Horses, Money, and Mystery

For those of us who enjoys a good horse race, this day was for us....or was it? Big Brown, the strapping chistled speciman was set to carve and cut his way into history, ran 3 furlongs and called it a day. Was it the heat? Maybe. The sweltering humidity? Maybe. Was it the fact that he missed 3 days of practice? Probably not. OR, was it the fact that he missed his mid May steroid shot that all the field of horses received as a booster to the race just like they always do? I think so. Now I'm all for the steroid ban with athletes on a professional level. This, however, was a mound of muscle that had a diet perfected to his size and a training regimen taylor made to fit his abilities. I hardly see the inhumanity in that.

This would have not even crossed my mind until the announcers gave it mention that Big Brown's trainers said, "He don't need his steroid shot to win this race." There was a steroid ban coming after the race for the future horses, but it was set for AFTER the race. Zito was clearly bringing the only challenger to the race in Da' Tara, who led from start to finish. The bizarre part of this was that he was the one who brought the horse that knocked Smarty Jones out of the Triple Crown. Coincidence? Maybe. I really hope so. With 5.2 million being placed in the hands of the bookeys on race day, its hard to tell. Who wouldn't throw $100 down on Da' Tara? It's worth a gamble right? I believe so and I also believe that I wasn't the only one who would think such an unthinkable thought in the midst of the media sharks looking for the next press puppy to get their hands on and set the odds for the fate of a horse and the sport as a whole in the public eye.

A story that was supposed to be about sentement and comeback left us with the feeling of being robbed. Was the jockey riding for his son? Probably. Was he riding to shock the world with a harnessed lightning bolt under his hips? Absolutely. It was just another chapter of the book of horses, money, and mystery. I suppose we will soon read this chapter again, just as we have in the past.