{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"The News Journal","provider_url":"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net","title":"Phillip Perkins heading to his 70th consecutive Kentucky Derby &ndash; The News Journal","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"ZbJ8hJruYP\"><a href=\"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net\/phillip-perkins-heading-70th-consecutive-kentucky-derby\/\">Phillip Perkins heading to his 70th consecutive Kentucky Derby<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net\/phillip-perkins-heading-70th-consecutive-kentucky-derby\/embed\/#?secret=ZbJ8hJruYP\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;Phillip Perkins heading to his 70th consecutive Kentucky Derby&#8221; &#8212; The News Journal\" data-secret=\"ZbJ8hJruYP\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/4-col-Perkins-and-Derby-Winner-Coat-1.jpg","thumbnail_width":480,"thumbnail_height":396,"description":"When he was 12 years old, Phillip Perkins hitchhiked to Louisville with an older brother to see his first Kentucky Derby, and he hasn\u2019t missed one since. Provided that he can make it to Louisville Saturday and get a ticket \u2013 he normally buys one from a scalper \u2013 Perkins will celebrate a milestone attending his 70th consecutive Kentucky Derby. \u201cThere is nobody, even on millionaire\u2019s row, that enjoys the Derby, the festivities, that has the interest in it that I do,\u201d Perkins said. &#8220;People say, doesn\u2019t it get old to you?\u2019 No. The only thing that gets old is the hassle for a ticket or a parking place. When those horses come out on the track, I have to calm myself down because my heart starts beating so fast. I get so excited like I was there the first time.\u201d \u201cTo me, the number one sport in Kentucky is the Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Derby was known a long, long time before they ever put a three point shot up there.\u201d Perkins, who is a retired teacher, still remembers his first Derby. He and his 18-year-old brother, Edgar Perkins, hitchhiked there. \u201cHe had gone to the Derby either four or six years. He had gone to the Derby with the National Guard. Back then, you could join the National Guard if you could carry a rifle and drill. Age didn\u2019t matter back then,\u201d Phillip Perkins noted. The duo arrived at Churchill Downs in time for the first race. \u201cThe first person we saw when we arrived was Mr. Wallace Hicks. He had been my brother\u2019s teacher at Williamsburg and he was my science teacher in seventh grade. I had proof that we made it,\u201d Phillip said laughing. A friend, Sonny White, had told him beforehand that they would never make it there. \u201cThere was an old man holding a wooden ladder against a brick wall that separates Central Avenue from the race track. He said, \u2018Come on boys. Give me $1 a piece and I will let you climb the ladder.\u2019 Man I\u2019m telling you they were going up the ladder like nobody\u2019s business,\u201d Perkins recalled. \u201cSome people sat down on a concrete ledge up there. Some people jumped over to the other side and went over into the infield or wherever they wanted to go. This was 1948. They didn\u2019t have all that security that they do now.\u201d Before the boys could climb up, two policemen came along carrying two big nightsticks and told the old man, he couldn\u2019t have that ladder up there. \u201cHe was, \u2018Oh, yes sir! Yes sir!\u2019 He grabbed that ladder and he laid it down long ways against the wall,\u201d Perkins recalls. \u201cThey didn\u2019t take 10 steps until that old guy had that ladder back up against the wall.\u201d The old man ended up letting the two boys climb the ladder for $1 total. \u201cWe had the best seats in the house. We could see all around the race track,\u201d Perkins said. The winner that year was Citation, who is still Perkins favorite Derby winner. Phillip and Edgar Perkins hitchhiked to the Derby for the next three years before his brother went off to the Korean War. \u201cHe wrote me a letter in 1952. He said, \u2018Now you have a string going. Don\u2019t break it.\u2019 He said, \u2018Just be careful. You can hitchhike by yourself. Go see the Derby. That has happened time and time again.\u201d One advance ticket Perkins said that he doesn\u2019t anticipate having a problem buying a ticket from a scalper this year. There was only one year that he had an advanced ticket to the Derby. This was the year after his brother was robbed and murdered in 2004. At the time, Perkins was thinking about breaking his streak in 2005. Byron Crawford, who had done articles on Phillip Perkins several times, called after he heard that Edgar Perkins had been killed. Crawford insisted that Phillip not break the string. He contacted Churchill Downs, who called Phillip. \u201cThey said if anybody is anybody is going to see the Derby this year it ought to be you. They sent me two third floor club house seats and a valet parking pass,\u201d Perkins said. \u201cThe valet parking pass was really worth more to me. I can buy a ticket from a scalper.\u201d The last couple of years Perkins hasn\u2019t had to purchase a ticket. He said somebody has walked up to him the last two years and given him a ticket. The people have asked him, \u2018Is this really your 68th or 69th Kentucky Derby and you can\u2019t get a ticket from Churchill Downs?\u201d Derby day attire Perkins Derby day attire this year includes a sports coat with the winners of every Kentucky Derby winner since 1875 embroidered on it and the names of all the winners. It was a present from his only grandson, Cody Perkins, and his wife, Sarah. It is one of his most prized possessions. Tammy Detillier, a former student of Perkins, spent three months embroidering the coat with the name of each Derby winner. It has 142 Derby winner names on the outside. \u201cI asked her if she would do this again? She said no,\u201d Phillip Perkins noted. There is still some room on the coat for a few more names. The names of most Derby winners are embroidered in black thread. Triple Crown winners, those few horses that have won the Kentucky Derby, The Preakness and The Belmont, are embroidered in gold. Phillies or female horses, who won the Derby, have their names embroidered in pink. Geldings are embroidered in green. Only nine geldings have won the Derby. Perkins hat, which he has worn to the Derby for several years now, has a tag that reads, \u201cTalk Derby to Me.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve worn this hat for about 10 or 15 years. I have had more fun with it,\u201d Perkins noted. \u201cThis gets me more hugs and more kisses. There is always somebody, who wants to come [&hellip;]"}