The best Derby party outside of Kentucky

By Meredith Deliso

And they’re off!

The mint juleps will be flowing, the hats will be crazy and the seersucker suits will be in full force when the Bell House throws its annual Kentucky Derby Party on Saturday.

Sure, there’s a big race on, but for Michael Boyd, it’s all about the party.

“It’s not really about racing, it’s about springtime,” said Boyd, a Kentuckian who organizes the party at the Gowanus venue each year. “Where I come from, it’s the biggest holiday of the year. It’s our version of Mardi Gras.”

Boyd started hosting Derby parties in his Cobble Hill apartment 13 years ago, but they became so popular he moved them to the now-closed Magnetic Fields on Atlantic Avenue. That party soon outgrew that venue, moving to Union Hall, and then the Bell House, where Derby enthusiasts have been converging for the past three years. (You can also find the race on at Union Hall on May 7 for the Park Slope venue’s own Derby party.)

“There’s something about it that people respond to,” said Boyd, who, thanks to his Derby parties, is a bona fide colonel. “It’s still a little bit of a mystery to me as to why. Especially in Brooklyn, it’s a weird Southern-meets-hipster thing.”

Indeed, before the jockeys kick things off at 6 pm, you can enjoy the DJ stylings of Party Like It’s 1999’s Steven R. Reynolds, square dancing led by David Harvey and NYC Barn Dance, including lessons for all the newbies, food from Urban Rustic and ice cream from Van Leeuwen Artisan.

For the competitive set, there’s a contest for best dressed man, best formal hat, and best informal hat (think beer hats).

“The things people would do for their informal hats are just amazing,” said Boyd, who will fit in with the festivities thanks to his tan seersucker suit. “You never know what you’re going to see every year, but it always will be eye-popping.”

Before the race, Ryan Resky (pictured) will do the honors of the Call to the Post, that all-too-familiar bugle tune, and Jaime and Lisa from the band The Secret History will sing “My Old Kentucky Home.” And then it’s the quickest two minutes in history once the horses are released (our money’s on Uncle Mo).

“The real magic is the moments when they’re loading the horses in the gate,” said Boyd. “There’s this crescendo all day leading up to it, and it gets unbelievably loud. The hair on my arms is standing just talking about it. “

Derby Day at the Bell House [149 Seventh St. between Second and Third avenues in Gowanus, (718) 643-6510]. Free. For info, visit www.thebellhouseny.com; also at Union Hall [702 Union St. near Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, (718) 638-4400]. Free. For info, visit www.unionhallny.com. Both parties are May 7 at 1 pm.


Photo by Allan E. Shoening

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By the way, there’s a race, too

If you can manage to put down that mint julep for 120 seconds and fix your eyes on the TV screen, you’re in for one of the greatest spectacles in all of sports.

Only a few thousand people attended the first Kentucky Derby in 1875, but now hundreds of thousands cram the infield and the rickety grandstand at Churchill Downs in Louisville for the big race, where fans sing a cleaned-up version of Stephen Fosters “My Old Kentucky Home” as the horses jog out to the starting gate.

Befitting its international renown, the Derby typically draws a field of nearly two dozen 3-year-olds — and as they leap from the starting gate, the track looks more like a Wild West stampede than one of the most important races on the circuit.

The horse that jumps to the lead by the first turn automatically becomes the bar crowd favorite, but only rarely in thoroughbred racing does a horse go wire-to-wire. How will you know if it’s likely to happen? When you’re watching on TV, little numbers periodically show up in the top corner of the screen to indicate the split time of the leader. If the number is less than :24 after the first quarter-mile, or less than :47 at the half-mile pole, the front-runner will fade.

And as the field turns for home, if the leader’s split time is less than 1:36, he’s done.

Handicapping the field is always a nightmare at the Derby — mostly because the sheer size of the field has encouraged longshots over the years. But here are a few rules:

1. Never count out the New York horse: Though no New Yorker has won the Derby since Funny Cide in 2003, this year’s Empire State favorite, Eskendereya, is coming off a big win in our own Wood Memorial, New York’s main Derby tuneup. He’ll likely be the favorite.

2. Who knows what to make of the California horses?: Horses that take the West Coast route to the Derby are no longer predictable, as their Derby tuneups are run on synthetic tracks. You never know how those colts and fillies will run on the comparative beach at Churchill Downs.

3. The Calvin factor: Jockey Calvin Borel has won two of the last three Derbies, last year on Mine That Bird, one of the longest shots to ever win the Run for the Roses. A $2 bet paid $103.20.

4. Bet on Todd Pletcher: Trainer Todd Pletcher, who worked under four-time Derby-winning trainer D. Wayne Lukas, will have at least three horses, though as many as six, at the starting gate. He’s a hot trainer right now, so don’t count him out.

But whatever you do, put down $2 on someone. At the Derby, you never know.

-Gersh Kuntzman

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