STL All Sports

The crowd at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby is one of the biggest ever assembled in the world of sports. It was so last May, and the May before, and as far back as anyone can remember. It was just as big in '38, when a fellow who had been too busy drinking mint juleps finally fought his way to the betting window with his two-dollar bill just as the wicket slammed down in his face.

"Hey, what's the idea?" growled the guy. "I wanna two-buck ticket on Fighting Fox."

"Too late, bud," said the clerk. "The race has started."

"Nuts to you," chirped the drunk. "This two-spot is as good as one of your old tickets, anyway." And, waving the two-dollar bill in his fist, he staggered" back to the grandstand just as the horses came thundering past the finish line.

"Who won?" he asked a neighbor.

"Lawrin," was the answer.

"What about Fighting Fox?" asked the lush.

"He wasn't any place," answered the other.

"Oh, damn!" moaned the drunk. And he tore the two-dollar bill into little pieces.