Bill Poole sat puzzling in his chair as he opened his Christmas present from his daughter. It was Christmas Eve and they always opened their family gifts before going to church. He carefully lifted out the plastic horses from the box and wondered “Did she buy me a horse?” His daughter Kathy Smith watched anxiously as she had been planning his present for a very long time. His oldest grandson handed him his second present which was a handmade book full of photographs of Churchill Downs. On green construction paper, Smith had meticulously affixed photos of Churchill Downs, the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby. With a gold sharpie, she wrote “Kentucky Derby; May 4-8; All Expenses Paid” and signed it with a heart. She and her 82-year-old dad were going to the 142^nd Derby!  A bucket list dream for both of them. When Poole realized the meaning of the horses and the book, he started to weep. 

On the Friday before the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs is a sea of pink. Horse racing fans slowly walk into Churchill Downs savoring the sights and sounds of Kentucky Oaks day. It’s a day to celebrate the fillies. It’s a day to celebrate cancer survivors. And it’s a perfect day to celebrate life. The Kentucky sky is a perfect crystal blue with a few fluffy clouds floating by. Churchill Downs is bedecked in pink. 

The crowd is happy. You just can’t help being happy amidst all this pink. The color combinations are beautiful. Pink, blush, coral, fuchsia, rose, and salmon are teamed with white, cream, blues, oranges and purple and even black. Everyone is fashionable! An old-fashioned lily print with green horseshoe pants?  No problem! And the bigger the flowers, the better! The fascinators explode with feathers! Tall leggy women strut by in mile-high heels. Their thigh-high hems flounce in the flirty wind. Men in crisp linen suits and horse themed ties. Fascinator feathers flirt with the wind. There are the bold who wear loud happy prints in suits, shorts and blazers. The ones with wacky tendencies dress up in pink top hats and even a delightful ”Pope” in pink robes wanders by with his shepherd crook. 

As the crowd enters, they look for selfie opportunities. I was wandering through the crowd and saw people standing in line to take selfies with a life-size Aristides decorated with roses.  I noticed an elderly man in a stunning pink blazer, a pink paisley tie and a snazzy cream colored fedora.  Out of 124,500 people in attendance, I had found Bill Poole and his daughter Kathy Smith.

You couldn’t help but notice him. His smile was generous. His eyes were taking all the spectacle in. His proud daughter gracefully stood next to him. I offered to take their picture and asked them where they were from. They came from Raleigh, N.C. Smith introduced me to her dad and after we took some photos, she told me that this was their bucket list moment. When I realized what a wonderful gift she was giving her dad, I had to turn my head and fight back tears. It is every daughter’s dream to give something special to her parents. In the world of horse racing, I have often listened to stories of my colleagues who spent their childhood at the track with their parents or grandparents. This is a delightful spin where the daughter brings her dad to the track. It is perfect!    

They arrived Wednesday evening. Thursday was a whirlwind as they got up early and went for breakfast at Dawn at the Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum. He loved walking around Millionaires Row and seeing “where all the highfalutin people go!” At the museum, he jumped at the chance to mount the mechanical race horse and rode in the simulated horse races. He grinned readily when describing his ride and said “I enjoyed it!  I really did!” He posed proudly with the American Pharoah replica. Then they were whisked off to Lexington, Ky., and visited Old Friends, Three Chimneys Farm and the Buffalo Trace Distillery. They capped off the evening at the Ferdinand’s Ball benefit for Old Friends. Yes!  They danced the night away celebrating! Poole said that going to the farms was really neat and that it was a real treat to see the horses. He looked at his daughter and said “We really had a ball that night and met some neat people from Alabama, Georgia and Washington. I won’t forget it!” 

Poole was born in 1934. He has followed every Derby since he was 6 years old. He and his dad would listen to it on the radio. He remembers that they watched the Derby when they got a television. He has strong memories of Citation’s win in 1948. He fondly remembers Venetian Way (1960), Secretariat (1973), Affirmed (1978) and Spectacular Bid (1979). 

Poole has been a widower since 1992. Year after year, Smith thought about taking her dad to the Kentucky Derby. They always had Kentucky Derby parties at home. One grandson would make elaborate representatives of the horses. They both did their research before their trip. Smith had invested in a well-crafted package that included hotel, transportation, special events and tickets. Poole researched the races and told Smith she needed to pack pink for the Kentucky Oaks. She bought him the pink sport coat. He looked at the Oaks crowd and said “All of these people are dressed up so nice.” I left with the promise to find them Derby morning and giggled when I saw them head to the Gray Goose Oaks Lily booth to sample the signature cocktail of the day. Perfect!

Derby morning, they made their way back to Churchill Downs. Poole was wearing a crisp pink and white stripe jacket with an open neck white cotton shirt appointed with blue and pink stripes. Smith was Derby perfection in her rhinestone-trimmed mint green dress with a matching floral wrap. She wore a large Derby hat that softly floated around her head. They were beaming in anticipation. We sat and talked about how incredible their seats were. They were going to be able to see the start of the Derby.  They had already seen some of the undercard races. Poole said “It’s amazing! You don’t realize how fast the horses are until you are there in person compared to watching on TV!” They had tried a mint julep and were sorting out their bets for the day. He was rooting for Gun Runner, Destin and Mor Spirit but decided Derby morning to add in Exaggerator and Lani. Smith was betting on Gun Runner. 

There was a major rain storm threatening Louisville that I was monitoring. I texted Smith and suggested she move her dad under shelter until it passed. Luckily, she did. They were safely tucked into the Grandstand Terrace and didn’t get wet. By then, Poole’s neighbors had grown very protective of him as had everyone he crossed paths with. When it came time for the Derby, they asked the folks standing in the aisles to please clear a path so he could see the race.

Poole said he shed some tears during My Old Kentucky Home. It brought him back “to the days when Daddy and I watched on TV.” He was also remembering “when Kathy was young and we watch with my wife.” It was a very emotional moment for him. When the horses were parading to the gate he thought “It’s exciting to see it on TV but not like it is when you are sitting a few yards away and seeing it in person! Once they get in that gate and they take off, that is something you just can’t feel when you are watching it on TV.  When you are there and you see them come out of the gate, you feel the excitement and the emotion!” He loved watching the horses load into the starting gate. He couldn’t believe the roar of the crowd! “When the crowd roared during the last turn, those horses were moving! I was yelling for Gun Runner! I never thought I would ever be here.”

Bill Poole is an amazing man. His kind eyes and loving smile draw you instantly to him. When you look at photographs of him as a child and young adult, you can see the love of life within him. You can see the same joy he experienced in 1941 sitting in a cart pulled by a large goat as what he was experiencing at Churchill Downs. As a young man, his pictures show him to be just as charming as he is wearing his fedora. They are the kind of people you want to spend time with. You want to hear their stories. The Derby was the perfect experience for them because they were willing to try new things, meet new people and soak up the entire experience of Derby week. They made friends everywhere they went.   

Smith has this advice. “Go!  Plan well ahead if you can. Go to all the events!” Poole smiled at his daughter and said “I have had a wonderful time. This has given me a lot of memories.  It’s a once in a lifetime trip.” 

Now is the perfect time to start planning that special trip for someone you love. Is horse racing on your bucket list? Check out the Breeders’ Cup this November at Santa Anita! It’s going to be an amazing experience! Look into going to next year’s 143^rd Kentucky Derby. There are lots of different types of packages available to make your trip an unforgettable experience.  Time to start planning now!

Some final words of wisdom from Poole. “You have to be there to feel the emotions. It’s so much greater and exciting to be there! If you have been a follower for all these years and you have never been; then you owe it to yourself to be there in person!”

He should know. His daughter gave him the trip of a lifetime. And we are all the better for it because she shared her dad with the rest of us at Churchill Downs. What a joyful man! What a joyful experience!  Achieving a bucket list moment in life can be a powerful occasion. Giving that experience to someone else is such a gift of love. Sharing it with your dad? Priceless!