Who Else To Root For

This year’s Derby is highly unusual in that no clear favorite has emerged. Normally the press has pre-crowned a winner by March or so. The Derby is for three-year-old Thoroughbreds, and as these little ones have grown and tested their wings, they have been continually knocking one another off in the late-winter and early-spring races known as “Derby preps.”

Given the rich field and the muddy conditions at Churchill today, I'm thinking this is pretty much a free-for-all. The roses will go to whoever's standing at the end.

Some worthy ponies to back for place or show:

Minister Eric
My grandpa always told me, “You can’t go wrong with the horse under Pat Day.” Day is one of the best jockeys in history—although the one time I did bet him, the only time I’ve ever placed a horseracing bet, he lost. I'm still sitting here waiting for that damn horse to come in. Thanks, Pat. Take solace, however, in this colt’s name; Day is a born-again Christian, and, as always… there’s no such thing as a coincidence, especially in horseracing.

Limehouse
The press isn’t giving this little one much of a chance, but I saw him win the Tampa Bay Derby with Pat in the saddle, and he was quite impressive. We need to root for Limehouse so I can hobble around in my 90’s telling people that I saw the great Limehouse run before anybody knew who he was.

Imperialism
A one-eyed scrapper who’s been getting a lot of attention because he is trained by 21-year-old Kristin Mulhall. If Imperialism wins, Mulhall will be the first woman and the youngest trainer ever to win a Kentucky Derby. But don't plan on crying in your mint julep any if Imperialism stops. Kristin bought an $800,000 house at 19 and drives a BMW... when she's not driving the Mercedes. Yeah, I pretty much don't like Kristin.

Birdstone
Birdstone is owned by Marylou Whitney, whose late husband, Sonny, tried fifteen times to win the Derby. Marylou does a great deal of charity work, so she gets points for not being a beastly rich person. Besides, she’s just plain due.

The Cliff’s Edge
HBO’s controversial documentary Jockey focused on the incredibly dangerous lives of race riders. One of the jocks it focused on was Shane Sellers, who rides The Cliff’s Edge today. Shane has never won a Derby and has worked tirelessly to lower the strict weight restrictions on jockeys and to assist his friend, Randy Romero, who is currently suffering kidney failure from a lifetime of harsh reducing (dieting and bulimia to make weight.)

Pollard’s Vision
All fellow English majors MUST root for Pollard’s Vision, who is named after Seabiscuit’s jockey, Red Pollard. Both horse and Red are blind in the right eye. Watch Pollard’s Vision as he goes down the track—he runs with his head cocked to the side to see where he’s going. Adorable. I want to take this one home and let him graze in my kitchen.