I sent a friend of mine an e-mail the other day and added some Kentucky Derby information. (It’s tomorrow, by the way. First Saturday of May.) He wrote back to say he didn’t usually watch the Derby but would now. I couldn’t believe it. Not watch the Derby? I don’t follow baseball but I watch the World’s Series. And when I do my friends tell me who to watch for. It makes it more fun.

So here’s who to watch for in Louisville. Not who to bet on. It’s a sucker bet. 20 horses = a rodeo and who bets on rodeos. Still, here’s who to keep an eye on. Months ago Union Rags was it. Big, gorgeous, and athletic: everything anybody could want from a three-year old on the way up. He’s still a terrific horse, but he’s not unbeaten. Bodemeister is the likely favorite. He won his last race by a quarter of a block and looked like he could have gone faster. However (here’s the part that’s fun) his workouts in Louisville have been lackluster. With a name like that, Creative Cause should be the MFA program’s super horse and he’s a nice colt, anyway. When it comes to workouts, nobody has looked better than Went The Day Well, and then there’s the grey horse: Hansen got beat a few weeks ago, so his odds will be generous on Saturday.

And now I’m hearing it might rain! Oy!! It’ll still be fun to watch, though. Just remember — keep your Hamline tuition money in your pockets!

P.S. The May poem is up on my website. It’s about dropping off a car at a mechanic’s. No lofty subjects for me.