We missed the Kentucky Derby yesterday, because we were on our way home from the baseball game. But we soon learned that the winner was Golden Tempo (not a favored horse), and that he was trained by a woman. I think it was the first time that a female trainer had trained the winning Derby horse. My reaction? Shades of Peaky Blinders.

You may not have watched all 48 episodes of Peak⁸y Blinders, the Netflix show about Gypsy, Italian and Jewish rival gangs in London and Birmingham in the 1920s, but if you did you will probably recall that Tom Shelby’s horse, Grace’s Secret, wins the Epsom Derby after being trained by May Carleton, a widow lady whose house seems at least as large as Buckingham Palace.

Digression: In Peaky Blinders, “derby” is pronounced “darby” and “clerk” is pronounced “clark”. Apparently, before about 1500, the Brits pronounced these words just as we do (let’s call it proto-American English?), but it changed. Apparently, “er” before a consonant is always “ar” in Britain. There is, to my knowledge, only one “er” word pronounced “ar” in the U.S. Can you guess it? (The answer will be given at the end of this post.)

I never bet on the Kentucky Derby (or on anything else, ever), but I always pick a horse. My method, by my gut, is similar to the method Donald Trump uses when he picks a country to attack or to take over. And my record of success is similar to his, as well. This year, I picked Pavlovian. Why Pavolovian? There were two (maybe three) reasons. First, I thought that he would probably respond well to his training. Second, his name was easy for me to remember. And third (the “maybe”), I thought that, through the race, he would be Russian.

Well, let me tell you the truth (why hide it?). Out of a field of 18, Pavlovian came in a strong 18th. The odds for Pavlovian were about 30-1 (but before yesterday, they were 50-1, so I thought things were looking up), while Golden Tempo’s odds were 23-1. Not that different.

As I said, we were at the baseball game yesterday, and the Brewers beat the Nats 4-1. For reasons I will explain, we did not get there until the middle of the second inning, and because the Brewers scored 3 runs in the first, the game we saw was a 1-1 tie. I tried to explain that to the official scorekeeper when I suggested that extra innings would be appropriate, but he told me he had no time to debate with me on the subject, as he had to rush to his TV to see how Pavlovian was doing.

So why did we miss the first inning? The answer is: we really don’t know. We did everything right. We got a good street parking space near the Van Ness Metro, in spite of the enormous crowds visiting various embassy exhibits being put together at UDC. We got on the very, very crowded Metro and got off, as we were supposed to, at Gallery Place. We went downstairs for the Green Line train to the Navy Yard/Ballpark station. A Green Line train pulled into the station; it was moderately crowded, and the crowd waiting to join the train was pretty large. The train stopped. We stood near a door. The doors of the train didn’t open. The train sat there. We waited patiently. Eventually, the train, without ever opening its doors, pulled out and went on.

About 5 more minutes passed, and we saw another Green Line train (this one marked “Anacostia”, rather than “Branch Avenue”, meaning it was a special ballpark train) came into the station; it was empty as if they had just brought it into service to get us to the ballpark. This train went through the station without even slowing down.

Another 5 minutes passed, and finally another Green Line train entered the station. This one did open the doors and the crowd (now larger) entered and stood in the aisles. Almost 10 minutes passed, and this time the doors, now open, did not close. Outside the train, police and members of the National Guard seemed to be engaged in something.

Eventually, the doors closed and the train went on. I think we lost about 20 minutes or more in the trip to Nats Park, and that cost us the first inning, and failure to pick up the annual Star Wars (yesterday was May the fourth) bobble head, which our 5 year old grandson is undoubtedly expecting us to bring to him today.

Today, Sunday, looks like a lazy day. We were supposed to go to friends’ for lunch/brunch, but that was postponed, so here we are.

I may just continue reading Ruth Marcus’ Supreme Ambition, the story of Brett Kavanaugh’s unfortunate rise to the Supreme Court. Interesting and readable.

The Supreme Court – the true enemy of the people?

One more thing. The answer is “sergeant”.