Most of the year I don't give a second thought to horses. When I see a huge hat and smell mint juleps though, it all comes back to me. It's Kentucky Derby time! I enjoy watching these horse races. While I don't keep up with the races during the rest of the year, I like to turn on the television and watch the race. I also love tuning in to see those absolutely wild hats. Mike Coppola This year, I'll be paying some extra attention to the festivities though. After some deep diving, I found out that Iowa has a really interesting connection to the elite race.