And, They're Off! BookSense.com to Host Kentucky Derby Party at BEA

All BookExpo America (BEA) attendees are invited to witness the most exciting two minutes in sports -- the running of the 2002 Kentucky Derby live from Churchill Downs -- at the first-ever BookSense.com Kentucky Derby Party, on Saturday, May 4, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in room 1E04 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. "It’s going to be a fun event, and a great way to blow off some steam at the end of a hard-working day at the trade show," said Len Vlahos, director of BookSense.com.

Few events in sports have the illustrious history of the Kentucky Derby, run annually the first weekend of May. A perennial rite of spring, the Derby, and horseracing, are the subject of countless books, and "there are a lot of horseracing fans in the publishing industry," noted Vlahos, himself an enthusiast.

Derby partygoers will be able to watch the race on two 50-inch plasma televisions. There will be mint juleps, a beer/wine bar, and courtesy of the University Press of Kentucky (UPK), "bourbon balls," considered a "a Kentucky Derby tradition," according to Wyn Morris, sales manager for UPK, one of the sponsors of the party.

Morris noted that UPK is bringing two-dozen Louisville Stoneware Julep Cups, possibly to be offered in "some type of prize," at the Derby party. Also, sponsor PublicAffairs/Perseus Books Group will be handing out, on a first-come, first-served basis, copies of its new book, Horse of a Different Color: A Tale of Breeding Geniuses, Dominant Females, and the Fastest Derby Winner Since Secretariat by horse breeder Jim Squires, said Gene Taft, director of publicity for PublicAffairs. The book is due out April 9, 2002.

Other sponsors of the BookSense.com Kentucky Derby Party are Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Contemporary Books/McGraw-Hill, Eclipse Press, and HarperCollins.

For more information, or to RSVP for the BookSense.com Kentucky Derby Party, e-mail Len Vlahos at [email protected].