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Derby win is not without sadness

By Brad Minkow
May 6, 2008

In only two minutes, thoroughbred racing encapsulates everything spectacular and imperfect about sports. Horseracing, a sport with little national, daily notoriety, has the unique ability to demand our attention for five weeks every year. And for that one-month span during which the three Triple Crown races take place, America’s hopes are placed on one horse’s victory.

This year American thoroughbred Big Brown came into the 134th derby as a 2-1 favorite. With expectations remarkably high, Big Brown’s jockey, Kent Desormeaux, was dealt a difficult hand. They had been assigned to start out of the 20th gate, where no horse had won since 1929.

Such a scene was picture-perfect for fans and experts, for if there’s one thing we enjoy more than a favorite, it’s a favorite against seemingly impossible obstacles.

In impressive fashion, Big Brown won the Derby, defeating the runner-up by four and three-fourths lengths and extended his record to a perfect 4-0. Big Brown embodied every characteristic of a winner through his triumph, just as beloved athletes in other sports display them through their own victories. From Michael Jordan’s 38-point performance while battling the flu in the 1997 NBA Finals to Tiger Woods’ first victory in the wake of his father’s death, America loves the favorite who conquers the odds.

We often find ourselves cheering for the underdog, but in reality, we are simply hoping that the heralded favorite will be faced with a new test.

Horseracing is no different. As soon as the Kentucky Derby winner is crowned, the countdown to the next Triple Crown winner will begin. Affirmed was the last horse to win his sport’s three most cherished races, becoming the 11th horse ever to accomplish such a feat. After Saturday, both Big Brown supporters and enemies alike will pull for the unlikely: that Brown can become the 12th horse in racing history to win the Triple Crown.

And as in all sports, victory is often accompanied by tragedy. This year, misery found its way to Eight Belles, the Derby’s only female. The filly finished second overall, but en route to her impressive finish, she broke both front ankles. Only minutes after Big Brown electrified the stadium of 157,770 spectators, Eight Belles was euthanized on the track.

The filly’s death marred an otherwise extraordinary day in sports, indicative of the competition’s raw emotion. In the face of victory it is possible to find loss, but disaster can also yield solemn satisfaction. Eight Belles was the epitome of an overachieving underdog, entering the Derby at 16-1 odds. The horse never counted in refused to be counted out.

In only two weeks, Big Brown will continue his quest for horseracing immortality at the Preakness in Baltimore. And for at least two more minutes, the beauty of sports will ride alongside a 1,200-pound stallion.