Sue Wylie talks about her new book, How to Throw a Great Derby Party and her own Derby entertaining experiences.

Sue Wylie is a Lexington, Ky., radio personality who hosts and produces WVLK-AM's "Front Page" radio call-in show.

What experiences inspired you to write this book?

I have always been fascinated by how people talk year-round about the "great" Derby parties they attended "last year" and how they hope to be invited back "this year." It’s very seldom that you hear people raving about a "sensational" Christmas or Halloween party months later. Derby parties just seem to strike a special chord. Maybe because
they are the only private party that you might leave richer than when you arrived thanks
to the betting.

What is your favorite Derby experience?

My favorite Derby experience, which I got to enjoy, thankfully, for a number of first-Saturdays-in May, is no more, alas. It was the annual party hosted by Kitty and Bill Tonkin at Kitty's "Welcome Hall," which is said to be the oldest house still standing in Woodford County and is on the national historic register and pictured in a raft of books on Kentucky and southern history.

The Tonkins' party was everything people outside of Kentucky envision a Derby party to be. Guests (150 of them) were served mint juleps by white-coated waiters, gazed out on sweeping green pastures, wandered the ancient flower gardens, sat in the shade of massive, old elm trees, and were transported back in time. Welcome Hall is not a perfectly manicured estate. It is charmingly, slightly unkempt. Guests watched the Derby on televisions incongruously stacked on century-old desks or highboys. If the day was chilly, fires glowed in the fireplaces in every one of the downstairs rooms. The menu for the after-the-race buffet never varied: beef tenderloin and homemade cookies. The tradition came to a sad halt the year Kentucky's historic ice storm left the Welcome Hall grounds a wild tangle of fallen trees.

For me, the most exciting Derby experience was there at the Welcome Hall party in 1993, when trainer Mack Miller’s horse, Sea Hero, was the Derby winner. Mack was a longtime Versailles resident, as were most of the guests, including myself. In fact, he was one of my Morgan Street neighbors. He was much loved by his Woodford County friends and neighbors, who had known him for decades. The party guests went wild when Sea Hero won: Women wept and mint juleps were re-filled again and again for a "toast to Mack."

Why do you think the Derby, which is not something many people can actually attend, inspires so much interest and loyalty?

I think the Derby simply reinforces the image of Kentucky that so many non-residents
hold. Most have seen those years of whiskey ads, but they still picture us as a really
"southern state," where accents drip like Scarlet O'Hara's did, and where we spend warm, sunny days leisurely watching the horses frolic in the pastures. I can't tell you how
many times I have been on a business phone call with someone in, say, New York or
Boston on a bleak, 10-degree day and have them wistfully say, "I guess it must be sunny
and 75 there in Kentucky." The Derby TV coverage very intentionally gives the impression that Kentucky is all about sunshine on red roses, horses, betting, celebrity-gawking, and fun. Who wouldn't be intrigued?

Do you get emotional singing "My Old Kentucky Home"? What does it mean to you?

Yes, I do get a lump in my throat and a mist in my eyes when the Churchill Downs crowd
rises to its collective feet and sings our state anthem. It's the moment to forget our zany
political scene, our state budget crisis, and all our other woes and just be proud of our
deep traditions and our reputation as Thoroughbred Horse Capital of the World.

What's the funniest thing you ever saw at a Derby party?

The funniest thing I ever saw at a Derby party was at one of Marylou Whitney's lavish,
star-studded Derby Eve balls. It was always held in the atrium of her Roman pool house
on her Whitney Farm. It was a very elegant affair with bejeweled women in long gowns
and men in tuxedos. Pre-dinner cocktails were served poolside. Problem was, the large
crowd of guests, drinks in hand, stood precariously close to the pool. On one memorable
Derby Eve, in the course of one hour, three tuxedoed men took missteps and landed in
the pool. It was amazing! Every 10 minutes, another SPLASH. They all were quickly
helped out and hustled, in their humiliation, into the pool house dressing rooms where
Marylou very cleverly kept dry pants and shirts. One fellow spent the evening dining and
dancing in his emergency duds. The other two, both from out-of-town, were driven to
their hotels to change into dry clothes and then rejoined the parties.

Kentucky is Derby Party Central. Have you ever been out of the state at Derby time?

I have always been in Kentucky for Derby Day. I wouldn't dream of being anywhere else
on that day.

Seriously, you can tell us -- do you like mint juleps?

I like the idea of mint juleps more than the drink itself. However, I down a couple very
happily on Derby Day and I have patiently spent a lot of time waiting in line to get a julep at Churchill Downs' crowded bars.

What is your traditional Derby-day event -- brunch, afternoon -- and what do you serve?

Derby afternoon do's are my favorite and, if it's my party, I stick to the traditional Derby
foods: country ham on biscuits, beef tenderloin, fried chicken, and some version of Derby
pie. This is the food people expect and want to have on this so-traditional day.

As a hostess, what's your biggest fear?

It's never happened, thank God, but my biggest fear as a Derby party hostess would be that the television sets didn't work, or the electricity went off so that guests couldn't see...or even hear the race.

What is a favorite location or friend's house where you look forward to going for a
party?

No favorite location. As long as there are mint juleps, betting pools, and lots of
guests...the more the better...to gab about the jockeys, the favorites, the odds. Any place is a great Derby party setting.

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