Preakness 134 – One for the Ages

By Jude T. Feld

The demise of horse racing has been greatly exaggerated.

This year, I watched the Preakness at a party hosted by my pal Andrew Chesser.

Solo, in pairs and in bevies, the guests arrived at his Lexington manor to witness the second leg of racing’s 2009 Triple Crown.

“Whodayalikes” and “Who do you likes” monopolized the conversation.

“Rachel Alexandra. I hope she kicks the boys’ ass.”

“Pioneerof the Nile. He’s been training great since the Derby and Baffert is really high on him.”

“Rachel Alexandra. I’ve been on pins and needles all day. I can’t wait to watch her run.”

“Rachel Alexandra.”

“Big Drama. Speed on the rail at Pimlico.”

“Friesan Fire. He worked unbelievable.”

“Rachel Alexandra. She is a freak.”

“Musket Man. He always runs good and the shorter distance helps him.”

“The filly.”

“Mine That Bird,” I said when the question was posed to me. “I never saw a horse run like that in the Derby.”

“I love Rachel.”

“Pioneerof the Nile. I saw his work.”

“Rachel.”

There were at least 40 of us huddled around the living room, glued to Andrew’s TV and at 52, I was at least 20 years older than anyone else in the room. As a matter of fact, my girlfriend Gretchen, who is 27, was quite possibly the next oldest person there and that is a racing rarity.

As the horses loaded in the gate, the banter quieted down but as soon the starter sprung the latch the rooting began.

“She’s gonna be wide.”

“She can’t get to the lead.”

“They’re rating Big Drama.”

“Mine That Bird is last again.”

“Calvin’s letting her run.”

“She made the lead.”

“Where’s Musket man?”

“The filly is running great!”

“Here comes Mine That Bird!”

“Oh my God! Oh my God!”

“Rachel’s gonna win!”

“Oh my God!”

“Come on Mine That Bird!”

“Oh my God!”

“She won! Rachel won!”

“Oh my God! She did!”

The room was buzzing. Girls were crying. Guys were heading to the kitchen for another beer and the rest of us kept watching the festivities and tossing in our comments, enjoying the moment, thankful for such a magnificent performance and the safe return of the participants.

Granted, this Preakness bash was held in Lexington, Kentucky, the self-proclaimed horse capital of the world. But amongst the guests were people born in England, Ireland and France with several states from coast-to-coast represented, so it wasn’t just a bunch of locals and amazingly, every one but me was under 30.

Some pundits will tell you that racing is dead. That the fan base is dying and there are no replacements in sight. That nobody cares about the Preakness unless the Derby winner wins.

Saturday afternoon, Andrew Chesser and Rachel Alexandra proved them wrong.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 17th, 2009 at 7:39 am and is filed under Featured Articles. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.