Your best bet: How to enjoy the 2016 Kentucky Derby from home or the track
If you are hosting a Derby party, you need to know:
At Churchill Downs, more than 150,000 of the classic bourbon drinks are served over Derby weekend. This requires 1,000 pounds of mint and 60,000 pounds of ice each year. The mint julep has been the official drink of the run for the roses for nearly a hundred years, and Churchill Downs recommends using Old Forester Kentucky Bourbon for an authentic Kentucky taste, no matter where you are cheering for your horse.
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups water
- Sprigs of fresh mint
- Crushed ice
- Old Forester Kentucky Bourbon
To make simple syrup: Boil sugar and water together for five minutes. Allow to cool, then pour into an airtight container with six or eight sprigs of fresh mint. Place in the refrigerator overnight.
To make cocktail: Fill a julep cup with crushed ice, followed by one tablespoon of the mint simple syrup and two ounces of Old Forester Kentucky Bourbon. Stir and garnish with more mint.
If you are going to a Derby party, you need to know:
It’s not Derby Day without a headpiece. The Derby is “a chance for every woman to express her inner Southern Belle,” and what says Southern Belle more than a fancy hat? While the current tradition of extravagant head adornments didn’t begin until the 1960s, Derby tradition has always emphasized fashion.
If you do not want to invest in a statement piece, it’s easy to make your own using ribbon, fake flowers and feathers from a craft store. The more ostentatious, the better.
If you are going to bet, you need to know:
Watching the most exciting two minutes in sports is not as fun without a little skin in the game. So whether you are at Churchill Downs, watching from an off-the-track betting location or just making a wager online, it is important to understand your myriad options.
The favorite horse always has the lowest odds, meaning if you bet on it to win, you will get the lowest payout. If you guess right on a longshot, you will make more money. The good news about the Kentucky Derby is that it always contains one of the largest fields of the year - so there are plenty of underdogs to choose from. The most recent longshot to win was Mine That Bird in 2009, at 50-1 odds.
The most basic type of betting is called win-place-show, where you bet on the odds that a horse will win the race, place in the top 2, or show in the top 3. You can also complicate things by betting on a combination of horses, which is more difficult but yields a higher payout.
More exotic bets include exactas, trifectas and superfectas. An exacta bet requires you to select the top two horses in the exact order they will finish. If you are unsure the order in which they will finish, you can “box” the bet, which allows you to collect no matter which horse wins, but you will make less money. A trifecta bet requires you to select three horses and the precise order in which they will finish. Even more bold and potentially lucrative is the superfecta bet, which requires selecting the top four horses in the exact order of their finish.
Pro tip: Consider placing your wagers before imbibing too many mint juleps.
Good luck!
This story was originally published May 5, 2016 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Your best bet: How to enjoy the 2016 Kentucky Derby from home or the track."