the-barn-rat: jfc so to sum up:unbridled wins the derby, sires empire maker (2nd in the derby), who...

the-barn-rat:

jfc so to sum up:

• unbridled wins the derby, sires empire maker (2nd in the derby), who sires pioneerof the nile (2nd in the derby), who sires american pharoah, who wins the derby
  
• pharoah was bred by ahmed zayat, who also owned pioneerof the nile, then sold as a weanling, then bought BACK as a yearling for 300k presumably because OH SHIT WE FUCKED UP
• mr z bit off half of pharoah’s tail when they were 2 year olds in the paddock
• the wrong spelling of pharoah is due to a mistake on his registration papers
• the connections all have heartbreaking failure stories at this
• • owner zayat finished second in the derby with pioneerof the nile and bodemeister, in the first case to a 50-1 shot freak of nature 
  • jockey victor espinoza has won the derby/preakness double twice before only to fail both times in the belmont, including last year with california chrome being injured coming out of the gate
  • trainer bob baffert has won the double three times, and in 1998 came the closest anyone has to the triple crown since Affirmed last won i in ‘78, losing the belmont stakes by a NOSE to victory gallop
• pharoah won the arkansas derby in his final prep for the kentucky derby in 1:48.52 at oaklawn park, which is so notoriously slow that the richest american racehorse ever, curlin, who went on to tie the preakness speed record by the way, won the same race in 2007 in 1:50 flat
• in the race before the preakness, espinoza’s horse balked in the starting gate and sat down, throwing espinoza. the horse was fine, though he had to be scratched from his race, and espinoza narrowly avoided what might have been a gruesome injury half an hour before it was pharoah’s turn
• pharoah’s stablemate and resident tail-biter mr z wasn’t supposed to run in the preakness stakes because their owner (zayat) didn’t want to compromise his own horse’s chances at a triple crown but calumet farm decided to buy him for trainer d wayne lukas before the preakness and mr z drew directly outside pharoah’s post on the rail, making him the most likely horse to get in pharoah’s way
• mr z of course then pressed pharoah through a first quarter in just over 22 seconds on a track more closely resembling the ocean than pimlico race course on a sunny day
• speaking of which let’s talk about the fucking storm then eh
• • the fucking sky opened just before the call for riders up and drenched everything
  • the preakness flags almost blew off the bugles
  • they had to evacuate parts of the infield
  • you almost couldn’t see the horses at all during the post parade
  • lightning flashed several times before the horses loaded into the gate
  • race caller larry collmus saw his chance and he fuckin took it with the whole “american pharoah thunders on through now” line
• pharoah is the first 2yo champion racehorse to complete the derby/preakness double since spectacular bid in 1979

I KNOW IM MISSING STUFF

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