Battlestations !

Go General Quarters

I have a sentimental favorite in this year's derby. Bluegrass Stakes winner General Quarters is my pick. Retired Jefferson County high school principal Tom McCarthy is the reason. It would be great to see this gentle man school the bigger barns with a win.

This from John Clay in the Herald Leader, photo and a nice (1:28) video by David Stephenson here:

There are people around his barn, always around Barn 37, as they were Tuesday morning watching the one-man work force that is 75-year-old Tom McCarthy giving the star of his one-horse barn, General Quarters, a proper bath.

“We’re behind you Tom,” yelled a gawker.

There are the 100-or-so letters on his desk back home at the farm, the ones from former students and colleagues and people he doesn’t know, all wishing the former high school principal well.

“I’m going to sit down and try and (answer) them one day,” said McCarthy.

There are the other participants in this 135th Kentucky Derby, who can’t help but smile when you bring up the name of the $20,000 claimer who won the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland three weeks back and, who knows, might just win on
Saturday.

“You’ve got to just be in love with that story, even if you’re not even a sports fan,” said David Lanzman, co-owner of Derby favorite I Want Revenge. “If I didn’t have a horse in the race, I’d be cheering for his horse to win.”

"Perhaps wanting to get in on some of the love himself...

My mother was a principal,” said Bob Baffert, the three-time Derby winning trainer who has Pioneer of the Nile in this year’s race. “Watching him win those races, you know he’s just loving it. It’s fantastic.” ...

Kids Create Bookmarks For Derby

First Lady Jane Beshear has been a stalwart advocate for literacy in Kentucky since, at least, the mid 80's when she chaired the Kentucky Literacy Commission. I had the privilege to work under her direction (along with JCPS's Marty Bell) on the Commission, and have known Jane (and Steve) to be terrific parents at Cassidy School. They were always kind and considerate folks who never put on airs.

I'm glad to see her passion for literacy has not waned.

This from NKY.com:

FRANKFORT, Ky. – In classrooms throughout Kentucky, students are decorating bookmarks that support literacy while celebrating the 2009 Kentucky Derby.

The bookmarks will be distributed to guests attending the Derby Celebration, to be held 8 a.m. to noon, on May 2, on the Capitol grounds in Frankfort.

Each bookmark has the outline of a jockey and the quote, “Readers are Winners!,” from First Lady Jane Beshear. In all, about 7,500 bookmarks have been sent to classrooms for children age preschool through high school to color, paint and decorate. Approximately 60 school districts are participating.

“I love that this project allows children to be creative while also encouraging them to read,” Mrs. Beshear said, “combining fun and learning is the best way to ensure that children become lifelong readers.” ...

Former Principal Goes to the Derby

Owner-trainer Thomas McCarthy is a retired Louisville school teacher and high school principal, a prostate cancer survivor, and a fifty-year veteran of Thoroughbred racing.

General Quarters is the only horse McCarthy owns and trains, and the pair are headed to the Kentucky Derby as McCarthy's first ever entry in America's favorite race.

This from Indian Charlie:

This from C-J:

Smaller stables rooting for him big time in Derby

General Quarters' upset victory in Saturday's Blue Grass Stakes -- the performance that launched retired Louisville principal Tom McCarthy and his one-horse stable into the national limelight -- might have surprised a lot of people...