Lovely ladies in beautiful Derby hats!
On May 7, the PebbleCreek Italian American Club (PCIAC) savored mint juleps and celebrated the history of the Kentucky Derby, streamed live the triumph of a completely unexpected winner, enjoyed a “Derby” meal, and were surprised with an unexpected event, the Siena Palio race of August 2019!
The Derby history included short presentations on how it came into being, “Why Hats,” “What You Should Know About Jockeys,” and “What Ever Happened to Secretariat,” the legendary horse who still holds the fastest times for every Triple Crown race.
The unexpected winner of this year’s Derby was a last-minute entrant, #21 Rich Strike, who struck it rich by paying off as an 80 to 1 longshot. He was entered when two other horses were scratched from the race. Only four members chose him to win and were entered into a raffle that had three first place prizes … a 75% chance of winning a raffle is unheard of! Drawings were also held for the Place and Show horses with two raffle winners for each position.
It was great to see that everyone came dressed in their “Derby attire,” with both men and women wearing hats, so it was only fitting that winners were chosen for best hat, and they were Rosemary Holmes and Alex Potapoff!
The next part of the celebration was the Palio race. Videos showing the celebrations and historic processions leading up to the race were shown and each table had a representative come up and choose one of the flags of the nine Contradas entered in the event for the August 2019 race. They were all then led by an “animated” Bob Marchese in a merry procession around the room holding their Contrada flags high, accompanied by Italian music! As the Palio race started, the tables cheered their respective Contrada’s horse.
The race also had a surprise winner! The horse Remorex, without a rider (who had been thrown earlier in the race), won by edging out a mounted horse at the finish line. In the Palio, the horse that finishes first wins, whether or not the jockey is still there!
For dinner, guests enjoyed a meal that would have been served at the Derby—mint julep fruit salad, Kentucky hot brown open-face sandwiches, Derby corn pudding, and blonde bourbon bars for dessert.
The event closed with fond farewells and “We will see you again next year!”