For a first-timer, the Kentucky Derby infield is more sponsored chaos than horse race
I was sailing through Churchill Downs aimlessly, chasing a white whale of a story as a first-time Kentucky Derby attendee whose job was to find interesting sights and scenes.
It was all new to me — the vendors handing out free mint juleps, the elaborate walkways between varying millionaires’ suites — but nothing sung to me. I felt I was soon to be awash on the shore, without a story to file to my editors.
And then my ship docked at the Vineyard Vines stage in the Churchill Downs infield.
The pink whale logo that had breasted the t-shirts of my least favorite high school classmates was painted proudly on the stage behind a DJ blasting a dance remix to “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers.
Drunken late-20s and mid-30s dancers clad in pastel hues and Sperry shoes, all screaming “it was only a kiss!” in harmony.
The DJ eventually rammed The Killers hit into “All of the Lights” by Kanye West, into “Starships” by Nicki Minaj, into several other hit songs before culminating into a mashup of Pitbull’s “Hotel Room Service” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.”
From somewhere, I couldn’t see where, pink Vineyard Vines whale hats began flying around. I of course donned one the moment I could.
“Alcoholics, make some noise!” the DJ commanded. The crowd ferally followed his wishes. I looked up to see a DraftKings banner being pulled by a small plane, which was quickly blocked by the wave of pink whales thrown high in the sky.
Elsewhere, I stumbled on the White Claw Shore Club private patio building, and a mysterious Zyn-branded building that only let four or so people in at a time and did not allow any indoor pictures. I can’t even begin to guess what its purpose was.
To me, the infield was six-figure Southern trash taste executed at an elite level.
The infield feels more like a music festival than the structured suites inside Churchill Downs. Several stages lined the infield, including one with a trap remix of throwback jam “Whoomp! (There It Is)” by Tag Team.
Porta-potties abound. Lines for tented concessions and food trucks were nearly as long as the track.
Photo-ops, like the floral Ford Motor Company booth and a — you guessed it —- Vineyard Vines branded Ford Bronco drew crowds of couples and friends eager to have their shots taken.
‘This is a Kentucky tradition’
UK Athletics’ DJ Warren Peace and his friend, Cedric Moss, were both wearing elaborately sculpted derby hats amidst the party.
The hat for DJ Warren Peace, whose real name is Warren Edwards, had a red rose center-piece with lids from superhero-themed baby bottles lining its edge. Moss’ showed two horses facing outward from the vase of a rose, sitting on a base depicting the University of Louisville Cardinals’ logo.
Moss built both hats. He says built a different one each year since his first Derby in 1989.
“It took about three weeks to do,” he said. “You get the idea, you get in the shop and y’know, you make it happen.”
Despite living in different cities and rooting for different teams, Moss and DJ Warren have made their infield Derby trips a regular tradition.
Moss said they met at UK, where he receives treatment for his ongoing cancer. Those treatments are going well, he added.
“He’s my OG,” DJ Warren said of Moss. “I’ve got much love for him, and this is a Kentucky tradition. We’ve got to come.”
My text to my coworkers telling them not to look for God here was funny. But clearly - even behind an ocean of pink whales, under layers of Coors light cans and amidst the bustling beats of boat shows bumping to Pitbull - it was wrong.
