Harrell: Horses and the derby Annelore Harrell Well, most of it. All of the hullabaloo at Churchill Downs began at 2:30 in the afternoon, nap time, after lunch rest my eyes time. But this was an event not to be missed and I resisted the sofa. I've been to horse races before. Twice. Once in 1956 when George William and I were in Paris on the first day of May. We were typical tourists, standing on the Champs-Élysées, map in hand, wondering where to go next. Trying to out-snob the locals. Buses kept stopping in front of us, conductors leaning out the door yelling, “Longchamp!”