The First Saturday in May

May 6, 2017

The closer you live to Lexington and Louisville, the more aware you are of the fact that the first Saturday in May is always Derby Day. Every year I pay absolutely no attention to the contenders until, oh, about now. Then on the afternoon of the race, I like to watch the television coverage so I can learn about all the entries. Those few minutes of the race are so much fun to watch!

I've never been to the Kentucky Derby. In fact when we lived in Louisville, we would always leave town on Derby weekend so we didn't have to contend with it. But I do love to watch the race.

So who is running this year? I don't know a thing about them, but here is the list.

1. Lookin At Lee
2. Thunder Snow
3. Fast and Accurate
4. Untrapped
5. Always Dreaming
6. State of Honor
7. Girvin
8. Hence
9. Irap
10. Gunnevera
11. Battle of Midway
12. Sonneteer
13. J Boys Echo
14. Clasic Empire
15. McCraken
16. Tapwrit
17. Irish War Cry
18. Gormley
19. Practical Joke
20. Patch

Let's take a look at one very special horse who has captured the hearts of many fans across the world -- Patch.

 

Patch will spring from the 20th position, far from the rail. Although he will be extremely aware of their presence, he will not see any of his competitors directly out of the gate. He has no left eye.

Last summer Patch developed a severe problem with his left eye and the equine vets couldn't heal it. So in June 2016 it was removed.

At the time, no one really knew how losing half of his vision would affect this beautiful animal. But fairly quickly his trainers realized that he was adapting quite well. He qualified for the Kentucky Derby this spring and has enjoyed a lot of attention in the process.

Is this the first horse with just one eye to run in the Kentucky Derby? Actually, no.

• 1982 -- Casseleria finished 13th
• 2004 -- Pollard's Vision finished 17th
• 2007 -- Storm in May finished 16th

And several one-eyed horses have raced throughout the years at other tracks. In fact, I found a few steeplechase horses that only had one eye. That seems like it would be a lot harder without the depth of field that two eyes provide. It didn't seem to impede them, though.

I don't know about you, but tonight I plan to be with a bunch of my friends hanging out in front of a television at post-time. And although I don't really think Patch has much of a chance of winning the Derby, my heart will be pulling for him nevertheless.