The best Thoroughbred race in the nation on Saturday is named for an 18th century kidnapping victim who staged a brave escape in the face of harsh elements and savage captors. At least, that’s how the legend goes.
In such cases, this reporter tends to lean on the advice handed down from “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” to wit, “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
There have been 136 professional golfers good enough and lucky enough to have won a single major tournament, which hardly sounds like an exclusive club.
There also have been scores upon scores of professional jockeys to reach the milestone of 1,000 winners, which might not seem like a lot in the broader scheme of things.
It says a lot about Saturday's three major Kentucky Derby preps that the strongest turned out to be the one won by a horse coming off a dismal 21 3/4-length loss as the even-money favorite. But I guess that is entirely appropriate in a Derby prep season that has featured, among other things, the unanimous 2-year-old male champion (Classic Empire) turn in a total clunker in his 3-year-old bow and then have episodes of refusing to train, and the best 3-year-old seen by far this year (Mastery) knocked out by an injury sustained literally seconds after his dazzling 2017 debut.
There often are complaints regarding the depth of North America’s older-horse division. Similar regrets are sometimes heaped upon the emerging 3-year-olds, or older fillies and mares on the main track, or even sprinters, whose quality seems to rise and fall with the seasons.
Dear Gonzaga fans:
There is no consolation for what happened last Monday night in Phoenix. Only time will heal the wound, although a nasty scar will remain. Take heart, however, in the nobility of your quest, and find therapeutic respite from the agonies of the hard court in the more bucolic setting of Thoroughbred racing, with a full day’s worth of the best any sport can offer.
A Harris Poll conducted in late 2015 revealed that 33 percent of the 2,252 American adults in the sample named pro football as their favorite sport, while Major League Baseball lagged well behind at 15 percent and college football rounded out the trifecta at 10 percent.
That left 42 percent or so to be divided among the many other sporting endeavors – yes, football fans, there are other sporting endeavors – including auto racing (6 percent), ice hockey (5 percent), men’s soccer (4 percent), and men’s golf (3 percent).
Jerry Fanning does not need to explain why he is retiring. He is 84. He is in good health. He has friends and family he hasn’t seen for 20 years or more, and he’d like to pay them a leisurely visit without looking over his shoulder, wondering what might be going wrong back at the barn.
In a throwback to old-timey newspaper days, or high school – hard to tell the difference – Bob Baffert has tagged Arrogate with his very own nickname. He calls him “The Blue Locomotive.”
Hearing this, parents with children of a certain age might wonder why a Thoroughbred of such fearsome ability deserves a sobriquet summoning the image of a character from a children’s book. Then again, Thomas the Tank Engine, who is painted a vibrant blue, also has the number “1” painted on his side.
To know nothing of what happened before you were born is to remain forever a child.
–Cicero
I watched the 2017 Dubai World Cup with my mother. It was her 89th birthday, and I’d promised her a first-class breakfast. She was duly impressed with Arrogate’s victory, but she is also dealing with the effects of mild cognitive impairment, so by the end of the day, she had forgotten all about the race, and breakfast, and everything else we had done to celebrate her birthday.
