The final prep races have been run. Thoroughbreds from all corners of the United States (and Japan) are converging on Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Jockey commitments, with only a few exceptions, have been made.
All that's left are two weeks of closely analyzed training runs and the post position draw, then it's game on in the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 6.
Handicapper Andrew Champagne, who authors The Derby Bubble for the Paulick Report, has been following all the top 3-year-olds on the road to the Triple Crown, providing rankings and rationale for why a horse can or can't win America's most famous horse race.
Which preps were the strongest? Which were the weakest? Who is best suited for the mile and a quarter distance? Who isn't? How much will post position matter? And what about those Japanese horses?
We get into those questions and more in this week's edition of The Friday Show. Join Andrew Champagne, Ray Paulick and Joe Nevills for a lively discussion ahead of this year's Kentucky Derby.
Watch this week's episode of The Friday Show below:
Keeneland's popular Library Lecture Series resumes in May with the first of four public events that celebrate recently published works about Thoroughbred racing whose authors conducted research at Keeneland Library.
Tickets are $20 per event and will go on sale at 9 a.m., Friday, Apr. 21 at Keeneland.com/library. Proceeds from these ticketed events will benefit the Keeneland Library Foundation, which funds Library preservation, education, outreach and access efforts.
The first two installments of the Library Lecture Series will feature books related to the Library's current exhibit, The Heart of the Turf: Racing's Black Pioneers:
• May 11–Katherine Mooney will discuss Isaac Murphy: The Rise and Fall of a Black Jockey
• June 22–Mark Shrager will talk about The First Kentucky Derby: Thirteen Black Jockeys, One Shady Owner, and the Little Red Horse That Wasn't Supposed to Win
The Heart of the Turf: Racing's Black Pioneers offers a deep exploration into the lives of African Americans in racing and their contributions to the Thoroughbred industry. The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, runs through August.
The Library Lecture Series continues with two events in late August and September:
• Aug. 24–Jennifer Kelly will discuss The Foxes of Belair: Gallant Fox, Omaha, and the Quest for the Triple Crown
• Sept. 28–Patricia McQueen will review Secretariat's Legacy: The Sons, Daughters and Descendants Who Keep His Legacy Alive
All programs will be held at the Library from 6:30-8:30 p.m. ET.
Richard W. “Rich” Wilcke, instrumental in the 1986 launch of the Maryland Million and who later served as director of the University of Louisville Equine Industry Program, died April 18 at Shelbyville Hospital near his residence in Pleasureville, Ky.
Born in 1943 in Albany, N.Y., and a graduate of Kansas State University with a degree in agriculture, Wilcke served in the Marine Corps Forces Reserve, then held a number of positions in education, broadcasting, and communications before being named president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based Council for a Competitive Economy. He was there from 1979-'84.
In 1986, after the late broadcast legend and horseman Jim McKay created the Maryland Million, an event modeled after the Breeders' Cup, Wilcke was hired as executive vice president of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association and executive director of Maryland Million prior to its first running. The Maryland Million is the longest-running racing event devoted to the promotion of regional or state breeding programs.
Wilcke left Maryland in 1995 and spent nearly 20 years at the University of Louisville, first as a faculty member in the College of Business and later as director of the Equine Industry Program. He retired to his Quarter Horse and Hereford Cattle farm in Bethlehem, Ky., in 2014.
Former students remembered Wilcke for his joy of teaching, keen insights, sense of humor and infectious laugh. One student shared a poem, written and published by Wilcke (see below), expressing the eternal optimism of horsepeople
Rich Wilcke with Equine Industry Program students in Louisville, Ky.
During his career, Wilcke volunteered his time and expertise helping numerous organizations, including the Kentucky Equine Education Project, American Quarter Horse Association, American Youth Horse Council, and Kentucky Horse Council, among others.
Wilcke and his high school sweetheart, Janny Nyquist, were married in 1966 and they had five children. He is survived by his wife, daughters Ardith, Caroline and Madlen, eight grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. Sons William and Benjamin preceded him in death.
Arrangements are being handled by Prewitt Funeral Home of New Castle and Eminence, Ky., which said a private memorial service will be held later this spring.
If your horses are your passion
But they don't bring too much cash in,
And you're wondering if there's hope within your range,
If when buying, bids go higher,
But when selling, there's no buyer,
And you're just about convinced your luck won't change.
***
If your money hole is drying,
But you can't win a race for trying,
And those training bills keep piling up sky high,
If you've paid some high stud fees,
But all your foals have crooked knees,
And it's getting to the point you want to cry.
***
If you've bought some stallion shares,
But the horse just can't get mares,
And his 2-year-olds are shin-bucked on the shelf,
If “pay these bills” is all you're hearing,
But folks owing you keep disappearing,
And you're feeling pretty sorry for yourself.
***
Don't give up! Consider this,
You're one big horse away from bliss,
And that champion may already be on your place,
Every year we start all over,
With a chance to be in clover,
Any horse can burn your mortgage if he can race.
***
True, you're sorry that you got 'em,
When the market's at the bottom,
And the problems get you feeling kind of blue,
But don't forget, not for a minute,
And you shouldn't, since you're in it,
Any year could be the year your dreams come true.
