As the legendary Barbara Fritchie, a Maryland civil war heroine, might have said if she had lived a lot longer and taken a fancy to a colt named california chrome‘Shoot if you must this old gray head. But one damned musket ball or anything else ain’t gonna stop this Preakness.’’
It’s the same message strongly repeated by a corporal’s guard of state police to a 23-year-old drunk named Lee Chang Ferrell, during a preliminary race one Preakness day.
He had hurdled a restraining fence and taken a position facing an onrushing army of thoroughbreds. He took a half-step left and swung a wild haymaker at the race’s leader, Artex.
He missed.
The state cops didn’t.
The Preakness went on as scheduled.
Of course it did. Two years earlier, track-wide power stage cut into the betting, but the race went on.
And so it will be today. Thursday, when the huge favorite California Chrome coughed in his stall, chalk players all over America choked on their morning coffee.
But one equine throat tickle can’t stop this path to the second jewel of the Triple Crown any more than Lee Chang Ferrell looping right hand could. Yesterday morning, California Chrome’s throat was swapped with a glycerene throat wash. And God bless the miracle of better things for better living through chemistry. The colt’s throat is so clear now that any moment you could expect him to sing a snappy chorus of "Tomorrow," since that’s when the odds-makers are sure he will be two-thirds of the way toward the Triple Crown.
For the record, William G. "Cowboy Billy" Gowan, the man who trains Ride On Curlin, does not necessarily disagree, but this is horse racing, and without a little bit of skepticism, he would surely be drummed out of the lodge. So yesterday, when asked about California Chrome’s invincibility, Billy responded with:
"He (CC) is a beautiful horse, but if you are asking me what I want to see, I’d hope my horse gets a great trip and then see them together at the head of the stretch, and we can find out what each of them is made of."
Until post time, who is to say he’s wrong?
Certainly, in this shorter-than-the-Derby race (1 and 3/16ths miles) there will be speed to burn not counting whatever path California Chrome chooses to follow. Bayern,social inclusion, Pablo del Monte and General Rod are each capable of trying to steal this thing. How Chrome’s jockey, Victor Espinoza, deals with this strategy will be interesting to see, particularly in view of a new shooter, Dynamic Impact, who won the Illinois Derby with the best Beyer (speed) number of the entire field at 102.
Add to these the traditional closers, Ride On Curlin and Kid Cruz (the only horse that has won a race over this track), and no matter what happens, if they hold form, we have a hell of a clambake.
Which brings us to the mystery lady of these proceedings. Her name is Ria Antonia. She is the only filly who has dared to come out and play with the boys this year. Calvin Borel once rode another filly in the Preakness, and you should recall her name was Rachel Alexandra, because she is the only filly ever to win it.
"I know Calvin’s confidence is very strong after yesterday’s work," said Tom Amoss, who trains the filly. "And that’s what I like — a rider who buckles his chin trap and says, ‘I’m going to win this race,’ and I know that’s how Calvin feels."
She is a nice filly, although she never had much of a chance in the Kentucky Oaks, but going against this opposition reminds me of a Pimlico racing story about what appeared to be an over-reaching filly at Pimlico.
There once was a tough-as-nails combination trainer and farm director named Sonny Simm, who stunned his peers by announcing he would send a filly named The Very One against a pretty good field colts in the Dixie Handicap.
They questioned the number of cards in his deck, to which he responded "We’ll see, we’ll see."
Whereupon, he went out to the farm with a very large jar, located a mare in heat and filled the jar with her urine. He told nobody. In the paddock that afternoon when they called "riders up" it wasn’t all that went up. Simms lifted his bottle, dumped and smeared all of its contents on the hind quarters of his filly.
When they came out of the gate, a strange thing happened.
All the colts fell behind The Very One, jostled for position but wouldn’t pass her. It was the first single-file horse race in history.
Barring that, I don’t expect Ria Antonia to win this thing.
I like California Chrome to win, but to get better value, I really like a boxed four-horse trifecta with CC, Social Inclusion, Ride on Curlin and Kid Cruz even better.
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