I’m so excited to be attending the Denver Mini Derby again this year! If you aren’t familiar or missed my event recap from last year, the Denver Mini Derby is a super fun Derby event in downtown Denver that includes craft cocktails, best-dressed contests, and a viewing of the Kentucky Derby on the big screen. They also—if you can believe it—have a mini horse race and even race Corgis! It’s so random but just too cute to miss. You can even read about the participating Corgis on their website, and this year there is a puppy participating named Kevin. Absolutely adorable.

It’s on my bucket list to attend the real Kentucky Derby someday, but until I can afford it (will I ever be able to afford a $5000 ticket?!), the Denver Mini Derby is the next best thing. One of my big blogging goals last year was to pitch to more companies, and reaching out to the Denver Mini Derby was my first successful pitch—that will always be special to me. And it’s still the first and only event I’ve been able to attend as an influencer!

I decided to reach out again this year because I had a great time in 2023 and wanted to share more mini horses and Corgis with y’all. I took my aunt last year, and this time around I’m inviting my boyfriend to come with me. It won’t be nearly as fun discussing what we’re going to wear as it was with my aunt, but at least now I have more options for headpieces (I’m thinking I might borrow the green one she wore last year!).

The Denver Mini Derby benefits Next Step Horse Rescue, a non-profit based in Colorado Springs that helps retrain and rehabilitate horses from across the country that have been abused and neglected. This year’s event takes place on Saturday, May 4, from 1pm – 6pm. General admission gets you in the door and gives you access to the open bar. VIP entry (if you take your Derby Day a little more seriously) comes with a VIP-only bar and a BBQ. You can purchase your tickets here! I had GA tickets last year and will again this year. The only thing I felt I was missing out on was seating—my aunt and I did eventually find a curb to sit on to rest our legs.

Last year’s event was held in an open space right off of Speer Blvd in downtown Denver. Speer is a busy road, and as you can tell, the grass of the open space hadn’t regrown post-winter yet—so it wasn’t the cutest for photo-ops and was so dusty, making our shoes and feet disgusting. I’m glad the organizers realized it wasn’t the best spot—the new location is at the Tivoli Quad on the CU Denver campus, which I think will be much more photogenic! It also became overcast throughout the day last year and by the end was very chilly. Fingers crossed for nicer weather this time around.

Stay tuned to see some ideas of what I might wear… I haven’t decided on an outfit yet but am expecting a new hairpiece in the mail any day now! I shared this Reel with a few options last year but want to try to think of some new combos for this year’s event. You can also see some of the horses and the racing doggos for yourself in last year’s recap Reel here.

Have you ever watched the Kentucky Derby on TV or done anything fun for Derby Day? I don’t really know anything about horse racing, but last year I did call the horse that ended up winning! We’ll see if I can keep my streak going this year.

 

Miles of smiles,
Grace