Long Shot
I don't usually watch the Kentucky Derby; I lost my taste for it after seeing Ruffian break down many years ago. I was glad I didn't watch the Derby when bad things happened to Eight Bells and Barbaro.
When you have young horses running hard, accidents—horrible accidents—can happen.
However, I happened to catch the telecast yesterday afternoon. John turned on the TV seconds before the race began. I nearly missed the historic running in which a long shot, Mine That Bird, came from behind—waaaay behind—to win. But I just happened to catch it and see the "accidental" win by a horse that was running with 50 to 1 odds against him.
If you missed it, here it is (if you have a slow connection, this might have some pauses):
That a such long shot—a horse that cost a mere $9,500 in a field of multi-million-dollar horses, a horse that arrived by a trailer towed by a pick-up truck instead of being shipped in a conveyance with all the amenities, a horse whose owner-trainer limped on crutches into the winner's circle—is downright inspiring. It's the stuff fiction is made of.
If Mine That Bird's story had been written as a novel and shopped around, I'll bet no agent or publisher would have touched it. "I can't sell this," they might have said. "Nobody will believe it!"
Well, seeing is believing, and 153 thousand people witnessed it at Churchill Downs yesterday. Millions more of us saw it on TV.
I'm glad I was one of them.
When you have young horses running hard, accidents—horrible accidents—can happen.
However, I happened to catch the telecast yesterday afternoon. John turned on the TV seconds before the race began. I nearly missed the historic running in which a long shot, Mine That Bird, came from behind—waaaay behind—to win. But I just happened to catch it and see the "accidental" win by a horse that was running with 50 to 1 odds against him.
If you missed it, here it is (if you have a slow connection, this might have some pauses):
That a such long shot—a horse that cost a mere $9,500 in a field of multi-million-dollar horses, a horse that arrived by a trailer towed by a pick-up truck instead of being shipped in a conveyance with all the amenities, a horse whose owner-trainer limped on crutches into the winner's circle—is downright inspiring. It's the stuff fiction is made of.
If Mine That Bird's story had been written as a novel and shopped around, I'll bet no agent or publisher would have touched it. "I can't sell this," they might have said. "Nobody will believe it!"
Well, seeing is believing, and 153 thousand people witnessed it at Churchill Downs yesterday. Millions more of us saw it on TV.
I'm glad I was one of them.
~
posted by Becky Mushko | 11:22 AM
4 Comments:
I always love it when the underdog comes out on top. I bet a book will be written about Mine That Bird now.
. . . and I'll bet a movie will soon follow.
That brought tears to my eyes! There's nothing better than an underdog story! Especially in the horse world.
I also lost taste for watching horse races when I watched Ruffian and Foolish Pleasure. I used to work on the track you know.
Thanks for posting that Becky. I was out actually riding! Getting ready for a different kind of racing...
www.GreenerPastures--ACityGirlGoesCountry.blogspot.com
Wasn't that amazing? I love it when things happen like that!
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