Pictured is Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief
Clevelandurbannews.com, LOUISVILLE, Kentucky- In spite of a muddy track from rain that came down on and off all day and sprinkled at the start of the race, long-shot Country House, with a 65-1 odds, won the 145th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday to bring home the $3 million purse, a win by technicality after Maxim Security, the favorite with 4-1 odds, was disqualified after crossing the finish line.
The $2 exacta paid out $3,009.60 relative to Country House, the $1 trifecta, $11,475.30, and the $1 superfecta brought $51,400.10, more than double the $1 superfecta payout last year
Grammy-winning Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles performed the National Anthem before the horse race, her talent and range wooing the audience, and after she sang, the University of Louisville Marching Band played "My Old Kentucky Home." .
Among the celebrities there were Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Vivica Fox, Steve Harvey, media personality Laila Ali, who is the daughter of the late boxing great Muhammad Ali, a Louisville native, Tom Brady, the quarterback for the New England Patriots and a six-time Super Bowl winner, and Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, also a Heisman Trophy winner.
Mayfield played an official role as an announcer and gave the welcome and the “Riders Up” call to the jockeys prior to the horse race, “Riders Up!” the traditional command for jockeys to mount their horses and head to the starting gate.
Nineteen race horses, down from the the usual 20 after Obama Breeze bowed out last week due to a breathing condition, raced along the one and on-half of a quarter mile stretch, a two-minute long race with implications of a lifetime for the horse, jockeys, horse owners, and in some instances, betters.
"I'm kind of speechless right now," said Country House jockey Flavian Prat after learning that Country House had won after Maxim Security's jockey had messed up, the first time in the derby's history a first place finisher has been disqualified, unprecedented in fact.
Country House trainer Bill Mott said before race horse officials issued the disqualification mandate against Maximum Security that it’s their duty to do the right thing, and I hope they do."
Officials said the crowd at Churchill Downs was at roughly 150,000 people, down from last year's derby attendance at 157,813, the rain a factor last year too where Justify, with jockey Mike Smith, trainer Bob Baffert, and 5-2 odds, took first place followed by Good Magic and Audible in second and third, respectively.
The inappropriate lane changing objection that got Maximum Security disqualified came from Country House's owner, Country House, the second longest shot to in the derby, behind Donerail's victory in 1913 with 91-1 odds. moving to first place, and Code of Honor, whose owner also lodged an objection, moved up to second place.
Third place went to Tacitus
Maximum Security’s trainer, Jason Servis, called Saturday's derby events "very emotional for me."
And where he thought he had won, Maximum Security jockey Luis Saez, 26, told NBC News prior to being disqualified, that it was 'my dream come true,' a short-lived dream of course.
The Kentucky Derby, held annually at Churchill Downs in Louisville, is always the first Saturday in May, with the Preakness in Baltimore, Maryland held two weeks later, and the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York three weeks after that, but never before June 5 or after June 11 for the Belmont Stakes.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
