Derby day Saturday at Churchill Downs

The 134th running of the Kentucky Derby is tomorrow in Louisville. It’s a wide open field. As of this writing, Big Brown is the favorite. But asking a horse to win from Gate 20 is like asking me to climb Mount Everest. The last (and only) time its happened was in 1929 with Clyde Van Husen. I have to admit, this fact makes me a little nervous. No, I don’t think Big Brown will win. I’ll go with Colonel John, who could be the favorite at post time Saturday.

BUT: 1929 was also the year of the stock market crash that set off the Great Depression. With our economy heading to the tank (at least if you believe the media) maybe we all should band together to keep Big Brown from racing. It’s probably too late though. Even if say, Bob Costas joined in, there’s not enough time to warn the masses. =)

A national network reported the other day that the nation’s economy was growing but at an alarmingly slow rate. Isn’t growth still good? I mean. Shaq didn’t go from 3’6” to 7’2” overnight! Sometimes I think we’re so used to bad news, we WANT it to be true!

Oh well, as my friend Chris knows, there’s no such thing as jinxes. But just to be safe, my picks:

Win: Colonel John
Place: Gayego
Show: Tale of Ekati

My picks aren’t done with the same precision as our late WPIX sportscaster Jerry Girard used to employ, but he would be pleased.

Besides, the nice thing about the Derby-everybody’s got a pick, so everybody’s got a chance. I never expected to actually win with Charismatic in 1999 -but remembering Jerry’s reaction is still a fond memory to this day.