Since the time I mucked my first stall fifty years ago on the “back side” (stable area) of Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey I have had many racetrack related experiences. Most good, some not so. Some of those I shared in a post called A New National Obsession in February of 2017.
But as a result, this is one of my favorite times of the year, the first Saturday in May, the Kentucky Derby, the first of the Triple Crown races.
The sport of horse racing has had a rough winter with the deaths of 23 horses at Santa Anita Park in Southern California since December. Efforts are being made to try to determine why that unfortunate situation occurred there. Some blame the unusual amount of rain and unusually cold weather changing the racing surface. I remember a similar situation at Monmouth Park in the 70’s when the entire racing surface was peeled off and replaced resolving the problem. But beyond correcting the racing surface, efforts are also being made industry wide to make changes to the sport that will make it safer for horses and riders nationally.
The following is a story I mentioned in A New National Obsession, that I wrote in 2014, one of my favorite racing stories:
2014 Horse of the Year
(Written May 23, 2014 and edited for this essay May 1, 2019)
Sir Sidney is the 5 year old son of Ghostzapper.
Ghostzapper was the Horse of the Year in 2004.
Sir Sidney, at five years old had only raced three times in his life and had never won a race. In fact it had been almost two years since Sir Sidney had even been entered in a race.
Sadly, Sir Sidney was five years old and still a “maiden”…horse racing’s term for a horse who has yet to cross the finish line first.
The third Saturday in May, famous for the second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown, The Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, was to be Sir Sidney’s coming out party after a two year break. He was entered in the 13th race, the last race of the day, the race after the big attraction. The race after the Preakness. It was the race that no came expecting to watch, the one that would be run while everyone was leaving the infield, the grandstands, the parking lot and sitting in traffic as they made up “horse stories” to tell their friends about what could have been, what should have been… if only I had done this or bet that.
The thirteenth race, just the sound of it made you want to skip it, like not having a 13th floor in a high rise, or staying in bed on Friday the 13th. But there was Sir Sidney, the only five year old in the company of nine three year olds reaching the starting gate for the first time in a long while.
The twelfth race, The Preakness, had proven to be just what everyone had expected or hoped for. California Chrome who had won the Kentucky Derby so convincingly didn’t disappoint in the Preakness. He won the race as the overall favorite, the crowd letting him go off at odds that would only return 50 cents on every dollar bet. Now, the only question that would remain, could California Chrome win the Belmont Stakes and be the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978?
While everyone was pondering that and heading home, the 13th race went off at 7:10 PM, Sir Sidney broke well from the gate and took the lead on the backstretch. However, going into the turn, three horses passed him and he fell back to fourth. Coming out of the turn and into the stretch Sir Sidney dug in deep as a hole opened up in the leaders and he charged into it. Now three horses head to head charging down the stretch! As they approached the finish line Sir Sidney pulled away and won by a length! The unlikely runner, the old guy in the race, never having won before, finally was a winner.
Thrilling stuff right?
C’mon I am getting goose bumps writing about it!
So right now you are wondering “okay Curt, where are you going with this? Why should I care?”
Well maybe you shouldn’t.
But let’s just say hypothetically you are me and a passionate fan of the sport, and an occasional recreational bettor. And let’s also imagine that you/me, like a lot of other people thought California Chrome was the best bet of the day, maybe the best bet of the year. And let’s just say you/me thought real long and hard about making that recreational wager on California Chrome to win, number 3 in the twelfth race, the 2014 Preakness Stakes.
But let’s go a step further in our hypothetical situation. Let’s just say that wager that you/me thought long and hard about, the one that you/me so carefully and confidently placed on number 3, California Chrome in the 12th race , and cheered loudly for as California Chrome crossed the finish line in spectacular fashion only to find out………
That your/my horse didn’t win, because, by mistake, the horse that you/I bet was actually number 3 in the 13th race!
I think you/me are probably feeling pretty silly right now huh?
Silly that is…until about 7:12 pm.
I don’t know about you, but Sir Sidney, number 3 in the 13th race, would be my vote for 2014 Horse of the Year.
The End
That betting mistake, instead of returning $3.00 on my $2.00 California Chrome bet, returned $26.20 on the win by Sir Sidney.
The following year Kim and I would stand under an infield tent at Pimlico and watch American Pharoah win the Preakness in a downpour. Unlike California Chrome, he would go on to win the Belmont and be the first Triple Crown winner since 1978. Coincidentally, my horse of the year for 2014, Sir Sidney was on the card that day. For sentimental reasons I felt inclined to place a bet on him.
And as a result of those sentimental reasons, I lost that bet.
Horse racing is a sentimental sport. The beauty of the animal, the lure of a name, the story of the journey, the memory of a past encounter. That is part of what draws me to it.
Sir Sidney is now ten years old and he is still racing. As a gelding there would be no cushy stud future for him. In fact he ran this past Sunday at Philadelphia Park and finished fourth going a mile in a claiming race. Going off at odds of 20 to 1, he earned his owner $1,400 and could at least say he beat the favorite, who finished last, earning him some track cred the next time he sees that guy out on the track exercising in the morning.
It’s hard to not get sentimental about Sir Sidney.
I feel reacquainted, he is part of my journey.
The old guy, in spite of the aches and pains of growing older, he is still out there working. Having to prove himself to the young guys, doing something he still enjoys, having fun.
I get it.
I hope you take some time this Saturday and watch the Kentucky Derby. I hope you pay attention to the stories, enjoy the majestic beauty of these animals, get caught up in the drama.
I hope you find something sentimental in the experience that makes you want to return.
I hope you find your Sir Sidney.
