Martha Stewart Nearly Messes Up 'Riders Up' Command In Spectacular Fashion At Kentucky Derby

The woman who makes crafts your mom likes, Martha Stewart, was given the great honor of giving the "Riders Up" command at the Kentucky Derby, and to say it went smoothly would be grossly insincere.

READ: MYSTICAL NIGHT: KENTUCKY DERBY WON BY MYSTIK DAN

Stewart got the nod to offer horse racing's version of "Gentleman, start your engines," and took a break from baking cookies and posting thirst traps to jet on over to Churchill Downs.

Martha was looking nice in a big hat that she probably made, however, when it came time to say "Kentucky" Stewart nearly fumbled and said "Connecticut" instead.

"Racing fans from around the world," Stewart began. "The City of Louisville and the Commonwealth of Connecti- — Kentucky! I was about to say Connecticut — Welcome you to the 150th-anniversary race. Riders up!" 

You know what, that's a pretty brutal flub, but Martha rolled with it and stuck the dismount like a champ. It's better to acknowledge the mistake than pretend it didn't happen. When you try to hide it, the mistakes start piling up on top of each other.

She's got nerves of steel, that Martha Stewart. A career spent making wreaths on TV will do that to a person. 

Five months in the clink probably helped too.

While that sure sounded to me like an easy mistake to make — especially for a lady who spends a lot of her time in the Northeast — some observers joked that Martha had had a couple of mint juleps or a bit of her pal Snoop's sticky icky, if you know what I mean.

Like I said, I don't think that's the case. People misspeak… they just don't usually goof up the name of the state that they're in.