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First Down Kentucky: Very Important Brain Dump

Nick-Roush-headshotby: Nick Roush06/07/24RoushKSR
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Hello, friends. I hope you’re enjoying yourself before a fun first weekend of June. Typically, the summer isn’t well known for its sporting events, but there’s a lot of stuff on the slate for this weekend, including Kentucky football.

The First Friday Fan Fest is a free event in Downtown Ashland from 6-9 pm EST. From Brock Vandagriff to Deone Walker, it’s a chance to meet plenty of your favorite Wildcats.

In my hometown of Louisville, it’s a hectic weekend with a different kind of football. Racing Louisville is at home tonight. It’s also the first big weekend for Catholic Church picnics. Lourdes, Lawrence, Edward, and Mt. Carmel are the big ones, but there are plenty more where that came from. Oh, and it’s family fun day at Churchill Downs on Sunday, aka an excuse to take your kids to the track and they’ll actually be entertained.

That’s a lot for the social calendar. The sports calendar in between all of that is just as busy, with the Kentucky baseball Super Regional, the KHSAA Stat Baseball Tournament in Lexington, game two of the NBA Finals, and the Belmont Stakes. Let’s discuss some of that, shall we?

Belmont Stakes Takes

Sierra Leone would be an easy choice as the favorite if this was at the traditional distance of 1 1/2 miles. Since it’s at the Derby distance of 1 1/4 miles, I think this race is fairly wide open. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sierra Leone, Mystik Dan, or Seize the Grey won. A lot of who I place a win wager on will depend on the odds. One thing I can tell you: Don’t take Antiquarian out of your exotic wagers.

Pletcher has Johnny V on a horse who lost to a bunch of good horses in the Louisiana Derby, then showed excellent form off the pace to beat many of the foes he’ll face today in the Peter Pan. He’s at 12-1 on the morning line and that may get all the way up to the 15 or 20-1 range. There’s a ton of value for a horse that could very well produce a shocking result at Saratoga.

Official Visit Weekend for Kentucky

It’s a good weekend to be a Jeff Ruby’s server. Mark Stoops’ program is hosting seven official visitors, four of which are on the offensive line.

Isaac “Spike” Sowells
Javeon Campbell
Tucker Kattus
Stone Saunders
Darrin Strey
Taren Hedrick
Shamar Arnoux

I’ve never personally gone through an official visit, but I can tell you there will be a party of some sort tonight, followed by a day that features photo shoots, meetings with coaches and academic advisors, followed by the big meal at Jeff Ruby’s on Saturday night, which typically serves as the dealmaker. The question is: will these plans be changed by the Kentucky baseball game on Saturday night? We’ll keep our heads on a swivel.

Want more Kentucky football recruiting intel? Join KSR Plus for the most comprehensive coverage of the Cats on the internet. With a KSR membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.

I’m Nervous about Kentucky Baseball

I’m no Diamond Dan Hager, but man, something about this Super Regional already has me overly anxious. There’s going to be so much juice at Kentucky Proud Park, Big Blue Nation will be living and dying with every single pitch. It’s going to be exhilarating, but also incredibly stressful. Kentucky has never won a Super Regional game. Please, please change that this weekend.

The Clip of the Summer

Not sure you’re going to find anything better on the internet in 2024.

Finally, a Visual of the $80 Pants

After seeing these horrifying images, are we sure they should’ve let Scottie off the hook?

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2025-09-14