The Kentucky Derby has the mint julep. What does the Ohio Derby offer as a signature drink? Get ready to sip the Black Gold.
View full sizeThe Black Gold contains rum, tequila -- and a pretty good story.The Kentucky Derby has the mint julep, the Preakness has the Black-Eyed Susan cocktail and the Belmont Stakes has the Belmont Breeze.
But what about the Ohio Derby?
Sounds like a setup for a bad joke, perhaps with the punch line of the "No-Win Fizz" or "Socks on the Beach" or "the Flaming Cuyahoga."
The folks at Thistledown have tried over the years. Most of the attempts at an official race drink have been served, sipped and forgotten, even by veteran bartenders at the track in North Randall. A few years back, a Derby daiquiri debuted -- and then disappeared. Then came the Ohio Derby Royale, but that had to be scrapped on race day because a key ingredient, coconut rum, was never delivered.
"Most of them were experiments, and I think they didn't do very well because most people are used to a Kentucky Derby drink," said Doris Organ, Thistledown's food and beverage operations manager. "Even the Black-Eyed Susan doesn't go over well here because people are just indoctrinated with the mint julep."
This year is different. Thistledown believes it might have hit the libation perfecta.
Meet the Black Gold.
Named after the only horse to win the Kentucky Derby and the Ohio Derby, the drink is an "explosion of tastes," said Organ.
Rum and tequila mixed with grenadine and Sierra Mist, a lemon-lime soda, give it a tart-yet-sweet flavor, not too strong, yet not too fluffy, either.
"I think it's great. It identifies with the horse," added Organ. "He had a bittersweet life."
At a tasting last week, first-time track visitor Tasha Fuller, visiting Cleveland from Alabama, sipped a Black Gold in the clubhouse.
"It's spiffy," she said, sitting back and running her fingers over the moisture on her glass. "It's good. I was expecting it to be strong. It's mild. It's smooth."
If the public likes it, Black Gold might become an annual tradition at the track, said Organ.
"Hopefully, people will catch on," she said, "and we'll give Kentucky a run for its money."
The introduction of the new Ohio Derby drink might also correspond with the rebirth of the track itself.
The Ohio Derby -- once a $300,000 race televised live on ESPN and with a weekend of festivities, including a swanky ball and a 5K race -- is now a $100,000 race with no ball, no race, no ESPN. Last year, the Derby was nearly canceled.
But barring any snags, by Saturday, Derby Day, casino-giant Harrah's will have taken over ownership of the track, which was sold in bankruptcy court earlier this year. And last week, the Ohio Lottery Commission revived plans to place video slot machines at Thistledown and other Ohio horse tracks.
So the future of the race looks bright.
Looks even brighter if you're holding a Gold.
(The Black Gold will be available for $6 at Thistledown on Saturday for the Ohio Derby.)
More on Black Gold
- Historic PD page of Kentucky Derby win ( Black-Gold-wins-Roses.pdf)
- Historic PD page of his arrival in Maple Heights ( Black-Gold-arrives.pdf)
- Historic PD page of Ohio State Derby win ( Black-Gold-wins-Ohio-Derby.pdf)
- The story of the champion colt