This is the unoffishal, offishal story of the Kentucky Derby......

Back some 125 years ago or so, give or take a day or two...some of neighborhood gents were down at the local waterin  hole sipping their fine Kentucky whiskey, when in walked the most beautiful Southern Belle their bloodshot eyes had  seen!  Well, men being men,they soon were all clamoring for the attention of the fine lady.

In those days, a mans worth was measured by the horse or horses he owned. So after a lot of bickering and a few black eyes, it was decided that the men would run a horse race. The
winner of the race would then take the hand of the beautiful Southern Belle whose name was Julep.

Well, word got round about the race and beings that nobody had nuttin better to do for the  few weeks before the race they decided to have a party to celebrate the event.

About a week before the big race, Ole Man Johnson was tryin everythin to
get his horse ready for the big race. Thunder just wasn't up for this one, so Ole Man Johnson decided to perk him up by shooting his shotgun off about 3 inches from his head.

He didn't get a winner that year. Matter o' fact, nobody's seen neither one of em since, but they was recunized as starting what would be one of the biggest fireworks displays of the Derby Festival....

Word spread of the big race, Uncle's told Aunt's who told cuzins, who told
their friends who told more friends.  Soon people were arriving from all around. Some by carriage, some on foot, even more by riverboat.

Matter of fact, 3 families of Hatfields even came in a hot air balloon!!

By this time, everthing about the race was becoming a race. The steamboat captains decided to have a race to see who arrived to town first.  The Hatfields had a race to see who could land their balloons closest to the racetrack. There was even a footrace between the local children with toy horses.

Finally it was Derby Day!......All the
folks dressed up in their best clothes and their fanciest hats to come watch the big race....

The men were all sipping their whiskey as the sun grew hotter in the afternoon sky. Soon the ladies were getting a bit parched as well, but since whiskey was a man's drink they didn't have much to choose from. A few of the girls decided they'd had enough of this nonesence and reached down for a sprig o' mint to chew hoping to quench their thirst in a more ladylike fashion. Miss Julep decided this wasn't working and finally she proceeded to dip into the mens whiskey.

As to not let on to the men folk that the ladies were sipping their whiskey, the ladies had to find a way to disquise the whiskey to look and taste a little different. They went to the Lemonade stand, set up by the ladies auxillary, and filled their glasses up with frosty ice chips (made speshul fer the occasion) and added a sprig o' mint to make the whiskey a little more bearable . This was a new taste,  hmmmmmm not too bad... "Hey Julep bring us some more Mint!!!", said Sally May Johnson.  I think we should declare this drink the official drink of the Kentucky Derby !!!

Well, by race time everybody was so
full of the delishus new drink nobody could even see who crossed the finish line first.  Even so, everybody decided that they hadn't had this much fun in a coons age , so they decided to do it again every year, same time, same place.And that is how the Kentucky Derby came to be. It has become a tradition that gets bigger every year! Well, that's  my story and I am stickin to it!!!!

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