find awesomeness.

http://www.ponypartyideas.com/KentuckyDerby.html

kimika23

Great tip about the twinspires website. No, I heavily doubt we will be betting anything above minimum, even though I'm usually really lucky at the track. My first time there, I lost the first bet and then won my next 5, the last of which was an exacta trifecta, but I only bet the minimum. Still won over $100! Course that was probably beginners luck. But I can still add you as a referral in case our guests want to bet through my account and turn out to be high rollers! How do I do that? Do I need your email address or anything? Feel free to send a PM.

Totally cute website, by the way. Thanks! I will definitely start making my own derby "funny money" and will probably print out a few horse and jockey coloring book pages too!

benmarcum

When we do bigger parties we normally do the $1 pulls. So we put all the horses names in the hat for each race, you pull a name for $1 (we do a $5 pull on the Derby) and of your pull wins, you get the pot. There have been years I have won more in the $1 pulls than I did on my real wagers.

I am not really sure what that says about my handicapping skills. Well...I know what it says about them and I just don't want to admit it.