HorseRacingHeroes

Horse racing throughout its history has had no shortage of heroes, and they have become such for a variety of reasons.

Secretariat is perhaps the most beloved icon in the history of the sport in North America. He came along at a time when America was being torn apart by the Watergate scandal, and perhaps America needed a non-human hero, one that was immaculate and magnificent, perfect, and one that couldn’t be tainted by scandal. His legend burns brighter than any horse that preceded or came after him because he not only met our expectations by crushing the Belmont Stakes field by 31 lengths, he exceeded them beyond anything the public could have imagined.

Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra in 2009 emerged as heroes, especially for women and young girls the country round, having both accomplished the feat of defeating the typically more talented males, the latter having even accomplished this twice as a three-year-old.  Signs of “Girl Power” were to be seen all throughout Santa Anita Park on Breeders Cup Day 2009, and the successful culmination of Zenyatta’s ambitions to defeat the older males only added to her status as hero

During the 2004 Triple Crown, Smarty Jones was viewed as a working class hero, the Seabiscuit of our time, a rags to riches story, the underdog overcoming long odds to rise to the top, the little guy from humble beginnings. The media latched on to the attractive chestnut horse with a huge heart because he came from a small track located in a suburb of Philadelphia Park (the same hometown of Rocky, another rags to riches “working class hero” Cinderella story). His hero status rose to such levels that nuns sprinkled him with Holy Water on him, and a young boy even got to meet Smarty Jones as part of the Make a Wish Foundation.

Two years later, Barbaro became a symbol of hope triumphing over tragedy, of a struggle for survival. His story was rendered all the more dramatic because the injury that would eventually lead to the laminitis which claimed his life occurred right in front of our eyes. Somehow we just knew that the great heart he had displayed on the track would translate to a great instinct for self-preservation, which it did for eight long months until he finally succumbed to complications arising from his injury.

The reader ought not to be left with the misconception that the only heroes in horse racing are the horses. Of course, they are and will always be the main attraction, but the jockey’s and the trainers are equally important factors in the success of a race horse.

Those who follow the sport more closely realize just how important the jockey is in guiding his horse to victory, and anyone who has tried to ride a horse cannot help but admire how these men are able to guide these 1200 pound animals while flying along at speeds exceeding 50 miles per hour.  And seasoned handicappers can appreciate a barn that always has their charges ready to run in peak form. From trainers Charlie Whittingham and Bobby Frankel, from jockeys Willie Shoemaker, Eddie Arcaro, and Jerry Bailey, horse racing has no shortage of heroes that make up the supporting cast.