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A featured ingredient of the famed mint julep, bourbon is as synonymous with Kentucky as horses. Both are key components of the Bluegrass State’s economy. Bourbon is a $9 billion industry, and the state is home to 100 distilleries owned by 84 companies producing 95% of the global bourbon supply. This golden spirit is powering an industry that employs more than 23,000 people, opening up opportunities for underrepresented populations to make their own mark on this uniquely American phenomenon.

It was a year ago that prominent Thoroughbred owner and St. John’s University alumnus and mega booster Mike Repole can recall being at Gulfstream Park with Red Storm men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino to watch the Curlin Florida Derby.

You’d better believe the Kentucky Derby will be a hot topic this spring in the Boston Red Sox locker room. Derby fever is contagious and two Sox players already have been bitten by the horse racing bug: Walker Buehler and Alex Bregman, both of whom signed with the team this offseason.

Was this pairing planned to share trips to the racetrack and team up on Pick 4 tickets? I’d like to think so, but even if it was just coincidence, it’s a perfect match … and it won’t be the first time the new teammates have joined forces.

That combination of milk chocolate, caramel, nougat, and peanuts truly is satisfying. So, too, is the way the Snickers bar was named … especially for racehorse fans.

Minnesotan Franklin Clarence Mars developed a passion for candy making as a child when he had a mild case of polio. It was during that time that his mother, Alva, taught him how to hand-dip chocolate, so we owe Alva a debt of gratitude every time we inhale a Milky Way, a packet of M&M’s, or, yes, a Snickers.

BloodHorse, in partnership with Louisville, Ky.-based radio host Louie Rabaut, will launch a new podcast, BloodHorse Monday, Feb. 3.

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