Derby Day

Derby Day

The Kentucky Derby has been run in Louisville at Churchill Downs since 1875 on the first Saturday in May. Derby Day is a time when men and women with Kentucky blood or in that absence a Kentucky kissin’ kinship celebrate their Kentucky roots and affinity.  The running of the Kentucky Derby, broadcast all over the world as the “greatest two minutes in sport,” allows us to remember our Kentucky home, the Kentucky folks we grew up with, have left behind or have lost.

 

When we hear the words and melody of the plantation ballad, My Old Kentucky Home, written by the bard Stephen Foster, we grow nostalgic for our Kentucky past. At the Federal Hill estate in Bardstown resides My Old Kentucky Home is a place that symbolizes our Kentucky heritage, our genteel way of life, our common ancestry. Every man, woman and child in the Commonwealth knows that My Old Kentucky Home is owned by the people of Kentucky and that knowledge is a point of fierce pride. For every Kentuckian knows that as long as My Old Kentucky Home stands, every Kentuckian, no matter how humble their station in life, owns a Kentucky mansion and a Kentucky home.

 

By the Saints that I appeal to and the Lord that created me, I am charmed by horse racing in Kentucky. Horses are Kentucky’s largest agricultural product employing thousands of our citizens. My wife, Margaret Sue and I could afford a seat in the clubhouse at Keeneland and Churchill Downs on most any day. Our preference,  however,  is to be out amongst the horse racing element rubbing shoulders with jockeys, farriers, groomsmen, trainers, owners, betters and bums. In other words we like to visit the race track backside, the horse barns, the paddock and the track rail at race time.

 

We also like to commune with horse racing in all the other ways too. When Margaret Sue and I go to Keeneland Race Course and Churchill Downs we often go with a small group or hook up with our Lexington and Louisville friends at the track. Several trips to the track will be to dine in their respective dining rooms, watching the racing panorama from the balcony of the clubhouse, eating rare roast beef and sampling their stock of liquor. Several trips will be to join the crowd in the grandstand, supping on homemade burgoo purchased at the track, drinking strong coffee and pouring Kentucky Bourbon sequestered discreetly in the side vent of my blazer.

 

There is no horse racing experience like the Kentucky Derby. Going to Churchill Downs on Friday Oaks Day or on Saturday for the Kentucky Derby is a treat almost without comparison. The alternative Kentucky Derby party at home is also a great experience. A Kentuckian convenes a Derby Day party with family and friends, wherever they might be. If alone in the world or surrounded by hostile forces, a Kentuckian takes a moment on Derby Day to salute Kentucky, dreaming of the day they might come home.

 

I like this Kentucky Derby weekend for the horses, no question. There are also other reasons.

 

Women look great on Derby Day, dressed in spring attire, adorned in broad brimmed hats and feeling the glamour of the occasion. I like the Derby pools where everyone pitches in a few dollars to take a chance on winning the pot when the horse they drew wins the race. I look forward to Kentucky Derby Day foods, the kind of food that has given Kentucky a world wide reputation for hospitality-Benedictine Spread, Pimento Cheese on Crackers, Country Ham on Yeast Rolls, Kentucky Bourbon in a glass come to mind.

 

Make a Mint Julep or pour a glass of sweet ice tea on Derby Day, no matter where you are in the world, no matter what circumstance you find yourself in. Raise a toast to Kentucky. Ask the Lord to bless your people with good fortune. Forgive a friend you have fallen out with. Make a promise to come back to Kentucky to visit your family and “the old folks back home.” Watch the Kentucky Derby, the greatest two minutes in sport, singing the plantation ballad, My Old Kentucky Home, just before the race whilst holding the hand of your sweetheart.

 

On Derby Day I feel a kinship with all Kentuckians, on Derby Day we are all cousins in our affection for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. All of this is part and parcel of the Kentucky Derby experience. I do love it so.

Colonel Michael Masters

Kentucky Hospitality Recipe

Kentucky Hospitality Recipe

Kentucky is known for its hospitality. It is said around the world that Kentucky is famous for fast horses, beautiful women, chivalrous men, good food and fine aged Bourbon. Kentucky is also known for courteous people who have a wonderful gift for storytelling. The aforementioned are the foundation elements of Kentucky hospitality known by those who have lived in Kentucky or who have traveled to Kentucky from all across America and from around the world.

 

Kentucky looks forward to the first Saturday in May when the best three year old Thoroughbred horses in the world gather at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby, a horse race that is the fastest, “two minutes in sports.” Those going to the track will experience the great equine pageantry that is the Kentucky Derby.  In the club house and in the stands so many of the Derby patrons will wear the latest fashions. Men will wear a sharp blazer and a crisp silk necktie; the women will wear colorful spring dresses and broad brimmed hats decorated with exotic feathers and flowers. In the infield there will be thousands of young people dressed in survival mode, blue jeans, polo shirts straw hats and billed caps; carrying a blanket to sit upon or lay upon. If enjoying the Kentucky Derby at home a party is often held and a fine time is had by all. Whether enjoying the Kentucky Derby high style or low style, the crowd, with only a few exceptions, will be courteous and well mannered.

 

The food in Kentucky is world renowned.

 

We like good pulled pork barbeque, and beef brisket smoked for fourteen hours, or until each are 210 degrees on the meat thermometer. We like both a spicy vinegar based sauce and a sweet, brown sugar-molasses-tomato based sauce to flavor our barbeque.  We complement our barbeque with Cole-slaw and potato salad with a thick slice of yellow onion, dill pickle spear and bread on the side.

 

We are in high praise of our appetizer tradition. We like pimento cheese, Benedictine spread made with cream cheese and the juice of onions and cucumber, artichoke dip and beer cheese both made from cherished recipes handed down to us from our mothers and grandmothers.

 

We never get tired of dining upon a good club sandwich made with fresh turkey, bacon, lettuce cheese and ham. We like the Hot Brown made with fresh turkey and bacon on toast covered with a good cheese sauce. We like to build sandwiches of Benedictine and bacon with locally grown cucumber and tomato slices. Our churches and men’s clubs host the big fish fry at Lent and throughout the spring, summer and fall. Everyone favors grilling big steaks, big pork chops and big hamburgers on the grill.

 

The vegetable and fruit dishes are from heaven. We love baked cheese grits, broccoli casserole, corn pudding, baked apples, cold marinated asparagus, stuffed eggplant. We relish a fruit compote of cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelon.

 

The homemade desserts truly make you shut your mouth in anticipation of great eating. Chess pie, apple pie, blackberry cobbler, racehorse pie are beyond good. Bread pudding with a Bourbon hard sauce, chocolate cake with chocolate sauce, Bourbon cake with Bourbon pudding sauce will send you to the moon. Strawberry shortcake with fresh strawberries and fresh baked biscuits covered with smashed strawberries are the best.

 

Kentucky people have given Kentucky hospitality to the world. Kentucky hospitality is our gift and being a highly intelligent people we never forget to find a way to throw into the hospitality mix beautiful women, chivalrous men and fine aged Kentucky Bourbon. Most everyone appears to look forward to visiting with those three.

Colonel Michael Masters