First Saturday in May is Kentucky Derby Day. Ladies dust off their best hats, or get a new colorful and more eccentric one, while men polish the silver gobelets ready for an exhilarating sequence of mint juleps. The crowd is festive and cheering, the high spirit atmosphere defeats the occasional cold rain. Even though I’m not really a horse-race guy, I couldn’t resist the truly electrifying final competition tension, the Derby itself, and the circuit long mounting crowd roaring that explodes at the Finish Line crossing.

Canon T90. Ektchrome 100. Everybody was pretty open to be photographed, but nonetheless a big smile and a “May I?” were mandatory. On the other hand, horses weren’t very keen to stay still.

All photos ©Michele Molinari