Gabriel Kane Cornell

Anna Laine West

Congratulations Jack!

Jack wins his first Derby!

Final Results

Picks - Derby - 2015

The names were drawn in alphabetical order by first name with the youngest getting an extra pick. 

Below are your horses and here are are the ODDS. Good Luck! TV coverage begins at 4pm on NBC. Post time for the Derby - approx 6:24pm. 

Luke – Ocho Ocho Ocho

Levi – Carpe Diem

Abby (West) – Far Right
Justin - Frammento

Kacey – Upstart

Andrew – It’s a Knock Out

Lyndsey – Dortmund

Kate (Cornell) – War Story

Jack – American Pharoah and Danzing Moon

Rick – Keen Ice

Debbie – Frosted

Clay – Mr. Z

Ted – MubTaaqhij

Allie – Stanford 

Kate (West) – Firing Lane

Regan – International Star and Tencendur

Mary – El Kadier
Mike – Bolo

Derby - 2015

The 141st running of the Kentucky Derby is this Saturday, May 2nd. You can GO HERE to learn all about the KY Derby. I need to to know if you would like to participate. The sweepstakes is only open to "The Fam." (which includes extended Fam) I will be randomly putting the entries into a hat with randomly assigned numbers. Mary & I will then draw numbers alphabetically by the first name of each participant until all horses have been chosen. You could possibly have more than 1 horse to cheer on to the finish line! Please comment below if you would like to be included and stay tuned for updates. The field should be ready to go by Thursday of this week. Last year's winner - ABBY with "California Chrome." The winner gets a big congratulations from the rest of us and bragging rights for 1 year! 

You must let me know in the comment section if you want to be included

Whip-Around Fishing

Turtling - 4th of July Weekend

This is a spoof of a TV fishing show. Insider info. "Ricky Joe" is my brother Rick. "Snook" was the nickname for Rick and mine's Dad. "Paul Meadow" is where I thought Ted lived years ago. He actually lives in Palmetto, FL. "Debbie's Cafe" is the made up name for Rick's wife's kitchen where a lot of tasty food is prepared and served. "The Florida Club" is where Rick lives.

Abby Wins! A Great Sports Story

And the winner in the 2014 West Family Derby Sweepstakes is...
Abby!
And it's her very first Derby! Justin finished in second with Commanding Curve and Clay finished third with Danza. Final Results

This is a great sports story.  California Chrome's owners, Steve Coburn and Perry Martin, are no Kentucky blue bloods. They're a couple of working stiffs who live near Reno, Nevada.

A trainer called them "dumb asses" for getting into the racing game, inspiring the duo to put the letters DAP on their silks, which stands for Dumb Ass Partners.

"We're going to go down in history," Coburn predicted.

Derby Picks - 2014

Here's the random order in which the names were drawn along with the horse/horses picked. The first 3 names drawn out (Me, Mary and Clay) get 2 picks. I know what you're thinking, but I swear it was a random draw witnessed by Mimi.
And here are the ODDS.

Mike - Wildcat Red and Vinceremos
Mary - Uncle Sigh and Medal Count
Clay - Chiti and Danza
Abby - California Chrome
Rick - Dance with Fate
Levi - Candy Boy
Debbie - Wicked Strong
Luke - Samraat
Jack - Vicars in Trouble
Kate - Harry's Holiday
Ted - We Miss Artie (He didn't opt in - I just put him in)
Justin - Commanding Curve
Andrew - General A Rod
Lyndsey - Ride on Curlin
Kacey - Tapiture
Kay - Intense Holiday

Good luck!

KY Derby 2014

The 140th running of the Kentucky Derby is this Saturday, May 3rd. You can GO HERE to learn all about the KY Derby. I need to to know if you would like to participate. The sweepstakes is only open to "The Fam." (which includes extended Fam) I will be randomly putting the entries into a hat with randomly assigned numbers. Mary & I will then draw numbers alphabetically by the first name of each participant until all horses have been chosen. You could possibly have more than 1 horse to cheer on to the finish line! Please comment below if you would like to be included and stay tuned for updates. The field should be ready to go by Thursday of this week. Last year's winner - Clay West with "Orb." (I'm still not sure if he knows he won)The winner gets a big congratulations from the rest of us and bragging rights for 1 year! 

You must let me know in the comment section if you want to be included.

KY Basketball - An Empire in the Making?

KY's run through the NCAA Tournament was the greatest run I've ever seen a KY team make.

UK Defeats Louisville 73-66 Dec 28th

Welcome to This World Abigail Leigh West!

The newest member to the West family. Abigail Leigh West born 5:27am on Sept 30th, 2013 - 1 hour after Kacey and Justin arrived at the hospital. 8lbs 3oz and 20.5".  Thanks God!
Amazingly - Mary and I were in Altus when she was born. We had made our travel plans weeks in advance around the due date and "it just so happened" that she arrived the Monday after the Thursday that we arrived.

Abby's First Meet and Greet from M West on Vimeo.

35 Years? That's Crazy!

from our cruise to Cozumel....

A Great Visit!

And This Year's Winner Is...

CLAY is this year's winner with Orb and gets a BIG CONGRATULATIONS from the rest of us for his win in this year's West Family KY Derby Sweepstakes! My guess is he didn't even know he was entered but that's OK. Cadets are busy and they deserve to win.

She-Dub came in second with Golden Soul and I'm sure she didn't know she was entered. And a fun fact is that Rick's horse has finished last the past 2 years. 

REPLAY

Order of Finish: 

The Greatest 2 Minutes in Sports

The post positions for the horses have been drawn and I am now pleased to announce the order of The West Family Derby Sweepstakes drawing for horses as well as the corresponding picks. The order that players pick their horses was determined through a random drawing and here is the order in which the picks were made along with your horse/horses as drawn by Mimi.
*We added Clay into the running although we did not receive confirmation. He is a very busy cadet.
Good luck!

Meet Your Horses

Ted – Will Take Charge – 20-1

Ted – Black Onyx – 50-1 - SCRATCHED

Pops – Vyjack – 15-1

Pops - Palace Malice – 20-1

Mimi – Frac Daddy – 50-1

Mimi - Normandy Invasion – 12-1

Levi – Charming Kitten – 20-1

Levi – Revolutionary – 10-1

BDub – Golden Soul – 50-1

BDub – Goldencents – 5-1

Andrew Verrazano – 4-1

Kacey – Overanalyze – 15-1

Debbie – Mylute – 15-1

Luke – Lines of Battle – 30-1

Rick – Falling Sky – 50-1

Kate – It’s My Lucky Day – 15-1

Lyndsey – Giant Finish – 50-1

Justin – Oxbow – 30-1

Jack – Java’s War – 15-1

Clay – Orb – 7-2

TV coverage begins 4pm eastern on NBC - Post time is approximately 6:24pm.
Last Year's Race

The West Family KY Derby Sweepstakes - Derby 139

The 139th running of the Kentucky Derby is this Saturday, May 4th. You can GO HERE to learn all about the KY Derby. I need to to know if you would like to participate. The sweepstakes is only open to "The Fam." (which includes extended Fam) I will be randomly putting the entries into a hat with randomly assigned numbers. Mary & I will then draw numbers alphabetically by the first name of each participant until all horses have been chosen. You could possibly have more than 1 horse to cheer on to the finish line! Please comment below if you would like to be included and stay tuned for updates. The field should be ready to go by Thursday of this week. Last year's winner - Andrew Cornell with "I'll Win Another." The winner gets a big congratulations from the rest of us and bragging rights for 1 year! 

You must let me know in the comment section if you want to be included.

Happy Birthday Jack! The Big 1!

Phil's Story