Justify winning the 2018 Belmont Stakes to become the 13th Triple Crown winner. Photograph by Mike Lizzi.
Let us conduct a thought experiment, shall we? You are a world-class tennis player on the eve of the US Open. The night before it begins, a villainous individual steels into your room and injects you with a powerful, performance-enhancing drug. You, in a deep sleep, barely feel a pinprick. To you, it’s all a dream — but one that is about to become a nightmare.
Read MoreJustify after winning the Preakness Stakes on his way to becoming the 13th Triple Crown winner. (That’s trainer Bob Baffert in the red tie.) With no Triple Crown on the line this season, the action remains centered on the fallout from Maximum Security’s disqualification at the Kentucky Derby. Photograph courtesy Maryland Governor’s Office.
April is the cruelest month,” T.S. Eliot began his poem “The Waste Land.” But T.S. — we hesitate to be overly familiar and call him Tom — what about May?
Threats to and from Iran, the continuing abortion divide, tariff wars, the stock market bouncing around like a knuckleball again: The only thing that is certain these days is, of course, uncertainty, making us all uneasy.
In the past, culture — specifically, arts and entertainment and sports — has provided stability in a destabilized world. But the real world keeps intruding on these parallel worlds that are framed differently by time and space.
Read MoreWhirlaway — the only Triple Crown winner to win the Travers Stakes — had a tendency to veer toward the middle of the track in races.
The fallout continues from Maximum Security’s DQ in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. Co-owner Gary West filed an appeal that was quickly shot down and will not run the horse in two weeks in the Preakness Stakes. That’s a shame because it could’ve been a kind of redemption and Maximum Security could’ve joined Man o’ War and Native Dancer as one of the greatest horses to never win the Derby. (Man o’ War’s owner, August Belmont Jr. — the Belmont Stakes was named after his father — thought his colt too young for the Derby. And the Dancer lost the 1953 Derby to Dark Star in a race in which his jockey, Eric Guerin, was criticized for taking “that colt everywhere around the track except the ladies’ room”.) It was the only race that the Dancer ever lost.
Read MoreThose who were hoping that the 145th Run for the Roses would revive horse racing’s fortunes were jostled by winner Maximum Security being DQed.
And that’s why they call it a horse race.
After the favorite, Omaha Beach, was scrapped earlier in the week, the new favorite and winner, Maximum Security, was disqualified for drifting into the lane of War of Will. As a result, Country House — a 65-to-1 shot — was declared the winner. Code of Honor finished second and Tacitus, third.
Read MoreFans capture the moment when Justify captures the Preakness Stakes in the slop last year on his way to the Triple Crown. Courtesy Maryland Governor’s Office.
Who’s afraid of Howard Schultz? Everybody it seems. President Donald J. Trump was against the former Starbucks CEO-turned-possible presidential candidate, perhaps fearing he would corner part of the I’ve-done-the-business-thing-so-of-course-I’m-qualified-to-be-president market. Then someone must’ve reminded Trumpet that Schultz is a Democrat who would only rob the Dems of votes as a third party candidate, so Donnie Two Scoops has laid off.
Read MoreLast weekend was one for hats – at the royal wedding Saturday and later at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes, in which Kentucky Derby winner Justify edged past Good Magic, then hung on to beat Bravaro and Tenfold. (At least that’s what seemed to happen. It was hard to see the horses for the fog on the rainy, muddy track.)
Can Justify become the first undefeated horse since Seattle Slew in 1977 to win the Triple Crown? Already the naysayers – the No, No Nanettes – are out in force, noting that Justify looked tired and just squeaked by Bravaro. But he got the job done, didn’t he? …
Read MoreThe current political climate has broadened the mission of this blog and its title, The Games Men Play, deepening its commitment to culture and sex (gender), two of its themes. But in the meantime, I realize I have been neglecting sports. Time to get back in the saddle.
On Saturday, Jan. 28, Arrogate, the super gray colt, provided us with some much needed distraction by winning the world’s richest horse race, the $12 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park, defeating a retiring California Chrome. Previously, Arrogate beat Chrome in the Breeders’ Cup Classic while setting the fastest pace ever at the Travers Stakes against Exaggerator and Creator. Clearly, the 4-year-old, trained by Bob Baffert of American Pharoah fame, is the horse to beat. ...
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