I wonder how many folks will celebrate both Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby at once? It isn’t often that two events clash like this, but I suppose for party hardy people it’s two excuses to drink and have fun. In Kentucky the drink of choice will be mint juleps, while on a day when apparently everybody has a license to claim Mexican heritage, it will be gallons of tequila down the hatch.
Naturally both celebrate victory; for the race, it’s money for the owners and jockey and breeding rights for the horse, and the partiers remember how a battle was won when the enemy outnumbered the victors two to one. It must be tough fighting a battle when you know you have to contribute at least two wins against bad guys by killing them, just as it is a challenge to pick one’s horse’s way through a charging hoard of other striving stallions to get in front and cross the line first.
Folks gamble on horse races and drink too much on festival days, and spend way too much money doing both. I enjoy guessing which horse will win each Triple Crown race, but I have no doubt about how many grumpy hung-over people I’ll see tomorrow morning.