Of Course, Don't Endorse The Horse

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By Norman Chad

Monday, June 8, 2009

As a sometime member of the human race, Couch Slouch would like to extend an apology on behalf of other humans to fellow human Calvin Borel.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

To understand why human error has slighted Borel, first we must recount, as well as humanly possible, how bad horse sense got us to this apologetic state of affairs:

The best 3-year-old thoroughbred in the nation -- Rachel Alexandra -- did not run in the Kentucky Derby.

(Oh, sure, she was at Churchill Downs that weekend, but she ran in a race there the day before; apparently, the filly had a previous commitment on Derby Day.)

Then, after winning the Preakness, Rachel Alexandra decided not to run in the Belmont Stakes.

(My goodness, this horse has a busier social calendar than the Duchess of Cornwall. Plus, I'm told, Rachel Alexandra didn't even TiVo the race.)

Still, horse racing -- long lamented as a dying sport -- got an unprecedented break: The person who rode 50-1 shot Mine That Bird to victory in the Kentucky Derby, Borel, then rode Rachel Alexandra to victory in the Preakness. So, at the Belmont, Borel -- aboard Mine That Bird again -- had a chance to become the first jockey to sweep the Triple Crown races on different horses.

Now, in a watered-down sports world in which we treat NBA playoff triple-doubles as reverentially as Wilma Rudolph's triple gold medal performance, this would seem remarkable.

And yet . . . Nobody cared.

We've been told, time and again, that a Triple Crown winner could save horse racing. Yes, they meant a horse. But if a human comes along and does something that's never been done before Triple Crown-wise, how do other humans collectively yawn at such a feat?

What, we're supposed to feel a greater emotional attachment to, say, Big Brown than Calvin Borel?

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