Ellis Park hosts annual Kentucky Derby Day Party
HENDERSON, KY. (WFIE) - If you were watching 14 News all day on Saturday, you know that it was Derby Day. Kentucky Derby 151 is now in the books, and it was a big day out at Ellis Park, where the track, held its annual Derby party.
There was a really good crowd there today, as around a couple thousand people came out, and everywhere you looked, there were lots of people dressed to the nines, and many of the ladies, donned their Derby hats.
Of course, choosing a Derby horse is a big part of the fun, but with 19 horses in the field, that’s no easy task. We spoke with some fans, who tell us who they were pulling for, and if they had any particular type of betting strategy.
“I grew up around horses. My grandparents loved them, and mom got me into horse racing as a little kid,” said Audie Givens, who’s a huge horse racing fan. “I got a couple horses in the works, but I’m going for “Journalism”. I liked him from the get go -- always bet on a gray horse. Next year my goal is to go to Churchill.”
We also spoke with Kim Pryor and Kelly Allen, who attended the Ellis Park Derby Day party, and they both picked “Sandman” to win it.
“I picked “Sandman” and “Burnham Square”. My second pick is “Chunk of Gold” because I like his story. $2,500 was all they paid for it. That’s crazy. “Chunk of Gold”....and to be in the Derby, that’s awesome. I love it, but like I said, don’t bet with me, I never win. I do once in a while.”
In the end, it was the #18 horse, “Sovereignty”, who won the Run for the Roses, going off at 8-1 odds. The favorite, 3-1 “Journalism”, finished in second place, 1 1/2 lengths back, followed by “Baeza”, who just missed getting up for second, by less than a neck.
The second jewel of the Triple Crown is the Preakness Stakes, which is at Pimlico Race Course, in two weeks.
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