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Tuesday 7:57 a.m.: Mickey and Sandy Clark of Louisville have lost their house guest. Sandy said he is a good house guest, since he is gone before they are up. That would be me who was up at 5 every morning and at Churchill Downs by 6.

In the evenings though there was time to reminisce. Mickey became interested in boxing because his father filmed some of the top Louisville boxers of the 1950s and 60s, like a young Muhammad Ali then known as Cassius Clay and the welterweight contender Rudell Stitch, who died a hero at 27 trying to save a drowning man.

Mickey had become friends with Stitch and did road work with him in the mornings and has newspapers photographs to prove it.

Mickey also is a talented song writer, singer and guitar player.

He has pursued his career in Nashville, New York and Toronto, which is where we met 41 years ago, among other places.

He was recalling the other night the Guess Who concert in New York's Central Park in 1970. Mickey took his younger brother Bill to it.

The Guess Who's equipment was late arriving at the destination. It was being shipped from Winnipeg, but half went to Kennedy International Airport and half went to La Guardia. Then show was three hours late starting. By the time the show was ready to go the crowd of about 2,500 at the Wollman Rink had nearly doubled because of the people arriving for the second show. The band gave a free show the next day to make up for it.

While the Guess Who awaited the arrival of the equipment, folk singer Kathy McCord performed. As he sat in the audience, Mickey senses the growing restlessness of the audience, which kept occupied by tossing around a single red Frisbee.

Mickey volunteered to try to keep the crowd entertained. He borrowed McCord's guitar that had no strap. He borrowed a guitar pick from one of the Guess Who, he can't remember who. He recalls at first that there was no response from the audience when he began to sing. He remembers that the audience began to get into the spirit of things on about his third song.

The New York Times made reference to him as "a volunteer from the audience, Michael Clark, a singer from Louisville, Ky., who showed some polished country charm and an extensive repertory."

There are other memories. In 1964, Mickey was part of the Village Singers with Larry Foster and George Edwards.

Jerry Jeff Walker was their opening act at the House of Pegasus in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Walker wrote them a song The Road and We Three before they parted ways with Walker going to New Orleans and the Village Singers to New York in their 1954 Chevy.

We'll let Jerry Jeff Walker tell the rest of the story as he did on the jacket notes for Mickey's album several years ago.

"In 1968, I run into Mickey again in New York. He's singing solo in Greenwich Village. I ask him if he still has the song I'd written for his group, as I am interested in recording it. He informs me that all the Village Singers' arrangements and songs and strings and things had blown off the roof of their car somewhere on the New Jersey Turnpike. He is getting ready to record for Mercury. I tell him I've written a new song I think is really good. I'd like to play it for him later, but I'm late for dinner. The song is Mr. Bojangles. I never make it back."

Sunday 12:01 p.m.: Churchill Downs is so quiet the day after the Kentucky Derby that you can hear the brooms sweeping up the garbage. On Derby Day, you can hardly hear yourself explain away the last losing bet against the noise of the crowd, which was 156,635 on Saturday.

The clean-up process at the track is massive. Garbage bins are lined up at the entrance to be hoisted and fed into big garbage trucks.

Winning trainer Carl Nafzger talked to a few reporters Sunday morning outside Barn 26, where Saturday's hero Street Sense resides.

As it neared 9:30 a.m., Nafzger was done answering questions and excused himself, saying he was going to get some rest.

Just about everybody looks tired at Churchill Downs the day after the Derby.

Saturday night, I spent some of my Derby winnings -- thank you Street Sense for winning, thank you Hard Spun Curlin for finishing second and third -- at a restaurant named Porcini with Mickey and Sandy Clark.

This is supposed to be the favourite local Italian restaurant of Louisville Cardinals' basketball coach Rick Pitino.

Pitino used to coach hated rival Kentucky, which is based in Lexington, Ky. Mickey says that Pitino once was asked to name his favourite Italian restaurant in Lexington and he answered, Outback.

We couldn't get reservations at Porcini until 10, which is okay because it takes a lot of time to get out of Churchill Downs after the Derby, even after the time it takes to write a story about it.

Our first choice, Lilly's, a fine establishment, had no space to take reservations for any time. Unfortunately, Lilly's is closed on Sunday.

The 10 o'clock reservation looked like it might involve a wait of another 25 minutes but an outdoor spot opened up quickly. There are train tracks across the street and two trains used them during dinner.

Pitino and other local celebrities go to Porcini. The most famous person I recognized there Saturday was trainer Bob Baffert, who has won the Derby three times but did not have a runner in the race on Saturday.

I had Gary, the dependable and friendly taxi driver, lined up for 8:30 Sunday morning.

Mickey likes to recall a regular cabbie I used at the Derby years ago named Otis Porter. He referred to himself by his last name, Porter. Porter had all sorts of ailments and you heard all about them on the way to the track. Every year he'd show up at the Clark's house looking for me about Derby time.

I remember later after I had stopped covering the Derby regularly, hearing from Mickey. "Guess who showed up today?" he asked. "Porter."

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Saturday 7:23 p.m.: Life is great. I can't remember having a day like this at the Kentucky Derby since Sunny's Halo won for Toronto's Pud Foster and trainer Dave Cross and it seemed like I was putting bets up for half of East York. That was 1983. And I couldn't go right home because I had to spend a week with the Montreal Expos in St. Louis and Atlanta. I had an awful bulky wallet and people waiting to be paid off at home.

The other big Derby day for me was in 1980 when I picked Genuine Risk to win the Derby for the Globe and she did, becoming the first filly to do so since Regret in 1915. I also made a shrewd investment - such bests are always shrewd when they won - and she paid $28.60 for each $2 wagered.

I wasn't always convinced about Street Sense. I thought he took advantage of a track bias when he ran mostly along the rail to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs. But I watched him in person when he won the Tampa Bay Derby in Ocala, Fla., on St. Patrick's Day. It was only by a nose over Any Given Saturday but it was his first race since Nov. 4 when the he won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and Tampa Bay Downs can be a tiring track.

He lost by only a nose in his other start in the Derby and things didn't go right. Street Sense also was training well and he has looked good in the mornings.

I liked Hard Spun a little, also based on the way he was behaving in the mornings, and the fastest Derby week workout in 28 years that he recorded. I'm not always influenced by such workouts but he seemed to react well to it. Curlin had not lost entering the Derby and demolished the opposition in winning all three of his starts before Saturday.

So I thought he was worth putting him in the top two or three. I picked Street Sense, Curlin and Hard Spun for the Globe. For myself, I boxed a trifecta for the Derby with those three and also put something down on Street Sense's nose. I don't think I'll be in the office next week.

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Saturday, 4:40 p.m.: As the afternoon wore on, the rain stayed away and the track had dried considerably. It was rated fast for the seventh race on the Kentucky Derby card, the La Troienne Stakes for three-year-old fillies.

Calvin Borel, who has the mount on lukewarm Derby favourite Street Sense, won the 7 ½-furlong race for three-year-old fillies with Silverinyourpocket.

She came from off the pace and stayed on the rail. The fractions were 22.40, 45.20, 1:10.8 with a final time of 1:30.14.

Borel said the track was fine. "It's good, very good," he said. "You can't fault it because it is the best racetrack in America. It'll get better too."

Saturday, 11:40 a.m.: The Churchill Downs track was still muddy Saturday morning, judging by the way a couple of members of the track crew were carefully walking on it as a tractor did its work.

Conditions were gloomy early in the morning but the sun peeked through at about 8:30 a.m. so there was hope for a decent day. The possibility of showers existed.

Louisville is an underrated town with a good selection of restaurants. It has a strong history in sports producing several great athletes. There is an active theatre scene.

And the people sure know how to give a party, especially at Derby time.

The fact that front lawns and backyards were wet and muddy did not deter the partying on Derby eve. Nor did early evening showers.

At Bill Clark's house, there was a tent set up on the front lawn. His brother, my friend Mickey Clark, loaded up the sound equipment and set it up at his brother's house. The Clark brothers, Mickey, Del and Bill, entertained until past 2 a.m., strumming and signing on a portable stage. There were tables and chairs set up facing the stage that had multi-coloured lights in the background. The Clark brothers often perform at local clubs on weekends. Bill is in real estate.

There is no question that the star of Friday night's party at Bill and Theresa's lovely house was the Clarks mother, Isabel, who will turn 99 on Wednesday. Her voice is still strong and clear and she was enjoying being with her family.

A short walk away, there was the biggest Derby eve party in Louisville, known as the Barnstable-Brown Party. It costs something like $500 to enter and proceeds go to diabetes research at the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville.

We took a little trip up the street to the home of a friend of the Clarks. The friend's house is next door to the Brown home where the big party was going on.

The friend also has a Derby eve party and part of the sport is trying to look past the fence and barriers to do a little celebrity gawking at the Barnstable-Brown residence. There is also a crowd of gawkers down the hill in the street. Some of the longest stretch limos in captivity bring assorted guests and celebrities.

From behind the fence, yellow tape and barriers, we heard Peyton Manning being introduced. There were some others introduced and their names didn't always ring a bell.

The guests walk up a long driveway that is uphill and decorated with lights. On either side there are dancers from the Step-N-Out Dance Studio did their thing. Not even a pre-party thunder storm could dampen the spirit.

Among the celebrities there we're told were Larry Birkhead who met the late Anna Nichole Smith, his daughter's mother, at this party a few years ago. Smith was considered one of the friendlier celebrities at the part a few years ago, actually conversing with people across the fence at the neighbouring home.

Other celebrities we're told and in some cases we'll have to take their word that they are indeed celebrities: Kevin Federline, Cybill Shepherd, Kid Rock, rapper DMC, comedian Jenny McCarthy, Ross (the Intern) Mathews, former member of the Supremes Mary Wilson, Emily Wilson of the Dixie Chicks. That's a partial list.

The hosts are Patricia Barnstable Brown and her sister Priscilla Barnstable.

Many of the guests wore tuxedos or long gowns.

The valet parking was on the street.

It is to be hoped that it is a dry day. It is a long wait for taxis after the Kentucky Oaks that drew a crowd of 100,075 on Friday and after the Derby.

Those lines for taxi cabs outside the track move pretty quickly as long as the taxis keep coming _ there are lulls _ and are well organized. But still waiting for one can mean a stand in line for more than half an hour. It was drizzling after the Oaks and then began to fall harder, making it an uncomfortable wait for some. A lot of people had plastic sheets for protection. Taxi fares are increased for the Oaks and Derby days.

One of the young men organizing the line I was in reminded me "We accept tips."

Nice of them. For what? He did nothing for me except point to a cab that I could see. I gave him a buck anyway.

My regular cabbie Gary had other fares and to try to pick me up at the track would be difficult, if not impossible. He's been there before 6 a.m. each morning to pick me up. I told him 8:30 a.m. for Saturday morning because I knew I would be up late. He was there 15 minutes early. He admits that he's been so busy that he's getting tired.

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Friday, 11:35 a.m.: Gary, the cab driver, had a good day after he had dropped me off at Churchill Downs on Thursday morning. He was hired by some people who were part of a group of 17 who rented a train to take them from Chicago to Louisville for Saturday's Kentucky Derby.

The train originated in Houston and picked the group up in Chicago. There were seven cars on the train and this group occupied three or four of them. The cars were parked, if that's the right words, at Louisville's train station at Broadway and 11th Street.

Gary said the contingent brought as chef and have quite a luxurious setup including a Plasma TV.

Thursday also was the day of the Pegasus Parade downtown, an annual event that precedes the Derby. The daylong drizzle stopped just before the parade was to start.

I skipped the parade. Instead I went to an establishment named Gerstle's Place, a bar and grill on Frankfort Ave. with Mickey and Sandy Clark.

Mickey was performing for the taping of a "live": television show named The Player's Spot that will be shown locally in about three weeks.

Preceding Mickey in the taping was the host Paul Moffett who was accompanied by Brian White. The couple Joe and Lee Kresovsky, known as Cop o' Joe Acoustic took the stage. They have been married for five years and are both engineers who are moving to Columbus, Ind., to work for a company there. They have been working at Ford in Louisville. Joe plays guitar and sings and his wife also sings.

Mickey led off his set with She's Gone to L.A. again, a song he wrote for the Oak Ridge Boys' Fancy Free album and the audience accompanied him with rhythmic hand clapping. He also performed his song Tijuana Tequila. He finished up with a couple of songs he has worked on for an independent movie. Mickey who celebrated his birthday on Wednesday is working as much as he did 20 years ago before he went into the corporate world, which he has since gratefully departed.

Mickey and his brothers Bill and Del will be performing Friday night at Bill's Derby Eve party.

Friday morning the rain held off until later in the morning so there were no soakings during the morning rounds of the backstretch. It was wise to try to walk on tire tracks through the muddy unpaved areas. The track also was still muddy.

There was a minor crisis just after 6 a.m. Friday. There were no coffee cups in the media centre. They were locked away. "There are plenty of cups," said the man in charge who wore a Salvation Army shirt. "They're locked up. We haven't gone to the extent of going through the garbage and recycling them yet."

The cups arrived soon after.

Street Sense, the Breeders Cup Juvenile winner, continues to look good. As Street Sense was finishing off his morning exercise on the wet track Friday morning, his trainer Carl Nafzger was at the gap where the horses leave the track. He was looking for "Captain Lewis" the member of the Jefferson County Sheriff's office who is assigned to Street Sense for security reasons.

Nafzger asked another uniformed member of the sheriff's staff who was standing as the gap awaiting the Derby horse he was guarding, Sedgefield. "Actually, it's Deputy Lewis," Deputy McDonald said. "If he was captain he wouldn't be doing this."

Deputy McDonald referred to Sedgefield as an affectionate "love bug" of an animal. Not so, he said, of the horse who was an adjacent stall who was just as liable to bite. But not old Sedgefield who is one of two runners, trained by Darrin Miller who also has Dominican in the Derby.

Street Sense and Deputy Lewis were later found at Barn 26. Deputy Lewis watched as Street Sense was given his post exercise washing by his handlers as an enthralled group from Visa, one of the Triple Crown sponsors, observed.

Friday's big race is the Kentucky Oaks for three-year-old fillies.

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Thursday, 4:17 p.m.: It was a little too wet for baseball on Thursday, but before the dampness set in, Mickey Clark and I took in a bit of the University of Louisville's baseball game against Eastern Kentucky Colonels on Wednesday night in a spiffy new ballpark near Churchill Downs.

We couldn't stay around for the finish of the Cardinals' 8-1 victory because we were going to dinner with at the Bonefish Grill with Rich Keeling, Donnie Stitch and his friend Robert Coleman.

Stitch is a son of Rudell Stitch who died in Louisville trying to save a friend from drowning while fishing on the Ohio Rover on June 5, 1960. Donnie was nine.

Stitch was close to having a chance to fight for the world welterweight championship when he died at 27.

The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, which gives medals for acts of bravery, awarded one to Stitch posthumously for his attempt. It was the second such medal for Stitch. He also was awarded one by the commission for saving a man near the same area of the river after the man fell and broke his leg while working on a dam on Sept. 16, 1958.

Stitch is one of four people in more than 100 years to have been awarded two Carnegie medals.

Keeling was a friend of Stitch's and promoted some of his early boxing matches. He also had boxed against Stitch as an amateur, losing to vhim in the city's Golden Gloves tournament final in the first round and then defeating him two years later in the final.

There is an attempt being made to have Stitch recognized in the impressive Muhammad Ali Center that opened in Louisville last year.

When Ali was a teen-ager he sometimes sparred with Stitch who frustrated him by the way he could handle him.

Donnie never did much boxing but played football briefly at college.

Keeling, 74, also played football. As a senior at Louisville's Flaget High School, he lost the starting quarterback job after his best game. He was told it was time to give a chance to a promising sophomore. That sophomore was Paul Hornung.

As a freshman at the University of Louisville, Keeling was a quarterback. After spring practice was told that "being small is no sin but being small and slow was a Cardinal sin". Besides they had a fellow named Johnny Unitas.

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Thursday, 11:33 a.m.: Gary, the taxi driver I've hooked up with this time for the Kentucky Derby, was waiting outside the residence of my long-time friends Mickey and Sandy Clark early. Our agreement is that he be there at 6 a.m., but he was early to arrive Thursday and I was ready early so I was at the Churchill Downs backstretch by 6. It was raining. I began my wanders with my computer and other stuff in my back pack, rather than take the time to dump the stuff off in the press box on the other side of the track.

Across the way from the backside you can see the lights of the track twinkling. The twin spires, too, are illuminated and rain introduces a mystical quality to the picture.

It was soon muddy in the stable area as well as on the racetrack. Some of the areas between barns are paved, others are not and the going was muddy. It wasn't a deluge but heavy enough at times that after a few hours - with occasional stops under the roof of the media centre - my hat (black, Triple Crown issue) was soaked and the bill of my cap was dripping. The computer took longer to warm up and the tape recorder began playing tricks. I learned that my shoes don't leak.

The work goes on as usual in the rain, horses getting their exercise and their grooms washing them off when they are finished, the usual racetrack scenes. It seemed as if the connections of Derby horses were a little more difficult to find unless you knew what time they were sending their horse or horses to the track,

Street Sense has looked sharp and Hard Spun also appears full of energy. Undefeated Curlin, the slight morning line favourite at 7 to 2 over Street Sense's 4 to 1, is another.

But the most impressive work of the morning came from a black and white cat who tore through the elements to seek the shelter of Barn 20. You've heard references to a scared cat and this little one was the epitome of all that it means, its paws barely touching the mud, if at all. It was definitely a black type work.

Inside the recreation centre that serves as the backstretch media centre during Derby week, there is a television set that shows certain horses, including Derby entrants, taking their exercise, usually this close to the race some galloping. The pool balls sat idly in the pockets of the pool tables that were covered by plywood sheets so they could be used as tables.

The women behind the coffee and doughnuts table wear red Salvation Army aprons. There is a red box for donations.

I don't know why but I thought of the 1989 earthquake in San Francisco and the coffee and doughnuts that were set up in similar fashion at a middle school. Tourists gawking at the earthquake's damage in the Marina area would help themselves to the goodies that had been put out for the residents of the area, many of whom were not yet allowed back in their homes and fearful that they never would be. The residents were not impressed by the tourists and said so.

Thursday, umbrellas were the rule for those observing workouts from trackside. It's supposed to rain some more so there's curiously about how it will affect Friday's Kentucky Oaks for three-year-old fillies and the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

Wednesday morning, it was hot and muggy enough to melt the frozen smiles of the hosts doing the TV morning shows from the backstretch. Thursday, there was enough rain to wash away all the hairspray.

There is a trailer on the backstretch that sells and we quote from the sign Official Event Merchandise. On Sunday morning all items will be discounted.

Former jockey Pat Day makes the rounds of the backstretch. Wednesday he wore a hat inscribed with Jesus is my Boss. Thursday's hat carried the message I (picture of a heart) Jesus.

At 8:15 a.m. during the track renovation break, a chaplin comes on the backstretch public address system with what is called "the minute with God." Thursday's reading was from the 55th Psalm.

On one of the walls of Barn 33, there is a plaque commemorating three recent Kentucky Derby winners that have been stabled there _ 1997 Silver Charm, 1998 Real Quiet and 2002 War Emblem. They were all trained by Bob Baffert. Baffert isn't in the Derby this year but he does have a filly in the Oaks.

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Wednesday, 10:56 a.m.: It was warm here this morning. Even in the darkness of 6 a.m., a jacket was not required. As the sun broke through, it became quite warm and muggy. The Kentucky Derby is a sign that spring has finally arrived. Somehow down here, they seemed to have by-passed spring and gone right to summer.

So much about the Kentucky Derby has little to do with horses. Sure, the media centre in the stable area faces the backstretch run of the racetrack There are viewing stands there to assist observing the horses in their morning exercise. Even if Saturday's Kentucky Derby is the focus of attention at Churchill Downs this week, all the other horses from claimers to stakes winners must also do their work.

As for the Derby horses, the heavy training is over and they are being fine-tuned for the big day.

What lends to the carnival atmosphere on the backstretch on Derby Week is the bank of tents in the media area. The tents are divided into compartments with mini-TV studios that face the track. It seems like just about every television station in the area has its morning show base out of Churchill Downs. It's the same with radio stations.

The backstretch recreation building has been taken over as part of the media centre. The two pool tables are covered and are used as tables.

In another area of the recreation building, near the betting windows, there is a lineup for a breakfast that is a nutritionist's nightmare, coffee and doughnuts. Ladies and gentlemen, start your glucometres.

The media swirl from barn to barn and there are impromptu scrums all over the backstretch for jockeys, trainers and owners connected with the Derby.

There is still talk on the backstretch of last year's winner, Barbaro, who had a legitimate shot at winning the Triple Crown but he fractured a hind leg in the Preakness. It eventually cost him his life even though it appeared that he had been saved by surgery.

Jockey Mike Smith who will ride Tiago in the Kentucky Derby said he notices that people who might not interested in horse racing before, noticed the Barbaro story and are asking about this year's Derby. Smith mentioned that he was having his head shaved the other day _ that's his hair style _ and the woman doing the shaving asked about Barbaro but didn't know that he rode Tiago in the Derby this Saturday. She knows now, Smith said.

One interesting development this year and kind of a pleasant one is that this is the first Derby since 1980 in which there has not been a horse trained by either D. Wayne Lukas, Bob Baffert or Nick Zito. These are guys who have shown and obsession for the Derby in the past.

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Tuesday, 3:54 p.m.: If there is a horse race just about everyone knows about, it is the Kentucky Derby. It is not the necessarily the best horse race in North America each year, and not necessarily the most important in determining champions.

But it is the most famous horse race in North America. Chances are that someone who knows nothing about thoroughbred racing, and does not care to know anything about it, has heard of the Kentucky Derby.

The Kentucky Derby is more than a thoroughbred race. It is an event, a happening, a party, whatever you want to call it. You might come to Churchill Downs with some cynicism, thinking the whole thing is overrated as I did when I covered by first one in 1976, thinking that we should pay more attention to more important races like the Jockey Club Gold Cup in New York.

That attitude changes quickly. You leave rather impressed, perhaps even awed, and you realize this is not only a horse race but an experience. You can see how horse racing people become obsessed with getting there and with winning it.

There are different layers of the Derby experience from the celebrities who attend the big parties to the infield throng on race that takes part in one big day-long party.

The Kentucky Derby is restricted to three-year-olds and if there is a fault with the race is that it is asking an awful lot of young horses to run 1 ¼ miles while carrying 126 pounds including the jockey on their back.

It is the opening race of the grueling Triple Crown. It is followed in two weeks by the 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course. Three weeks later comes to the 1 ½-mile Belmont Stakes at New York's Belmont Park. It is a feat for a horse to still be standing after competing in all three, let alone win all three. The last Triple Crown winner was Affirmed in 1978.

And what a decade that was with the incomparable and flashy Secretariat becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years when he won the Belmont going away. There was the underrated Seattle Slew winning the Triple Crown in 1977 and it was probably too soon for him to do it. There was some resentment because it was coming so soon after Secretariat. To some, Seattle Slew played sort of a Roger Maris to Secretariat's Babe Ruth. Then there was the professional and efficient Affirmed and his teen-aged jockey Steve Cauthen. In 1979, Spectacular Bid lost his Triple Crown bid in the Belmont.

Now nearly 30 years since Affirmed others have close but have not won the Triple Crown. Barbaro, such an impressive Derby winner, might have had the best chance last year but for that terrible accident in the Preakness that shattered a hind leg and months later cost him his life despite a heroic effort by veterinarians and the colt.

My Derby experience is enhanced because I also have a chance to visit friends, Mickey Clark, his wife Sandy and their son Brennan. And then there is the rest of the Clark clan who get together every year for a party on Derby eve, like everyone else in Louisville. The Clarks are from Louisville but we have socialized in Toronto and New York as well when Mickey was pursuing his career as a song writer and performer. After a spell in the suit-and-tie business world, Mickey still does some local gigs by himself and with his brothers Bill and Del. The Clarks are also big fans of the Louisville Cardinals in basketball and football, season ticket holders. I first met Mickey in Toronto on 1966 at Steele's Tavern on Yonge St. where he was singing and I was, shall we say, between assignments, quite enjoying my idle state by going to Woodbine racetrack every day. Later that year, I met my wife, Diane, and in the early 1970s we would have Derby parties and Mickey and Sandy would attend if they were in town..

Hmm, 1966. That was the year Kauai King won the Kentucky Derby. As the first Saturday in May approaches each year you begin to think that way if you've been bitten by the Derby bug. You think of a year and you think of the Derby winner. Who will it be in 2007? Will Street Sense become the first Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner to also win the Kentucky Derby? At the moment, I'm leaning that way so far. But there's still a few more days to get it wrong.

Larry Millson covered his first Kentucky Derby in 1976 when Bold Forbes upset Honest Pleasure.