“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”
~ Leonardo da Vinci
I had photos planned for today. Instead I give you this crappy shot of the TV. Why? Because we have a new Triple Crown winner – finally – American Pharaoh! I screamed my head off as he pulled away down the stretch. He crossed the finish line and I had chills all over my body and tears in my eyes. I couldn’t believe it really. I hadn’t been excited about him, and I learned that other friends weren’t either. I don’t think any of us could put our finger on the reason. I speculated it wasn’t a sometimes-the-little-guy-wins scenario. It wasn’t until after the win that I realized why I wasn’t excited. After 37 years there wasn’t much to make me think he’d win. Heck, I was 13 the last time we had a Triple Crown Champion! Other great horses, perfectly healthy, capable horses, had all gone down in defeat. Some of them even won the first two legs just to lose the Belmont, the longest of the three races. Why should this year be any different? Then, just before he went in the gate, he pooped. I turned to Stacy and said, “He just shit. He’s going to win this race.” She laughed at me. A high number of horses that empty their gut before the gate win their races. Maybe it’s a superstition I learned in the barns, but I’ve found it to be true, and it was true today. After we stopped screaming, Stacy looked at me and said, “He just shit. He’s going to win this race.” We howled with laughter. I’m tickled for American Pharaoh. He’s the real deal and deserves all the carrots and sugar cubes he can find.
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