Eight Belles

It’s painful and sad to see a horse go down during a horse race. I’ve watched it several times and each time it happens, I shudder. The joy and pleasure of the Kentucky Derby was diminished a bit upon hearing that Eight Belles, the talented filly who ran second to Big Brown, had gone down on the gallop out and had to be euthanized.

Since that harsh event, there has been a bit of an uproar about the death of Eight Belles. Photos and videos of her falling appear daily, although I’ll watch none of them. There are cries of animal cruelty, banning the jockey, Gabriel Saez, punishing the jockey for animal cruelty, banning horse racing. The list goes on and on.

I love horse racing. I hate to see these beautiful animals die when such an event occurs. I’m am not going to be an apologist for this sport either. There are dangers in racing both to horse and rider. Most jockeys have broken many bones in their bodies during their careers of riding on top of 1200 pound animals traveling at 35-40 miles and hour. Several have been paralyzed for life, and others have died during a race.

I’m not even sure they know when or how the injury to Eight Belles occurred. Most racing injuries are to one leg, Eight Belles painfully broke both ankles. That’s very rare.

The answers are not simple. There are some positive safety results in using a synthetic racing surface such as the one at Keeneland. Three year-olds are young animals, their bodies are not completely developed yet. Horses are bred (and significantly inbred), favoring speed over strength and stamina. Performance altering drugs are rampant in the industry.

Horse racing is dangerous for all participants. So is car racing and football. The argument about those sports is that the participants in those sports make a choice, where horses do not.

I will continue to love and enjoy these beautiful animals in racing. I’ll celebrate their achievements and be saddened by their deaths. I’m glad, in some respects, that a discussion is going on about racing. It is needed. On the other hand, a knee-jerk reaction is not.

Paul Daley, a columnist for the Lowell Sun (Mass.), whose words on the subject of horse racing I respect, recently published a column on the topic.

Your comments are welcome.

Derby Picks

The 134th running of the Kentucky Derby is over. Big Brown won. Decisively. Here’s the chart.

If you’ve followed my blog for the past few days, you’d know that I’ve teased you, dear reader, with the possibility of offering you my expert Derby picks. If, like many, you were awaiting my selections with baited breath prior to placing your wagers, then you must be happy. I saved you money.

Had you taken my selections to the windows, you would not have cashed your ticket. I liked Gayego, Pyro, and Court Vision. Obviously, they did not hit the board, as they finished 17th, 8th, and 12th respectively.

I was skeptical about Big Brown as the favorite and ultimate winner. Although he’d won all three of his previous races decisively, I was skeptical. Especially from the 20 hole.

What do I know? His rider, Kent Desormeaux, hustled him towards the front and kept him on the outside, out of traffic and trouble. He appeared relaxed and strong, and when heading into the turn and asked “the question”, he responded, full of run and drawing away.

The media keeps hyping this guy as a Triple Crown winner. I don’t know. He won the first leg, but it remains to be seen if he’s that good. Maybe he is, we’ll see in the next leg at the Preakness Stakes in two weeks.

Still No Derby Picks

Stay tuned for my Derby picks later this week. Here are the post positions for the 134th running of The Kentucky Derby. So everyone get out their pens and start handicapping this race.

Below you will find, post position, runner, jockey and morning line.

1. Cool Coal Man, J.Leparoux, 20-1
2. Tale of Ekati, E.Coa, 15-1
3. Anak Nakal, R.Bejarano, 30-1
4. Court Vision, G.Gomez, 20-1
5. Eight Belles, G.Saez, 20-1
6. Z Fortune, R.Albarado, 15-1
7. Big Truck, J.Castellano, 50-1
8. Visionaire, J.Lezcano, 20-1
9. Pyro, S.Bridgmohan, 6-1
10. Colonel John, C. Nakatani, 4-1
11. Z Humor, R.Douglas, 30-1
12. Smooth Air, M.Cruz, 20-1
13. Bob Black Jack, R.Migliore, 20-1
14. Monba, R.Dominguez, 15-1
15. Adriano, E.Prado, 30-1
16. Denis of Cork, C.Borel, 20-1
17. Cowboy Cal, J.Velazquez, 20-1
18. Recapturetheglory, E.T.Baird, 20-1
19. Gayego, M.Smith, 15-1
20. Big Brown, K.Desormeaux, 3-1

Feel free to post your selections in the comments, and be sure to come back by Friday to see what my picks might be. I’ll have several tickets available for you to use or avoid.

So who do ya like??

No Derby Picks Yet

OK. It’s the start of Derby Week. I’m supposed to have “expert picks” for this race on The First Saturday in May. I’m mean, I am a horse racing fan. So I should have Derby Picks.

To appease my dear readers for the next several days, let me offer up this Rolling Stones video of their song, Dead Flowers instead.

And I promise, later on in the week. Derby Picks.

Now, back to you Chet…or Quinella Queen. David?

Answers to Burning Questions

In case you didn’t know, on the screens behind this blog that only people like me can see, is a function called The Dashboard. One of the things that the Dashboard displays is what search terms people are using to hit my blog.

So as a public service, I thought I’d answer several of the more ponderous questions that people seek answers for when they hit my blog. Here are some of the search terms used:

• Butter Jesus. Also known as “Touchdown Jesus”, this statue of an image alleged to be Jesus, arms uplifted and all is found a few miles north of Cincinnati. The outrageous statue is located just of the east of Interstate 75 at Exit 29 near Monroe, Ohio. You can’t miss it. You can click this link for more details.
• Neal Watzman. Yes, that’s right, I’m a search term. Almost daily someone out there is looking for me. Well you found me. I’m certainly not going to post my email address so that everyone all over the world can spam me, but I’ll gladly post a link to Watzman Associates, my FileMaker consulting company. Post a comment if you want something.
• Jesus sex. Jesus sex? What’s up with that? Taken separately, both are good things. Taken together, well, it’s really not any of my business. Most people don’t go searching the web to find out if I’ve had sex, at least as far as I can tell. Maybe there’s a few, and they just forgot to add it to the end of a search for my name.
• On a more serious note, another question is “how many World War II veterans die each day?” The answer: about 1,200 each day. We’re losing more and more of these amazing people, like my father, every day. And not only are the families losing parents and grandparents, but we are losing their story about one of the most significant events of modern times. If you are reading this and know a WWII Veteran, see if you can get them to tell you about their war experiences. I am blessed that my father wrote his memoirs at my request a few years before he died. I’ve posted them on my blog. Part I and Part II. You can view the Library of Congress Veterans History Project through another link.
• Who do you like in The Derby? Honestly, that one has not appeared in my list of search terms, but is certainly a valid question. Tough call, but I’m thinking about Great Hunter, Curlin, or Nobiz Like Showbiz. Feel free to disagree and comment below.