I was never into horse racing until I met my guy. I had gone to Canterbury a few times as a youth & enjoyed it but that’s where my experience with horse racing ended. My guy is very into horse racing & handicapping. He used to be much more involved but since moving to Almost Canada it’s harder to stay current with it. The track is too far away so you just don’t pay attention as much.

He is the one who got me into handicapping/horse racing. I used to be pretty decent at it. I never won big but it was fun and I did well enough. For the most part we only pay attention to the Derby or the Triple Crown these days. We watch the prep races online to stay up to date. We were actually lucky enough to witness a triple crown winner, American Pharaoh, in 2015. The Triple Crown hadn’t been won yet in our lifetimes. He also won the Breeder’s Cup that year becoming the first horse in history to win what it now termed “The Grand Slam.”

This year there will be no triple crown winner as the Derby winner lost the Preakness. That being said I was lucky enough to cash a ticket on him for the derby. I ended up winning $100 which is my biggest win yet. Not too bad for someone who is very out of practice playing the ponies.

Kentucky Derby Pie Cookies from Bob’s Red Mill United States of Cookies

(PS I din’t take a photo cause they were nothing special. Yummy. Just not as good as I would have hoped)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup evaporated cane sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp bourbon
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup chocolate chunks
• 1/2 cup pecans