We all have that one special event of the year in which we set aside everything to watch.
Movie buffs have the Academy Awards. Music lovers get the Grammy Awards. Sports fans have the Super Bowl, and in Canada, they likely have the Grey Cup.
In this province, if the Saskatchewan Roughriders are in the Grey Cup, everyone will stop everything to cheer on the Green and White.
The Grey Cup is that kind of an event for me, and I’ll be sure to watch it regardless of who is playing. But my other event of the year was on Saturday: the Kentucky Derby.
Those who know me well know about my love for the Sport of Kings. My parents have owned a horse farm in Aldergrove, B.C., since 1999, but I’ve been a horse racing fan for as long as I can remember.
Thanks to my keen memory and my skills with numbers, I’ve always been able to pick winners, and more times than not, I’ll make money at the track. (Admittedly, the sample size is pretty small, since I get to the track just a couple of times a year).
The Kentucky Derby is the one horse race each year guaranteed to gain mainstream attention. There are races that are older (the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine in Toronto, for example), there are races with deeper fields and more money on the line (the Breeder’s Cup Classic is the horse racing world championship).
But the Derby is the race that thrusts the sport into the spotlight.
Some people like to watch the broadcast for the celebrity element; others like to watch it for the fashion and the funny hats. And, of course, there’s the gambling element.
Yes, I did put a few dollars down on the Derby. I went with a little Saskatchewan influence, and bet on Gormley. (Note: the horse has no known connections to Saskatchewan broadcaster John Gormley). Gormley the horse had fairly long odds, even though he had won one of the top pre-Derby races, the Santa Anita Derby, earlier this year.
The horse finished ninth. (I’m waiting for a New Democratic Party supporter to call and question how I could ever bet on anything named Gormley).
The best horse in the field, Always Dreaming, won the race. A lesson for all you novice betters: when it comes to the Kentucky Derby, never bet against an undefeated horse.
It’s unlikely we’ll have a Triple Crown winner this year, but don’t be surprised if Always Dreaming wins the Preakness, which means a lot more hype for the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown.
Why am I a horse racing fan? It’s not just because I can pick winners. It really is the thinking person’s gambling. The people who are successful handicappers aren’t lucky; they understand how everything from the race distance to the level of the race to the horse’s post position to the track conditions can have an influence on the outcome of the race.
The gambling element is fun, and there are few thrills greater in spectator sports than to watch your horse win. Most people are hooked once they get that first victory.
But there is also a majestic element to watching horses run, thanks to their incredible speed and strength. And there are few things harder to control than a thoroughbred, which is why being a jockey is such a daunting profession.
So I apologize if you were trying to reach me on Saturday, and I didn’t get back to you right away. I was busy pulling for Gormley to win the most exciting two minutes in sports.
