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USED TO. THAT’S RIGHT. MADISON ELLIOTT HAS BEEN OUT AT THE TRACK TODAY. LET’S SEE WHO SHE CAUGHT UP WITH. SOME PEOPLE COMING TO THE OAKS. IT’S A YEARLY TRADITION AND MAKING SURE THEY GET THEIR BETS. AND FOR OTHERS, IT’S A LIFELONG DREAM. AND THEIR VERY FIRST TIME, IF ANYONE IS EXCITED TO BE AT OAKS, IT’S LINDA LADNER. SHE JUST TURNED 80 YEARS YOUNG AND IS COMING TO OAKS WAS A LIFELONG GOAL. HER DAUGHTER AND SON IN LAW BROUGHT HER FOR HER BIRTHDAY ALL THE WAY FROM OKLAHOMA. SHE WANTED TO COME TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY, SO WE PUT THAT ON OUR LIST AND MADE IT HAPPEN. SHE’S BEEN WATCHING THE RACES SINCE SHE WAS 21, SO NOW I GET TO COME HERE JUST I LOVE THE ATMOSPHERE. I LOVE THE HORSES. JUST LOOKING AT THEM. I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BETTING, BUT I’M GOING TO. FOR OTHERS, THIS IS A YEARLY TRADITION. WHITE SHEET 910 TWO. THESE THREE MEN WHO ARE ORIGINALLY FROM MICHIGAN CAME TO THEIR FIRST DERBY 37 YEARS AGO, THE YEAR IT SNOWED, BUT THAT DIDN’T SCARE THEM AWAY. BUT WE HAD SO MUCH FUN. WE CAME BACK AND OVER THE LAST 37 YEARS WE WORKED OUR WAY AROUND DIFFERENT SECTIONS, DIFFERENT BOXES. AND THIS IS KIND OF WHERE WE’RE AT RIGHT NOW. AND THEY TAKE IT PRETTY SERIOUSLY TOO. THEY WERE FOCUSED. WE GOT 100 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE RIGHT HERE, BUT THEY AREN’T SHARING THEIR SECRET TO SUCCESS. I CAN ONLY CALL YOU LIKE IN A VAGUE WAY, BUT I PUT A SPREADSHEET TOGETHER, STARTING WITH ALL THE PREP RACES. SO I WATCH ALL THE PREP RACES. I SEE WHO CAME IN FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD. HOW MUCH DID THEY WIN BY AND BY THE TIME I’M DONE, I GOT THIS MASSIVE EXCEL SPREADSHEET. THEY WOULDN’T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY.
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Three friends keep a 37-year Kentucky Derby tradition alive
The Kentucky Derby weekend brings hundreds of thousands of people to Louisville. That includes three men who’ve made it a tradition to visit for the last 37 years. David Uschwald said he and his friends are originally all from Michigan. The first year they came was in 1989, the year it snowed. But that didn’t stop them. “But we had so much fun,” Uschwald said. “We came back, and over the last 37 years, we worked our way around different sections, different boxes, and this is kind of where we’re at right now.” They also come prepared.”But I put a spreadsheet together, starting with all the prep races,” he said. “So I watch all the prep races, and I see who came in first, second, and third. How much did they win? And by the time I’m done, I’ve got this massive Excel spreadsheet. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t.””We’ve got 100 years of experience between us,” he said.But whether they win or lose, they say it’s a trip that is non-negotiable. “When I proposed to my wife 24 years ago, I said, ‘Honey, I love you. Will you marry me? But I’ve got two guys’ events that I must always attend. The Derby and this September golf outing in Michigan.’ And she said yes!” Uschwald said.
The Kentucky Derby weekend brings hundreds of thousands of people to Louisville.
That includes three men who’ve made it a tradition to visit for the last 37 years.
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David Uschwald said he and his friends are originally all from Michigan.
The first year they came was in 1989, the year it snowed. But that didn’t stop them.
“But we had so much fun,” Uschwald said. “We came back, and over the last 37 years, we worked our way around different sections, different boxes, and this is kind of where we’re at right now.”
They also come prepared.
“But I put a spreadsheet together, starting with all the prep races,” he said. “So I watch all the prep races, and I see who came in first, second, and third. How much did they win? And by the time I’m done, I’ve got this massive Excel spreadsheet. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t.”
“We’ve got 100 years of experience between us,” he said.
But whether they win or lose, they say it’s a trip that is non-negotiable.
“When I proposed to my wife 24 years ago, I said, ‘Honey, I love you. Will you marry me? But I’ve got two guys’ events that I must always attend. The Derby and this September golf outing in Michigan.’ And she said yes!” Uschwald said.
