LOUISVILLE, Ky.
– It is called the “greatest two minutes in sports.†But can the Kentucky Derby, a two-minute horse race in the late afternoon on the first Saturday in May here, be worth the time, money and effort required to travel from San Diego to experience it in person Depends on the individual, of course. But it’s a good bet that the majority of San Diegans who have made the pilgrimage more than once have come back with sentiments like those expressed by Eric Spore of Point Loma. “It far exceeded expectations, and I had exceptionally high expectations,†Spore said. “I’d been going to the racetrack at Del Mar since 1979 and the Kentucky Derby was on my bucket list of things I wanted to do. “Derby Day was one of the biggest highlights of my life. I can’t wait until the next time I do it, and trust me, I’ll be doing it again.†Spore, 47, a Kaiser Permanente employee, and his wife, Krista, were at Churchill Downs to witness the victory by Smarty Jones in 2004 and back again last year for Big Brown’s impressive Run for the Roses. They came with groups organized through L & T Sports Events, an agency run by brothers Leo and Tony Casias. The Casiases have been booking Derby excursions from San Diego County for more than 20 years.
L & T had a little more than a dozen people booked for Saturday’s 135th running of the Kentucky Derby, Leo Casias said last week. A far cry from the upwards of 150 of years ago when the Casias brothers teamed with a popular San Diego morning radio show in getting a group together for the longest continually running sporting event in North America.