Would you mind telling me why you didn't publish my comment calling out this so-called "sport?" I'm a subscriber. The article is about perhaps the biggest race in the abhorrent practice of racing horses, my comment says horse racing is cruel - so why didn't you publish it?
Many horses would love the opportunity to race, like the thousands of wild horses starving with torn up hooves and teeth too grown out to chew with--or the thousands of horses crammed onto trucks headed for Mexico where they are butchered. As a horse owner, I consider my horses privileged to get the good care they receive and performance horses usually live long into their twenties and even thirties. Asking a horse to run around a track in exchange for a long and healthy life is not, in my opinion, inhumane.
2
Great race. Are they moving the Preakness?
In late 1972, my mom (who loved thoroughbred racing) called me & said, "watch this horse". His name was Secretariat. I did watch his entire 3yo season, & every race he ran thereafter. What it did for me was indescribable. I immediately fell in love with the sport. My mom sent Secretariat birthday cards every year (many fans did). In 1982, she took a package bus trip (she wouldn't fly) to the Kentucky Derby, & they visited Claiborne Farm. You could see Big Red in his pasture. The lady in the office remembered her, & let her pet him for a few minutes. It made her so happy! Anyway, I moved to NYC a few years later in April/1988. I went to Belmont almost every weekend, incl. 17 straight Belmont Stakes. I've been to all of them except for 3 (24 of 27). In the KY Derby yesterday (I didn't bet), 3 horses ran 1,2,3 in pedestrian fractions; had perfect trips & finished 1,2,3 in a glacial final 1/4 of 26 3/5. I wasn't impressed. Frosted, however, was rank all down the front stretch. He raced near the rear most of the way, swung 6 wide all the way around the far turn & closed into a slow pace (not easy). He passed 12 horses & lost by under 3 lengths (he almost showed, finishing 4th. Nothing to get real excited about, but as someone already incorrectly noted, "watch for him in the Belmont". People usually think a closer wins the Belmont; which is rarely true. I hope he runs in The Preakness, which usually has the fastest pace in the Triple Crown, setting it up for a horse like Frosted.
Somehow, on some level, the pure genetic selection of the resulting superior creature creation stirs, thrills people. An innate admiration of beauty, the power of selectively distilled nature..
1
so i guess Jimmy Fallon's puppy made the right choice!
1
Frosted almost had Dortmund. Another furlong, Dortmund fades into fourth, maybe fifth. Firing Line was tough, but another furlong, American Pharoah wins by two lengths.
Shocking performance by Espinoza. Hit that horse - which was already giving its best - 25 times. No excuses. In UK he would get a long ban and rightfully so. Disgrace.
4
It's a 1600 lb horse. The "whip" is a flap of leather that makes noise. It's a signal not a punishment. This isn't Ascot. Thank G-d.
4
How excited should we be about a winning horse on a good track which finishes five seconds off the record? "Nag" comes to mind; also, "glue."
I assure you Michael Hays that American Pharoah is far, far from a nag. Many factors can affect the final time. But to call this gorgeous colt a nag and for the word glue to come to your mind indicates a lack of appreciation for equine beauty.
5
You have no understanding of racing. The track dried out with more than 2 hrs between dirt races and no watering. A tiring track leads to slower times. It may not have been a fast time, but winning is winning. No one cares about the time of a Triple Crown winner should that come to pass. "Nag" and "glue" speak volumes about where your sympathies lie. By the way, the winning time was only 3.6 sec off Secretariat's record had you chosen to acquire real knowledge.
3
At the rate of about 54 feet per second (6600 feet/122 seconds), 3.6 seconds (thanks for the correct difference in times between Secretariat and American Pharoah) equals 194.75 feet, or, at 8 feet per length, slightly over 24 lengths.
Even before the horses hit the quarter-mile pole, I wondered if we had the race was going to be a two-hour special. Better puling a milk wagon than serving stud.
Seabiscuit would have beaten even Secretariat if he carried as little weight as Big Red did.
Even before the horses hit the quarter-mile pole, I wondered if we had the race was going to be a two-hour special. Better puling a milk wagon than serving stud.
Seabiscuit would have beaten even Secretariat if he carried as little weight as Big Red did.
I usually handicap with Mr Prospector in mind. But of course he's in the blood-line of most Triple Crown winners. So that's no way to win. But if a horse is
Prospector-less watch out---so Far Right failed even before he left the gate.
Prospector-less watch out---so Far Right failed even before he left the gate.
1
If the horse's name is supposed to suggest that he is an American version of an Egyptian PHARAOH, then PHAROAH has been misspelled by everybody, perhaps even his owner.
1
Story goes that it was a typo by the name registering agency and it was never corrected.
1
Your premise is faulty. That is not the derivation of the name. It was a name offered in a contest to name the colt. It was submitted for official naming with the spelling entered in the contest.
1
More tactical than an actual race. The winner would have been perhaps 18 lengths behind Secretariat. All that money spent and they are not getting any faster.
1
It's not about beating records or horses from 32 yrs ago, it's about beating the horses around you on this day, on this track, under these conditions. All the rest is conjecture. Without putting them in a match race, you just can't figure it out. If it were that easy, all you'd have to do to handicap would be to compare final times of the prep races and you'd know the winner of the Derby in advance.
2
i have mixed feelings about horse racing but I wanna see a triple crown winner.
3
Maybe the record crowd is bringing back some interest in horse racing. Getting close and watching those magnificent animals run is amazing.
4
Horseracing is a beautiful sport. It is also a wonderfully challenging game for the players. But, it will never reach a greater status in the sports world unless its stakeholders come together to make it better. Right now, it is quite the opposite. It is no NFL
1
"Now everyone had the answer: American Pharoah was the bigger of Baffert’s two big horses."
Let's don't exaggerate. We have the answer for a mile and an quarter on this day. Dortmund and Firing Line are still very capable horses and American Pharaoh is far from a lock in any future encounters. A very interesting question now arises -- does Baffert enter Dortmund in the Preakness and risk upsetting his own triple crown? Probably not, but that's hardly fair to Dortmund, his owner, or to history.
Let's don't exaggerate. We have the answer for a mile and an quarter on this day. Dortmund and Firing Line are still very capable horses and American Pharaoh is far from a lock in any future encounters. A very interesting question now arises -- does Baffert enter Dortmund in the Preakness and risk upsetting his own triple crown? Probably not, but that's hardly fair to Dortmund, his owner, or to history.
2
As Baffert is the trainer and not the owner, Dortmund's owner likely has the final say - assuming the horse is healthy
1
Rand Paul was not allowed to run in the Kentucky Derby because the officials noticed the front end of the horse was missing.
9
Except for last year, whatever ever became of the black jockeys at the Derby? And why of the, predominantly, Latino presence?
1
As time has passed, people have grown taller and heavier. As a percentage of population, Latinos are smaller. There are also excellent jockey schools in some Spanish speaking nations.
1
A meaningless "sport" wherein animals are abused and exploited.
Must we be such flagrant rubes?
Must we be such flagrant rubes?
9
You mean because it has no meaning for you that it therefore shouldn't or doesn't have any meaning for anyone else? You get to decide based on your predilections where others should find meaning?
9
Dodging questions doesn't come naturally to Baffert? Seems to me he dodged questions about his use of thyroid medication for every horse in his stable, or about eight of his horses that dropped dead of unexplained causes while training or racing in a two-year period -- a rate the California Horse Racing Board determined was 9.08 times the rate of all other racehorses in the state.
17
My husband, who for a number of years rode & trained jumpers, had picked Dortmund to win. My daughter liked Carpe Diem because of his name. I was torn between Frosted (as I have a weak spot for grey horses), Firing Line (because if anyone can get a great ride from a good horse, it's Gary Stevens), & American Pharoah (because he has the best Derby-winner-style name). W/the Preakness being a bit shorter, if all four top finishers compete, we could see a really close finish. But if all four compete in the Belmont, I'd be looking hard at Frosted for the win there. He was absolutely flying toward the first three horses as they came down the stretch today, & only missed third by a neck. An extra quarter mile might have given him the distance needed to pass AP & FL.
13
The 141st Kentucky Derby with record crowds is a culmination of 2 weeks of a number of events beginning with thunder over Louisville. Nothing brings more visitors to Louisville, Kentucky than the Derby. The most exciting 2 minutes for the spectators and those who bet. The connection between humans and horses is renewed. Horses are amazing animals and horse power is certainly energizing but it is the intelligence of horses that makes them outstanding animals. Happy for Victor Espinoza who described himself as the luckiest Mexican in the world and he certainly deserved to win his American cream riding American Pharoah. Trainer Bafferts youngest son jumping up and down with joy was quite a sight. The saga of Kentucky Derby will continue as long as I live. Foreign born Egyptian American owner Ahmed Zayat after coming in second a few times before is yet another story.
11
industrial horse-racing. wrong and abusive and - didn't anyone read the back-stories? we know better. time to stop.
25
(Most) Border Collies love to herd. (Most) Thoroughbreds love to run.
They are athletes; like human athletes high performance always risks injury.
But it would be wrong to ask the athletes to stop doing what they love--human or horse.
The horses, though, unlike the humans, never cheat--with performance enhancing drugs or whatever.
They are athletes; like human athletes high performance always risks injury.
But it would be wrong to ask the athletes to stop doing what they love--human or horse.
The horses, though, unlike the humans, never cheat--with performance enhancing drugs or whatever.
21
[The horses, though, unlike the humans, never cheat--with performance enhancing drugs or whatever.]
Srsly? Was this posted tongue-in-cheek?
I am curious about the injury that occurred to two year old American Pharoah. He ran a lovely race, coming from the far outside post, well done piloting Victor Espinoza!
[Finally, with a sixteenth of a mile to the wire, Firing Line buckled. American Pharoah hit the line a length ahead of Firing Line,] <-- This makes me wonder if Firing Line hadn't "buckled" would AP have indeed won. Did he have enough left in the tank?
Srsly? Was this posted tongue-in-cheek?
I am curious about the injury that occurred to two year old American Pharoah. He ran a lovely race, coming from the far outside post, well done piloting Victor Espinoza!
[Finally, with a sixteenth of a mile to the wire, Firing Line buckled. American Pharoah hit the line a length ahead of Firing Line,] <-- This makes me wonder if Firing Line hadn't "buckled" would AP have indeed won. Did he have enough left in the tank?
1
Not true. The human trainers of the horses inject them with PEDs on a regular basis. It is doubtful that any of the horses competing at the Derby were completely clean of drugs or hormones.
At least the humans have some semblance of a choice in whether or not to take PEDs (though it would be hard to argue that a poor kid from a rough neighborhood, who has been told his whole life that his only chance at fame fortune, let alone a college degree, is success in sports, and that the only route to success is through drugs). The horses are injected against their will.
At least the humans have some semblance of a choice in whether or not to take PEDs (though it would be hard to argue that a poor kid from a rough neighborhood, who has been told his whole life that his only chance at fame fortune, let alone a college degree, is success in sports, and that the only route to success is through drugs). The horses are injected against their will.
3
2:03:02. Good. Secretariat's record is still intact -1:59:40. Comfortably so, which makes one question the comparison of American Pharaoh to Slew.
18
Slew's time was 2:02.02.
Good article by J. Drape, as usual.
I think the comparisons to Seattle Slew were made by the clocker, who said that A.P.’s last workout was the best he had seen in the past 35 years. The real comparison can be made if American Pharoah sweeps the Triple Crown, something not done for decades. To throw up numbers and make comparisons of horses now with horses decades ago serves no purpose. Who knows what the constitution was of horses then; did they use Lasix; were they bred for speed like the current ones.
In view of the light schedule of A. P. -- he was coming off an injury at the end of last year and then was mainly given intense workouts before running in just two races in Arkansas, (against second-tier candidates) -- and yet, despite the light seasoning, A.P. dominated today, the natural raw talent of the horse becomes clearer. It is also possible that the other touted horses that ran, like Carpe Diem and Materiality and Upstart, were overrated or had an off day.
A.P. was supposed to win; and he did. Time matters for the quarter horses. Often the ones that focus mainly on the track time use criteria of the past when their horse is defeated.
I think the comparisons to Seattle Slew were made by the clocker, who said that A.P.’s last workout was the best he had seen in the past 35 years. The real comparison can be made if American Pharoah sweeps the Triple Crown, something not done for decades. To throw up numbers and make comparisons of horses now with horses decades ago serves no purpose. Who knows what the constitution was of horses then; did they use Lasix; were they bred for speed like the current ones.
In view of the light schedule of A. P. -- he was coming off an injury at the end of last year and then was mainly given intense workouts before running in just two races in Arkansas, (against second-tier candidates) -- and yet, despite the light seasoning, A.P. dominated today, the natural raw talent of the horse becomes clearer. It is also possible that the other touted horses that ran, like Carpe Diem and Materiality and Upstart, were overrated or had an off day.
A.P. was supposed to win; and he did. Time matters for the quarter horses. Often the ones that focus mainly on the track time use criteria of the past when their horse is defeated.
1
That was one of the of the first things that I noticed after they crossed the line. An awfully slow time. I'll be interested to look at the times of the other races and see how fast or slow the track was playing. But you know the old racing saying as well as I do, "Time only matters when you're in jail."
2
I would simply like to commend the writing of this beautifully crafted piece. I missed the race, but I sure felt like I was there.
34
I was thinking the same thing. It read like something Grantland Rice might have done.
1
Wtg A. Pharaoh!!! And, congrats to the owners -- the Zayat family -- on a phenomenal win. Hats off to Espinoza for an incredible run!
6
And he did win coming out of the 17 hole, so there's that.
11
I thought it was 18?
Actually not. 3 scratches inside of AP. The one hole was left open so that put AP in the 16 hole.
2
Congrats Joe Drape on picking the trifecta. Made a lot of folks some money. The $2 Tri paid around $200.
6
Surprise, surprise; when so much money rides on it --- no pun intended --- could it be any different? The KD is yet another joke in the sports world...
3
You obviously don't know that the favorite rarely wins the Derby. Actually only about 7 times in the last 35 years.
3
@B.Burch, absolutely right, people don't even know what being the betting favorite really means. They also are under this false notion that the favorite is just going to glide around the track and be crowned champion.
Given that the average favorite probably goes off in the 3/1-4/1 range, 7 times in 35 years is not that far off. Also, if two horses are close in the wagering, the second choice can often win at almost the same odds, which is not that much of a surprise ... except to the intellectually-challenged who then say "the favorite didn't win."
Our lack of investment in teaching mathematics gets more and more obvious every day ...
Given that the average favorite probably goes off in the 3/1-4/1 range, 7 times in 35 years is not that far off. Also, if two horses are close in the wagering, the second choice can often win at almost the same odds, which is not that much of a surprise ... except to the intellectually-challenged who then say "the favorite didn't win."
Our lack of investment in teaching mathematics gets more and more obvious every day ...
It's too bad the fields will now thin out for the Preakness, with some strong horses likely to rest until the Belmont, but that's just the way it is nowadays. Too soon to tell if American Pharoah is a super horse, but he looked good today. Espinoza and Baffert have been on the cusp before. That last leg, though, my has it proven tough to tame over the years (and increasingly, decades). Many of us would love to see it happen again, even if we have to suffer through NBC's wildly over-the-top pre-race hype to get to that moment.
15
I agree, but I still have memories (nightmares) of Big Brown.
AP seems to be a good horse, but I certainly was not overwhelmed by his performance. Wondering if the "experts" overestimated the quality of the field.
4
So, I guess that those who actually watched--the first race since they watched the Derby last year--are now prepared to watch the "Fight of the Century", which is probably the first fight they have watched since the last "Fight of the Century". Well, at least we'll now also be absolved from listening to all the "experts" who were predicting which NFL team would take which player, and in what round. At least, after this weekend, we'll have three "humdingers" out of the way, huh?
5
Horse racing and boxing separate us from the animals
2
Was pulling for Gary Stevens, the 52 year old jock on top of Firing Line but Pharoah was too much horse
17
Still Gary came in second, not a bad ride.
13
Stevens, the chump captured on the infamous PETA video yukking it up about using a buzzer as a young rider? Stevens, who after last year's KD whined and bad-mouthed a fellow rider (on live TV) for an infraction that the other rider hadn't committed? His lack of education and "home training" are evident every time he opens his mouth.
Hat tip to Victor Espinoza! What a great guy - and what a beautiful horse.
20
From the gamblers' point of view isn't this race is an over-hyped scam. Is the money that you win by guessing right on this race any better than the money that you'd win betting any of the other 9 races? Why do we even care about this?
6
Some of us care because thoroughbred racing is an exciting sport. Besides, any sport without Alex Rodriguez can't be all bad. Why do you care about baseball?
16
Well, the $2 Trifecta paid $200. Not too shabby.
4
I suppose that you and most of the other people commenting are unaware that a thoroughbred should not even be started under saddle until they are at least four years old, or even later, depending on when their knees are completely closed. At that time they are ridden, at a walk, for maybe 20 minutes a day. That gradually progresses to adding a short period of trotting and later a little cantering. A full gallop comes later still and only over a short distance.
You must also be unaware or don't care about all the horses that are permanently crippled or have to be put down because these "sportsmen" are starting them before they are even two years old and galloping them at a distance at least two years before they should even have a rider on their backs.
You all should be ashamed to say you love horses when you support this abuse which goes on only because of money and ego. It certainly has nothing to do with the welfare of these beautiful creatures.
You must also be unaware or don't care about all the horses that are permanently crippled or have to be put down because these "sportsmen" are starting them before they are even two years old and galloping them at a distance at least two years before they should even have a rider on their backs.
You all should be ashamed to say you love horses when you support this abuse which goes on only because of money and ego. It certainly has nothing to do with the welfare of these beautiful creatures.
12
Congratulations and l'Chaim to 18 - to Chai, American Pharoah!
7
Let me be the first to start the Triple Crown drumbeat. We need one.
Oh, and congrats to the connections!
Oh, and congrats to the connections!
6
dude, Jimmy Fallon's puppy race called it!
19
That puppy race was cute and since I wanted AP to win, I took it as a good omen.
7
Congratulations Victor Espinoza!
31
In a field repeatedly referred to as the deepest in decades, how is it that "Dortmund, Firing Line and American Pharoah were on a conveyor belt, and the rest of the field was struggling to keep up." even though the fractions were pedestrian?
It just seems to me that if this was such a talented group, the pace would have been quicker AND most of the field would not be "struggling to keep up"
Not only that ---though I haven't looked at the final fractions---if this was such a good field, given the middling early pace, shouldn't there have been far more horses running fast in the stretch?