Possum Philosophy: Fan of the Run for the Roses since Secretariat

“The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home, Tis summer, the people are gay;
The corn-top’s ripe and the meadow’s in the bloom, While the birds make music all the day.
The young folks roll on the little cabin floor, All merry, all happy and bright;
By’n by hard times comes a knocking at the door, Then my old Kentucky home, Good-night!
Weep no more my lady. Oh! Weep no more today!
We will sing one song for my old Kentucky home, For the old Kentucky home far away.”
-- From the song “My Old Kentucky Home” by Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826 – Jan. 13, 1864.) Although he had practically no formal music education, Foster also wrote such classics as “Oh! Susanna,” “Camptown Races,” “Old Black Joe,” “Beautiful Dreamer” and “The Old Folks at Home,” which is commonly known as “Swannee River.”

This Saturday afternoon, for a while at least, the sun will shine bright, as many Americans will be native sons and daughters of Kentucky regardless of their place of birth. Men will be Kentucky colonels, women will be Kentucky ladies and the air will fill with strains of “My Old Kentucky Home,” played by the University of Louisville Marching Band (singing accompaniment by most of the fans both in the stands and the TV audience) when for the 133rd time, the Kentucky Derby will take place.
For anyone who perhaps grew up on Mars, the Kentucky Derby is the premier horserace in the United States. According to Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia (http://www.wikipedia.org), Kentucky has been noted since its settling in the later 1700s for the quality of its racehorses. By 1872, Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., the grandson of the famous explorer William Clark (half of the Lewis and Clark expedition that traveled from St. Louis, Mo., to the Pacific coastline), began an exploration of his own. He first journeyed to England to observe the already famous Epsom Derby. This British race had been run yearly since 1780.
The intrepid racetrack explorer then ventured on to Paris to view the Grand Prix de Paris. This French equivalent of the British Epsom Derby had run only nine years at the time. This race was organized by the French Jockey Club, a group of racing enthusiasts. Clark then came home to Kentucky with a mission.
He organized the Louisville Jockey Club with the intention of raising funds to build what he wanted to become quality racing facilities just outside the city of Louisville. Today, as with many large U.S. cities, Louisville has grown around its world-famous racetrack, Churchill Downs. Some of Clark’s well-heeled relatives (How come I don’t have any of those?) John and Henry Churchill donated land for the track. It would, however, be 1937 before the grounds were officially incorporated as Churchill Downs.
The first race was run in 1875. The distance was set at one and one-half miles, which was the same as the Epsom Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris. (In 1896 it was shortened to its present length of one and one-quarter miles). The race, held on May 17, 1875, had a crowd estimated at 10,000, which was a pretty fair crowd for any sporting event in the early post-Civil War days. It had a field of 15 three-year-old horses. The winner was Aristides, ridden by Oliver Lewis, a young African-American jockey. Aristides was trained by Ansel Williamson, who would become a member of the trainers’ Hall of Fame. Later in the year, Lewis rode Aristides to a second-place finish in the Belmont Stakes. The net purse to the winner was $2,850. Not a bad piece of pocket change in those days.
On May 3, 1952 the Derby went nationwide when national television carried it for the first time. In 1954, the purse exceeded $100,000 for the first time. Sadly, in 1968, Dancer’s Image became the first and so far only horse to win the race and then be disqualified after failing a drug test after the race. Traces of phenylbutazone, an analgesic and anti-inflammatory, turned up in a urinalysis test, quite unexpectedly by all accounts. A few years later, Kentucky regulations changed to allow horses to race when taking this particular drug.
Who holds the record for the race you may ask? Well friends and neighbors, I am happy, no, make that proud and happy to say the record for the current distance, which stands at one minute, 59 and 2/5 seconds, was set in 1973 by perhaps the finest racehorse ever to set foot on a track (in my frankly unlearned and somewhat prejudiced opinion), Secretariat. There is something unique about his record that occurred for the only time in any of the Triple Crown races (the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes). Races are timed in quarters as well as overall length. For the only time in history to date, Secretariat’s time in each quarter of the Derby grew faster. Quite unusual as most horses tire through the race and quarter times change.
I had always been somewhat interested in horseracing, but it was not until 1973 that I became a true fan. Secretariat was the reason. He was a handsome stallion, a chestnut, which thanks to his size and color garnered him the nickname of “Big Red.” But, most importantly, he was a Virginia horse, born and bred. He was built stocky, more like a quarter horse than a spindly legged thoroughbred racer. And he could run.
In the 1973 race, he set the Derby record. In the Preakness, the official track timer was messed up. Track officials finally set the time at one minute 54 and 2/5 seconds, although several knowledgeable racing persons and the newspaper, The Daily Racing Form, set the time at a record one minute, 53 and 2/5 seconds, a track record, which it printed in its news report alongside the officials’ choice.
In the Belmont, it was almost hilarious. Secretariat showed what he could do when in the mood, even though not being hard-pressed by opponents. He finished this race leading by 31 lengths over the second-place horse. In NASCAR terms, if Big Red had had another quarter of a lap or so, he would have put much of the field a lap down.
He was loved by his owners, trainers, other race folks, fans and even non-fans. In today’s vernacular, he was a “rock star.” After having been euthanized, when he developed an incurable disease, his owners had him autopsied. It was discovered that his heart was more than twice the normal size of a racehorse’s heart. Not diseased, not unhealthy, just a big heart and it showed. He was a character as well; he did not win every race he ran, just the one’s he wanted to win. And when he wanted to win, he was unbeatable.
So, Saturday afternoon, at 6:04 p.m. EST, the Run for the Roses (nicknamed that because of the blanket of roses awarded to the Derby-winning horse) will begin (TV coverage starts at 4 p.m. EST). More than millions of Americans, me included, will likely be glued to the TV screen. We will hear and likely join in singing “My Old Kentucky Home.” Many will probably enjoy a Mint Julep or two, which is basically a strong slug of Kentucky bourbon, with a huge amount of sugar and a sprig of mint. So enjoy the race and remember, if you have a Julep, make sure someone else does any driving.
A freelance journalist, Robert “Rocky” Cahill writes regularly for the News & Messenger. Possum Philosophy appears in each Saturday edition.