[Hildy]

Derby day was a big deal at my house when I was growing up. The odd thing was my dad was not a gambler at all..he just loved the Derby. Every Derby day we'd all sit around the table, look at the paper and he'd let me and my brothers pick horses and he's bet a couple of bucks on them. It was quite the tradition. One we continued every year till the year he died. The year before he died he picked the trifecta. I'll never forget it.

I tell you this because that's how I pick my horses now...whatever horse's name makes me think of my dad the most is the one I pick...this year? SWEETNORTHERNSAINT.....

[I still care]

We lived near Belmont, and my Dad and I used to go there all the time. We saw Secretariat race, in one of the few he lost. But he was beautiful even then. They allowed only betting to win, and the track was littered with tickets of people who had bet hundreds of dollars on the great horse to win, and threw them away angrily after.

One day my father went to see the great match race with Ruffian, when she broke down. He said seeing the poor horse struggle along the track with her broken leg, still trying to win, was the one of the most horrible things he ever saw. After that we stopped going for quite a while.

We still call each other and talk about the Derby, though. I told him last year to bet on Giacomo, because he had an Italian name. Salute!