Rainy Day at the Kentucky Oaks

Kristin and Michelle

Look, it's Tom Cruise! Oh wait, it's just Eric...

Let the racing begin!

Cooling off.

Kristin and Jose

Mmm...tasty mint juleps!

Our fabulous hosts--Mr. and Mrs. Koetters, and Regina

Michelle, Kristin, Regina, and Sheila

And then it started to pour.... :(

But the race must go on! Here is Proud Spell, winner of the Kentucky Oaks

Winning jockey Gabriel Saez

Aaron, Jason, Jose, and Greg

No amount of rain could stop us!

The 134the Kentucky Oaks was held the Friday before the Kentucky Derby. There were 12 races throughout the day, the first of which took place at 11am. The second to the last race of the day was the famed Kentucky Oaks at 6pm, which featured a field of ten 3-year-old fillies, all competing for $500,000.

Our seats for the day were PHENOMENAL. We had two boxes of seats that were front row, center, directly in front of the winner's circle. A big thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Koetters for hooking us up with a great local ticket broker.

For the first few races, we enjoyed our fabulous seats and took in the entire experience. The horses were breathtakingly beautiful and fast. Of course, the hats and people watching were also great. Unfortunately, the showers came all too soon, soaking the track and making for very sloppy race and spectating conditions. Despite the rain, we sported ponchos, and enjoyed the afternoon.

Proud Spell and jockey Gabriel Saez won the Kentucky Oaks (the 3-1 favorite despite finishing third in the Ashland in her final prep). It was pretty awesome to see the garland of lillies (which is what the winner of the filly's race is awarded) draped on Proud Spell following the race. Gabriel Saez and the owners watched proudly.

I made only a few bets throughout the day, most notably on "Wisconsin Girl" and "Forward Wisconsin," which both sounded like winners to me! My "Wisconsin Girl" did come in second place in the final race of the day, which won me $10 in a side bet with my friend, Jason, and ended up being my biggest win of the weekend.