Kentucky Derby... More Debauchery than Pageantry? (1 Viewer)

zoom man

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Has anyone here ever been?,
Or going to tomorrows race?
I have one friend who was part of the
'beautiful people in the boxes'
But I hear it's more grain-alcohol and the "Dukes of Hazzard" on the infield...
No alcohol is allowed in,
And a cup of beer sell for 8 bucks!,
And them more expensive mint juleps supposedly taste like
'fermented mare sweat strained through gym socks.'

So people add good old grain-alcohol (or another clear intoxicant) to their containers of grape juice, orange juice, etc. (which the guards are not allowed to taste).

Apparently they confiscate all the unknowing frat boys (from the mid-south) attempts to cart in cases of beer and bottles of bourbon; The stack of confiscated booze at each gate must grow to staggering heights,... what do they do with it?!, donate it to charity!)

So, 100,00 people, add alcohol, and allow them to simmer all day under the Kentucky sun...

I'm going some day.....,
So what was point here?,
Well, anyway, my friend had a great time back when.....
 
zoom man said:
Apparently they confiscate all the unknowing frat boys (from the mid-south) attempts to cart in cases of beer and bottles of bourbon; The stack of confiscated booze at each gate must grow to staggering heights,... what do they do with it?!, donate it to charity!)
brother, can you spare a...oh never mind.
 
Never been there, but I'm not surprised about the beer prices. Churchill Downs is owned by a notoriously tight-fisted guy who would charge his own mother an hourly rate to visit her on Mother's Day.

I actually work for the Chicago-area race tracks and am gearing up for tomorrow's 16-hour pressure-cooker. To top it all off, I am at a brand new facility that still has its share of "rough edges" to smooth out. Oh well - at least I am still working in an industry that is not exactly leading the economy these days.

(P.S. - When is say gearing up for tomorrow, I actually mean winding down tonight with some cold beer. Otherwise, I might not get to sleep, worrying about all that could go wrong on Derby Day. Plus I have "Born Into This" to watch tonight. Some beer.....some Buk.....everything's going to be just fine.)
 
Hunter Thompson wrote a long two part story in Rolling Stone, I believe, a few years back on the Kentucky Derby, and it was classic Thompson. Whether you think that's a good thing or a bad thing depends on your opinion of HST I suppose. I liked it.
 
Yes. It was titled "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved." Written around 1970 or 71. I think it was in Scanlon's though... not Rolling Stone. Also, though I'm not 100% certain of this, I think it was the frst time he worked with Ralph Steadman.
 
All this talk made me reread it...chronic is right Scanlon's and the first time with Steadman...
 
What was the long piece in Rolling Stone in the 90's? I thought it had to do with horses, but I could be way off.


Okay, it was actually two pieces I was thinking of:

Fear and Loathing in Elko "” 1992
Polo Is My Life "” 1995
 
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