Kentucky Derby betting odds and what hat to wear: Good Day Today

We're president and CEO of Suffolk Off-Track Bedding Corporation, Tony Pasella and Linda Pagan from the Hatshop NYC

Nice to meet you both. Nice to meet you. All right, so here's the question. What's more important on derby day, the bedding or the fashion

We might have a problem. We have a conflict of interest here

From my perspective, it's the bedding. Well, can we say that it's equal? If you're stylish better, then both people win

Okay. You look good. You bet good. Yeah. Maybe that's the way to do it. First of all, let's start with you, Linda, and talk about the hats

Any idea why people wear special hats to the derby? Well, originally, there was no telephoto lens

And so to wear a big hat in the stands was to protect you from the sun, but also stand out

Oh. Okay. So a little bit of this, a little bit of that. A little peacocking

Okay. Well, I can't resist. All these hats are so beautiful. I've chosen this green one

What do you think about this one, Linda? This is a green silk, wide brim, and it's a very Kentucky Derby hat

I love this. What would a hat like this go for, Linda? It's about 700 in my shop

Whoa. I mean, oh, wow, what a good deal. That's what I meant to say

That's a great price. I want to tell you that all our hats are made in New York City

I love that. And so we do 60% at the hat shop and all the other hats are done by New York milliners who trained

It's a craft. Just like cord weaning is for shoes. We are what they call milliners

Can we talk a little bit about some of these hats like this one? Yes. So unique with a little hummingbird on top

Yes, definitely. And then we also have bumblebees. Oh, and this one's just like a, I don't know if you can see

Kurt, put that one on. That's cute for you, Kurt. Put that one on

No, no, no. I've got the traditional. Okay, so these are Panama hats

Panama comes from Ecuador. It's a misnomer. Why do they call them Ecuador hats then

Well, because Teddy Roosevelt wore it at the opening of the Panama C

Ah, okay. I see we've learned something. Getting quite a lesson. So we both have Panama hats

Yes. And also, everyone, there's no such thing as one size fits all

One size fits most? No. So you measure your head above the eyebrows and above the ears and get any bump in there

that you can. This man has a big brain. He does. 24 and a quarter

When you put the hat on, you start from the front and you go to the back

And this needs a little steaming and you should always be able to get two fingers under the

brim because hats do not stretch. They get smaller when you wear them

And try to avoid picking it up this way. I know it natural but you going to end up with a hole there So let see you Sorry OK Life is better in a hat You look good This is the outfit I need You look good Pulls it all together I ready for the derby

All right. So now, thank you so much, Linda. Thank you. Tony, let's talk about the betting here

And I mean, what, $200 million last year? $320 million set the record last year in 24

Can you give us an idea? Who are the front runners? The three top choices are journalism, sovereignty, and Sandman

So journalism is a 3-1 favorite right now, going in. And obviously the odds change based off the way it's bet

And then sovereignty is 5-1, and 6-1 is Sandman. Okay, so last year it wasn't one of the top favorites

The top favorites. The last four winners have been long shots, always in double digits, morning line

And it's because you have a 20-horse field, and there's lots of opportunities to get boxed out, get a tough ride

And we have a lot of long shots in the Derby. And that's what makes it a fun race. Which one

American Promise. That's the horse I'm telling you. It started 30-1 at the beginning of the week

It's about 12-1 or so. Dean Wayne Lucas, who's a legendary trainer, trained it

And its father is Justify. It was the last horse to win the Triple Crown, finishing it off at the Belmont in 2018

So there you go. There's history. There's history. There you go. So, Tony, obviously a lot of people bet

I mean, I remember when there used to be the OTB, and that was the only place that you could go in town

And people, you would see that place packed on Derby Day. But now you don't even have to leave your house

Right. We have many opportunities for players to bet. We have 44 franchise locations and bars and restaurants all over Suffolk County

We have three branches, one at our casino, Jake's 58, a very busy place

Oh, that place is all, I see the parking lot because on 495, I see it and I'm like, wow, that place is busy

And we've spent about a million dollars putting up screens. It's a great place to watch a game or certainly this race

And then we have the online. We have SuffolkOTB.com. You can go to that site and you can get a mobile app for your phone and you can bet from your phone and network for iPhones or Androids

All right. So the Kentucky Derby is tomorrow in Louisville. The Belmont finishes things off in five weeks

It's on Fox, but it's moved for the second year in a row up to Saratoga while they redo this track there in Elmont

How much has that affected business there in both Suffolk and Nassau County

Well, it's not going to affect the handle, really. On site, obviously, it's a boom to Saratoga

getting the last. Well, I mean, how much does it affect business on Long Island by not having the

restaurants and the hotels and those kinds of things I don see much of a difference People want to get out The people who want to bet from their phones they use their phones And the people who want the social experience we wanted to come out to Jake or one of our other locations And you hear the noise and you see the

and there's food and drink and it's much more of a festive atmosphere. So we have a lot of people

we hope, do that. And you can show off your hat. Exactly. I don't know if I'll show off your hat

Put mine back on. I was going to pick it up the wrong way. And then everybody will tell you on

Monday they knew the horse was going to win, right? Yes. All right. Kentucky Derby tomorrow

We've got our outfits. We know how to bet. We are just about ready. We're going to talk later on about how we should eat and drink

I like that. Tony Pancello, Linda Pagan. Nice to have you. Thank you very much. Thanks for having us

Well, we don't have to tell you. Seasonal allergies are hitting all of us hard

More than 80 million people are now feeling the effects. And finding relief is not easy in what's expected to be an unusually long allergy season

Did you say long? Long. Okay. ENC specialist and professor of surgery at Columbia University, Dr. Susanna Hills is here with us

All right. Why is it, does it seem worse to you this year

It's particularly bad. I'm suffering. All my patients are suffering. Why? Why is it worse this year, Doc

There are two main reasons. One is just like you mentioned, the allergy season is longer

It started earlier, about two weeks earlier than typical because temperatures are higher

And this is a trend that's been going on for a few decades now, but this year, about two weeks earlier, things started blooming, pollen's traveling through the air, and it's hitting everyone earlier

Right now, too, we just hit the peak of the tree pollen season, so that's starting to come back down, but the grass pollen season has begun

So we have two things that we're fighting against right now. Is it a situation where, yes, the seasons are getting longer, but it seems that more people are getting affected by it

Is it just because it's longer we notice it more, or are there more individuals who are affected by allergies now than in the past

It's longer. There's literally more blooming for a longer period of time, more pollen, more things in the air that are causing these reactions

So where it might have been a more subtle allergy symptom, I think mild allergy sufferers are actually having more symptoms and feeling it more than they typically would

So they probably already had it, just didn't have to suffer as much as they're suffering this year

Didn't bother them as much. That's right. Yeah, potentially. All right, so what do you suggest we do

There are a couple of things that are important. I think the first thing that really helps the most is just to get that stuff that's bothering you off of your body, out of your hair, keep it out of your house

So if you look around outside, there's that green film on all the cars, on the windows

If you leave your windows and doors open, that's getting into your house. Got it

So keep your windows shut, your doors shut. Then when you come home at the end of the day, change your clothes, take a shower, wash your hair before you go to bed, or you'll be sleeping in a bed of pollen all night, which is bad

And then, of course, aside from that, to help with your symptoms, there's a bunch of medications

Yeah, I always heard Flonase is good for you. It's great. I recommend that all the time And that you don need a prescription for right You don need it It Fluticasone CVS or Walgreens or whatever your pharmacy is their brand Yeah they got the generic model

Yeah, exactly. And it's a really directed way to treat the nose symptoms. So you can get your antihistamines, the Claritin, Allegro, Zyrtec, all those things

But the Flonase or Fluticasone and eye drops like Olopatidine will help direct treatment towards your eyes, towards your nose specifically, if that's what's really bothering you

You know, I've been taking stuff, and it seems as though sometimes it just doesn't work

You know, no matter what, just because of all the pollen in the air. Should you take it at certain times

Should you take more of it? I think the most important thing is the consistency

Okay. So, for example, if you're using a nose spray, you have to use it every single day, and it doesn't work immediately

So even if you don't have symptoms, continue? Well, you can stop when your symptoms are better, but when they start, it's not going to make it better the next day

It may take two or three weeks to start feeling the benefit. So you have to use it every day for a few weeks to get the benefit of some of these medications

Got it. You know, sometimes it's hard to tell if you have a cold or whether you have the flu

Now, I'm not looking at anybody in particular, but obviously, no, you have allergies

All the time. Because it's been going on quite some time. And it peaks and valleys

That's the thing. Right. Because you get better, you're like, oh, okay, I'm done, and then all of a sudden it comes back

Yeah. That's what proves it's not a cold. That's right. Right. You're absolutely right. The duration is a big clue

You've had symptoms for a week to two weeks, it's getting better. That might be more of a virus

You have a fever, sore throat. You're feeling achy, probably an infection virus

But if it's been going on for weeks, if it's, you know, you feel generally okay, but you

feel kind of groggy, itchy, sneezy, that might be allergies. I say that also because my husband got sick, then my son got sick, now the baby's sick

And I feel like that's going around now as well. Yeah, sure

Spring viruses, absolutely. We're seeing them circulate. So there is a lot of confusion about it

But if it's a sudden onset, there's other symptoms like fever, low appetite, not feeling great, it's probably more of a virus

The good news is that some of the medications that treat allergy symptoms work for some of the congestion running those with viruses

You can use fluticasone if you're having a stuffy nose in either case. That can be helpful

What do you do for kids? Because you don't want to go. They don't want to stay in the house all day

You know what I mean? No. Oh, so letting them go outside, of course, what are you going to do

That makes sense to let them go out. But again, changing clothes, bathing at nighttime

and then these same medications in the appropriate dose so you can talk to your pediatrician, but they also work for kids

You can absolutely use flutacosone, nose spray, eye drops, things like that for children

Okay. Dr. Susanna Hills, how can people find you? Well, I'm at Columbia University and then drsuz.com online

Always good to see you. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Good information. There you go

You're off the hook. you have allergies. For weeks now I have

It's not getting any better. The problem is, Mike, it gets warmer, more stuff, as the doctor said

continues to grow and pollinate, and here we are