This Saturday, I did something out of the ordinary, and while it may seem mundane, it was quite an event for me. In the interest of research for the story I’m writing, I studied the horses entered in the Breeder’s Cup, plunked down a bit of money in wagers, and parked my behind in front of ESPN for an afternoon.

I have a love/hate relationship with horseracing. I love to watch them run, dislike many aspects of the sport~ topping the list of which is breakdowns.

I missed the first race I’d intended to watch, because like a doofus, I’d forgotten the fact that Churchill Downs is in the Eastern time zone. My horse won. Well, she's not "mine". Dreaming of Anna was the one horse I had wagered on without laying eyes on. I chose her simply because she’d already beaten the colts at Woodbine and we share a name. I later saw the replay and was impressed.

The races were great to watch, outside of the Distaff. I didn’t know what had happened until after the race, as Denman didn’t call it and the camera was focused elsewhere. I heard that a horse had been pulled up, then another. Fleet Indian had been pulled up, and Pine Island had somersaulted. Javier Castellano, Pine Island’s jockey, lay crumpled on the track. I was in tears and crying, “nonononono!” From an aerial view, I saw Pine Island on her feet, standing still and calmly, and hoped that her injury wasn’t too severe. It was. She’d annihilated her left fore. I later saw a picture in a paper of her standing calmly, waiting for someone to come help her, twisted ankle not appearing to be hurting her, yet. They vanned her off and she was destroyed shortly thereafter. Javier said he was fine, and while I don’t think he should have ridden Bernardini an hour later, that wasn’t my call. Fleet Indian, after having waited 20 minutes for an ambulance (there were two at the track), it seems will be okay. I hope she will.

The image that perhaps hit home hardest for me was seeing Edgar Prado, aboard Round Pond, with whom he’d just won the Distaff, seeing that something was wrong. As he was led to the winner’s circle, his eyes were on the scene behind him, obvious concern written all over his face. Shades of a day earlier this year encroached~ while Edgar and trainer Michael Matz had won with Round Pond, memories of the Preakness flooded in, and the scene of Barbaro in a similar situation as Pine Island. With an exception.

Barbaro wasn’t destroyed. He underwent surgery and despite a devastating setback weeks later when laminitis struck his good hind, has slowly and steadily improved. He is healing. His doctors can’t explain why he’s done as well as he has, other than that he’s an extraordinary creature. Not just physically, either. His influence, which many call “The Barbaro Effect”, has brought attention to horse related issues long squashed down. Injury, illness, theft, and the worst, slaughter. There’s little doubt that his influence has swayed some in regard to Polytrack. His followers have found inspiration in a world of anger and violence, and purpose in the issues they now know they can influence the outcomes of.

Barbaro himself took a mighty big step today. The cast on his shattered leg came off today, replaced by a boot with a splint. The hoof on his other foot still needs months to grow out properly, but I’ve as much hope as his other fans that he’ll take care of that quite well, too.

I learned a lot on Saturday, and as for my wagers, managed to bring back home most of what I’d laid down to begin with. I’m learning as much about the people in racing as I am the animals. Most of them aren’t hardened, crass and abusive to their animals. They truly care about them and take issue with many of the same issues that I have, from outside the world of the track.


The lanky home~bred filly Pine Island was laid to rest at Claiborne today. My sincere condolences to those who love her.