AN UPCOMING EVENT
Murder at the Derby
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 9 2024
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An interactive murder, mingle mystery with a Spring Racing theme.
Find your magnifying glass, polish off your fingerprint kit, grab your notebook and be ready to search for clues.
Pop on your favourite fascinator and join us to interview the suspects and solve the mystery – just whodunnit?
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Before they Run for the Roses, these millionaires must solve a murder to clear their names…
Welcome everyone, to The Derby! This annual horse racing event has been run since 1875 and is steeped in tradition. The race, exclusively for three year old thoroughbred horses, takes place on the legendary dirt racetrack at Talbott Downs. The track is one and one quarter miles long, and in order to run in this historic race, the horses and their jockeys must first compete in numerous other races, the contest referred to as The Path to Talbott Downs. In the end, only twenty horses take to the track here at Talbott Downs, the winner leaving with money, fame and a place forever in the history books.
What could possibly go wrong?
Tickets are available to our Derby night now and you can bring your own supper to share – bar will be open for the evening
Dress up in your fabulous Spring Racing Attire, great prizes to be won!
To get tickets, one must be wealthy or know someone who is a part of society’s elite. With each step up higher in the stands, so rises the social status needed to gain entry. But even celebrities aspire to get into ‘Millionaire’s Row’, a section of viewing areas and private salons where the richest of the rich can rejoice in their wealth, drink, eat, bet on and watch the race while having their every need attended.
Those with access to Millionaire’s Row were offered a unique experience this year – a chance to visit the stables to greet the jockeys and horses, and, of course, wish the horse of their choice luck before being escorted back here to Millionaire’s Row for the race. But when two bodies are found in one of the stable stalls and the horse within is discovered missing, it’s up to the elite of the elite to find the killer to avoid bringing scandal down upon themselves!
Murder at the Derby: Character list
Chelsea Cohen
Reporter for the city’s largest newspaper, Chelsea Cohen is attending the Derby in a work capacity, as she is doing a piece on how millionaires spend their free time. Chelsea is fun-loving and vivacious, and not just a little excited to “peek behind the curtain” today and attend the famous and exclusive Millionaire’s Row. She has even bet on a few of the races, choosing to make her selections solely on the names of the horses she likes best.
Regina Blakely
The newest wife of millionaire and business tycoon Grant Blakely, Regina is younger than her new husband, which has started tongues wagging about her designs on the older Grant Blakely. The term “Gold Digger” has been whispered by more than one woman from her Mint Julep! Confident with a slightly intimidating air of entitlement, Regina is fashionable and poised, and her extremely large hat and beautifully tailored dress have ensured that she has been photographed often at the derby today.
Clara Blakely
Daughter of millionaire and business tycoon Grant Blakely and new step-daughter of Regina Blakely, Clara is a socialite and enjoys the spotlight. Having grown up “A Blakely”, her standards are high and her tongue is sharp. She views pretty much everyone else with an air of disdain, but truly believes that blood is thicker than water. This confident young woman seems off her ‘game” today though, and many have wondered what could be throwing off the seemingly unflappable Clara Blakely.
Melissa Turney
Melissa works in the barn with the horses in general, but lately she has only been focused on one horse in particular – a young thoroughbred named Gypsy Soul. She calls herself a “Horse Whisperer”, and while some insist there is no such career, those who have seen her at work can’t deny that she has a way of communicating with the horses unlike anything they have ever seen! Melissa has a very strong moral compass and a calm, peaceful, reassuring demeanour, not only with the horses, but also with people. This quiet woman definitely sticks out among the rest of those here today in Millionaire’s Row, as instead of a large hat and eccentric hat, she wears riding gear, as she has come straight from the stables after being accused of these murders!
Liza Masini
Movie Star Liza Masini is a Hollywood starlet. Liza has taken the world by storm since she starred in blockbuster smash hit called “The Red Lilac”. Since, she has enjoyed a successful career, and casting directors are lining up to get her to sign on for their projects. Liza has an air about her that only superstars seem to possess – confident and slightly mysterious.
Tandy Borel
A bit of a mystery today in Millionaire’s Row, Tandy clearly doesn’t come from money, although her designer knock-off “Derby Dress” shows she is certainly trying to fit in with those in the upper echelons of society. If her attire didn’t give her away though, her manner of speech would, as the moment she opens her mouth to speak, it’s clear she has never seen the inside of a private school. Regardless, Tandy is friendly, if not a bit introverted, and was excited to watch the Derby from “so high up!” today.
Greta Delacroix
Greta is a woman who has lived with opulence her whole life, and it shows. She enters each room with an unparalleled sense of entitlement, and is quick to give orders to anyone she views as her subordinate. She and her husband, Dom Delacroix, have watched the Derby from Millionaire’s Row wince they were both young and are part-owners of one of the horses in today’s race, a thoroughbred named ‘A Stone’s Throw’.
Dom Delacroix
Husband of Greta, Dom Delacroix is one of the longest-standing attendees of the Derby. A man born into wealth, he and his wife are considered staples at every society event, and they always arrive in style. Dom is brash and loud and likes to punctuate his sentences by slapping the other person on the back, and more than a few men have ended up with mint julep on their bow ties after a conversation with Dom. He is a partial owner of one of the horses in today’s race – a horse named ‘A Stone’s Throw’.
Grant Blakely
Millionaire and international business tycoon Grant Blakely is a high-roller, socially influential and a down-right intimidating man. Grant Blakely excels at business, and has dedicated his life to building his legacy. Charismatic to a fault, people are quick to become enamoured with Grant Blakely, but those who cross him quickly learn that to feel his wrath is to have everything one holds dear taken from them. Grant Blakely has recently married again for the third time. His new wife, Regina Blakely, is much younger than he is, which has been the source of much gossip, but also a cause of friction between Grant and his adult-aged children.
Adam Claxon
Bartender for Millionaire’s Row, Adam Claxon has the job of serving everyone here today while making sure their Mint Juleps are just right. A man familiar with high society, Adam is professional and polite – someone who does his job and does it well enough that those with the wealth and status to win an invitation to Millionaire’s Row hardly even notice he is there.
Jake Garrett
The jockey for a horse named A Shot In The Dark, Jake Garrett is one of the newer racers, and has not made many friends with the other jockeys on the circuit. He believes in doing things “by the book” and while the other jockeys hang around after the races and socialize, he is always quick out the door. Jake is slightly rude and awfully antagonistic, but is tolerated because he is a fantastic at what he does.
Dr. George Johnson
Dr. George Johnson is an equine vet, and has spent his career tending to the horses on the Derby circuit. While some have argued that George is “past his prime”, he retains his position on the circuit and, with the support of influential people like millionaire Grant Blakely, there is little chance he will be retiring any time soon. Dr. George Johnson wears a traditional seersucker suit, the same suit he has worn to the derby for decades.
Gerard Keens
One of the jockeys for the Derby, Gerard rides a horse named Flight of Fancy. A jockey since he was young, he grew up working and training horses in the Blakely family stables, and formed close friendships with the Blakely children when they were young. Naturally, he was not attending the Derby in Millionaire’s Row, but in a working capacity, as he was scheduled to race Flight of Fancy in the Derby today.