Tag Archives: horse racing

Sports news

Wait’ll next year for return to horse-racing interest

Well, that’s it for me for this Triple Crown horse-racing season.

It was bad enough that the “winner” of the Kentucky Derby actually was the second-place finisher, given that the initial winner, Maximum Security, got disqualified for interfering with other horses’ gallop down the stretch.

Now we hear that Country House, the Derby “winner,” isn’t going to run in the Preakness, the No. 2 leg on the chase for horse-racing’s vaunted Triple Crown.

That’s it. I’m out.

I was thrilled to watch Justify win the Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes in 2018. It thrilled me even more to watch American Pharaoh do it in 2015, as it had been 37 years since Affirmed won all three of ’em in 1978.

The same horse has to win the first two races for me to gin up any kind of excitement for this sport.

So, the horse-racing season is over for me.

I’ll just bet, too, that TV ratings for the Preakness and the Belmont are heading into the tank.

Sports news

Nothing PC about this disqualification, Mr. POTUS

Donald J. “Horse Racing Expert in Chief” Trump has tweeted his displeasure over this past weekend’s result in the Kentucky Derby.

It seems the president of the United States is unhappy that Maximum Security was disqualified for blocking a couple of his competitors as the horses came down the home stretch in the famed horse race.

The president, though, said the decision was a bow to what he called “political correctness.” To which I scratch my noggin in astonishment.

There was nothing I could see that was PC about the stewards’ decision to DQ Maximum Security and give the victory to the second-place finisher, Country House.

I saw the video of the infraction. Maximum Security violated the rules. Country House, one of the longer shots in the field, was granted the victory according to the rules of the race.

So, Mr. President, stop blaming a form of “political correctness” where none exists. Stick to tweeting about things about which you know something.

Oh, wait! That would be nothing at all.

Sports news

Go for it, Justify!

I think I need to have my head examined.

Horse racing is among my least favorite sports to follow. I’ve stated already on this blog that I don’t get excited about a horse race until one thoroughbred has won the first two legs of the Triple Crown: the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.

Well, for some reason that remains a mystery to me, I am getting somewhat, sort of psyched about the Preakness, which takes place Saturday in Maryland.

The favorite? Justify, the horse that won the Derby two weekends ago.

For the life of me, I don’t know what I’m going to do if Justify actually wins the Preakness. That puts him in line to be the second horse in four years to win the Triple Crown.

American Pharaoh won the three big races in 2015. It thrilled me to no end, given that it had been 37 years since Affirmed did it.

My sudden interest in Justify might have something to do with the way he won the Derby. He did it in downpour. He took the lead on the back stretch and won it pulling away. It was impressive, man!

The Preakness is a shorter race than the Derby. I hope the weather is good. I thought I heard someone say that Justify didn’t normally do well on a sloppy track. Ha! He fooled ’em at Churchill Downs.

So, they’ll call the ponies to the post on Saturday. I’m going to pull for Justify. If he wins this one, I’ll be holding my breath until the Belmont.