KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — One Knoxville man's dreams just came true.
"There are certain times of the year there's only one place in the world you want to be and this weekend, you want to be in Louisville, Kentucky," said Mike Carver.
His horse, O Besos, will take off from the gates of The Kentucky Derby on Saturday. When Carver found out his horse had qualified for this year's Run for the Roses, all he could do was cry.
"I started crying when they called me and said, 'Mike we're in," he said. "It's it's a life-changing event."
The horse is familiar will a little completion, on the race track and off – beating out thousands of other horses for a shot to win the biggest horse race of the year.
"Only 20 out of 20,000 actually qualified," said Carver. "So obviously it's the biggest race in the world."
Carver had not started buying horses until around nine years ago, and some of those horses showed potential in the racing. But he says O Besos is not like the others. Carver said that particular horse is special.
"He's really a special horse. He's just got such a big heart and he tries so hard," said Carver.
The Kentucky Derby is known as the fastest two minutes in sports, and Carver said he knows how big of a moment this is not just for him but also for the whole City of Knoxville.
"It's a dream come true. We're America’s Horse and I really feel we love sharing the spotlight with Knoxville and the community," he said.
He said that he wants Knoxville to know that in Saturday's race, O Besos represents every member of the city and that the horse is going to shock the world.
"We love that community and Knoxville and we're just so blessed to be able to represent everybody in Tennessee," said Carver.
So this year, everyone in Knoxville will have a horse in the race.
