LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Steve Matherly and Marvin Brunick have been friends for over 60 years.

What You Need To Know

  •  Champions Day takes place on Wednesday of Derby week and celebrates Kentucky's champions

  •  Steve Matherly and Marvin Brunick attended Champions Day as part of a yearly tradition to go to Derby Week together

  •  They placed bets and have been doing that since high school

Since the pair were in high school, they have been placing bets at Churchill Downs during Derby Week.

“It’s fun to try and pick the horses,” Brunick said. “You look at this racing form and it tells you the horse’s past performances and you can look at them and you can pick a horse that you like and bet on it and you hope that you win.”

Even though Brunick lives in another state, he makes the trip up to Louisville every year to keep up the tradition.

Marvin Brunick (left) and Steve Matherly (right) sat down to look through their program and decide which horses to place bets on for the next race. The pair have been placing bets on Derby Week since they were in high school. (Spectrum News 1/Geraldine Torrellas)

“I think this is 25 years in a row,” said Matherly regarding the two of them going to Churchill Downs during Derby Week.

“We always come here,” Brunick said. “This is a wonderful place.”

They didn’t win any bets for the first race, but that didn’t stop them from flipping a page from their program and trying to identify what horses to bet on for the next one.

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