Reidblog [The Reid Report blog]

Okay, not to get too deep or eerie about it, but the political season is routinely described as a horse race ... and wasn't this the horse Senator Clinton told her robots to bet on in the Kentucky Derby?

Both came here chasing history and hinting at greatness. Big Brown was unbeaten and trying to become the first horse in 93 years to win the Kentucky Derby after three lifetime races. Eight Belles, a filly, had ticked off four victories, emboldening her owner to run her against the boys in America’s greatest horse race.

When Big Brown entered the stretch, seemingly finding a gear seen only on sci-fi rocket ships, the 157,000 here to celebrate thoroughbred racing, had their breath taken away by the big colt’s dazzling burst. When Eight Belles broke from the pack to give determined chase, many checked their programs, “Was that really the filly?”

Big Brown hit the wire nearly five lengths ahead of Eight Belles, but moments later, there was heartbreak. While Kent Desormeaux was galloping out Big Brown, Eight Belles fell.

She had fractured both of her front ankles, said the Derby’s on-call veterinarian, Dr. Larry Bramlage, and was euthanized on the racetrack.

What's the name of the NFL team from Indiana, again...?

Eight Belles’s death is bound to raise new questions about the safety of traditional dirt tracks like Churchill’s and lead to second-guessing over whether a filly, which usually runs against other fillies, should have competed against colts.

Against 19 rivals, Big Brown was trying to become the first horse since the filly Regret in 1915 to pull into Churchill Downs so lightly raced and leave a Derby champion. ...

“He truly was in a gallop to the quarter pole,” Desormeaux said. “No distractions. No alterations in course. Just slide over.”

Ahead of him, Bob Black Jack, Cowboy Cal and Recapturetheglory were leading the charge, but were hardly setting a challenging pace as the half mile went in 1:11.04. In the clubhouse, Dutrow and Big Brown’s co-owner Michael Iavarone were puzzled.

“Is he too far back?” Iavarone asked Dutrow.

... Desormeaux, however, was unconcerned as he sat atop a colt that repeatedly has given him goose bumps, something his previous Derby winners, Real Quiet in 1998 and Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000, had never been able to do.

“He was just galloping, floppy eared, off the bridle, cruising,” he said. “I just left him alone and let him canter until I needed him.”

As they entered the far turn, Desormeaux nudged Big Brown ever so slightly.

“Whoosh,” is how Desormeaux described his colt’s reaction.

It was too early, however, to unleash him. Desormeaux let Big Brown pull him like a water skier around the far turn. Cowboy Cal, Recapturetheglory, Cool Coal Man — all disappeared behind him. “Big Brown just kicked in the afterburners,” said Recapturetheglory’s rider, E. T. Baird.

Only Eight Belles had anything left in her tank to give chase. Her rider, Gabriel Saez, took aim at Big Brown and Desormeaux, and with a quarter-mile to run in the mile-and-a-quarter race got within two and a half lengths. Suddenly, however, Big Brown picked up speed and bounded away.

There was plenty of discussion afterward about whether Big Brown was talented enough to become the 12th Triple Crown champion. It has been 30 years since Affirmed swept the Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, and horsemen and horse lovers have been longing to crown another great champion. ...

I mean it's not perfect. Obama is in his sixth lifetime race (three successful runs for the Illinois Senate, one failed Congressional run, one successful U.S. Senate run and the current run for president) not his third. He's not all that big (though he is tall, and he is brown...) and Obama didn't pick his horses all that well. He chose a horse called Colonel John to win and predicted Big Brown would come in third (show). Although something tells me his advisors weren't keen on him putting his name behind anything called "Big Brown..." if you know what I'm sayin...