Posted on 05/05/2023 9:31:53 PM PDT by TBP
I should have read the better’s guide.
But my juleps are pretty good.
Secretariat’s line hasn’t performed all that well. Strange, as great as he was.
The winner today was a good 2 seconds off his record.
My juleps are good, too, though I need more bourbon now. Used every drop I had in the house.
Congratulations to Mage, winner of the 149th Kentucky Derby in 2:01:49. He was a 15-1 shot. Paid $32.42.
I have other bourbon, but I’m just about out of simple syrup, so that will put an end to it. I did’t make much - just over 1/4 cup of the syrup.
“ The winner today was a good 2 seconds off his record.” That’s about a 12 length win for Big Red. But the little horse ran a good race. It was good to see Todd Pletcher’s 3 horses flop.
Big Red holds the stakes record for the Derby.
He holds the stakes record for the Preakness.
He holds the stakes record for the Belmont.
I was at that Belmont. Fifty years ago this year. (His Derby win was 50 years ago yesterday.)
I watched that Belmont win from the clubhouse of the Greater Houston Gun Club, just off south Alameda Road. It was my first paid job; $1.75 an hour to set clay pigeons on the trap machine at the State Shoot.
After 7 hours in the box, we had a break. I walked to the washroom. When I came out, I saw a bunch of men huddled around a 25" color TV, smoking cigars and talking excitedly. I walked over to see what was happening. The race was just about to start. I knew who it was, and why it was important because my Dad was a horse racing fan, and I had watched the Derby and the Preakness.
When the race started, all the men were cheering and yelling. Then, when Big Red started pulling away, they got quieter and quieter. By the end, when NO OTHER HORSE WAS IN SIGHT, they were stone quiet. Many, were scratching their heads in wonder. I knew I had just seen something spectacular, and I have never forgotten that moment.
I heard it said today, that in the Derby, Secretariat "ran every furlong faster than the one before". For 2 minutes, that monster horse ACCELERATED. What a freak of nature he was.
NBC just cut the mics and didn’t have the lyrics to “My Old Kentucky Home.”
“the sun shines bright in my old Kentucky home
‘tis summer, the darkies are gay...”
‘nuff said...
No other horse was in sight.
When he crossed the finish line, the rest of the field had just come around the last turn.
Second place was a good, close race.
He had an unusually large heart, not just metaphorically.
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