Preakness Part Deux: Curlin

Mom is friends with one of Curlin's owners. Tonight she tells me the story behind the name of this years Preakness winner and Triple Crown upset.

Curlin was the name of Mom's friend's grandfather, who was sold on the block as a slave. The farm Curlin the Thoroughbred races out of is the same farm where Curlin the grandfather was sold, since purchased by the grandson.

Wow. That brings a whole new dimension to his--THEIR--victory.

Preakness

I stop for coffee before hitting the highway and check out Preakness results. I'm sorry to have missed the race--looks like a doozy.

I ponder the winning photo on the front page of the papers. Look at his hind leg: Street Sense is actually ahead, biomechanically speaking, but is at the phase of the gallop sequence where his body is shortened, coiling for the next propelling thrust. Curlin is a hair behind, but at the phase in the sequence where his body is elongated--with his nose pushed out to meet the wire first.

That's horse racing--and there goes the Triple Crown!