Dear Kid,

What a great few days! First Star Wars Day, the Cinco de Mayo/Revenge of the Fifth, and now the Kentucky Derby. Woo-hoo!

Five important Kentucky Derby things you should know, might know, but probably never thought about.

Horses are bigger than puppies, but you have a better chance of snuggling a puppy today than of getting close up and personal with a horse.

There are several different types of horseshoes (regular, rim, bar, egg bar, heart bar, sliders, etc.). None of them are designed to be worn with a tuxedo. All should be hung with the heel part up so the luck doesn’t run out.

The colors a jockey wears are the registered colors of the horse’s owner or trainer. You do not have registered colors. You don’t have a horse either, so that works out.

You also don’t have a hat worthy of worthy of Kentucky Derbyness. Because: duh.

There are more than 400 roses in the winners’ garland (and presumably no thorns).

Happy Julep!

Love, Mom