As an about to be college graduate, some friends and I made the '73 Derby a nice road trip. Little did we know that we would be witnesses to horse racing history. At the time Churchill Downs allowed all of the less than well-heeled attendees to occupy the infield. It was an open-air party with tens of thousands in attendance and expensive watered down mint juleps and a couple of guys dressed like they were in Alice Cooper's band (not us).

By the time of the "derby race" the whole circumference of the rail was peopled twenty or more deep. My only view of Secretariat for that entire race was the final turn for the homestretch. From where I was standing, the horses just weren't visible, but you could tell where they were on the track as the people at the rail would be jumping up and down wildly as the horses came around. On that final turn for home, I managed at least a 14" vertical leap and levitated long enough to catch a glimpse of a big horse with blue and white checkerboard colors surge into the lead.
[Post edited by Chuck Taylor at 03/21/2023 10:26AM]