This weekend must be dedicated to the animals. Meet Rachel Alexandra the super filly, Pimlico’s hottest new attraction who will run in the 134th Preakness Stakes barring any unforeseen events.
Much hangs on this year’s Preakness that extends beyond the 2nd leg of the triple crown stakes. All at Pimlico is not well, according to examiner.com:
Track owner, Magna Entertainment Corp. is in bankruptcy. A new infield BYOB ban, threatening rain, and one of the worst economic recessions in recent memory may converge to form a perfect storm of dwindling interest. The fate of Preakness teeters in the balance.
On the one hand, the sky could rip at any moment. On the other, the sun might shine. This is the City of Baltimore, nestled between the Chesapeake Bay and western Maryland. Here, the barometer can and often does shift on a dime.
We natives can’t help but see Pimlico through the eyes of history, the rest of the world’s as well as our own. Here, the underdog Seabiscuit battled mighty War Admiral and emerged victorious. Here, America’s Barbaro suffered gut-wrenching defeat.
Enter the new lady in town, Rachel Alexandra. No filly has won the Preakness since 1924. She is being billed by the horse crowd as the best horse since Man o’ War (c. 1920) who some feel was the horse of the century. Sports stations and horse racing aficionados are all a buzz with the talk of Super Filly Rachel Alexandra. Should she turn out to be the horse of the century, Mine That Bird is out of the running. To make matters even dicier, Cal Borel, the jockey who rode Mine That Bird to victory two weeks ago at the Kentucky Derby, is jumping ship, or should I say, ‘jumping horse,’ and riding Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness. What is that old country expression about dance with the one who brung you?
We will just have to wait and see what happens tomorrow as coverage begins at 4:30 on NBC. The odds will be posted online sometime tomorrow. Post time is generally around 5:30-6:00.
No Triple Crown winner this year!
Watch the new kid in town kick some major horse booty! Rachel Alexandra is the winner of the 2009 Preakness Race. Mine That Bird came in a close second. One can only wonder if Cal Borel had ridden Mine that Bird, if we might be looking at a Triple Crown Winner.
Enjoy the race!
Will we have a new Lady Victory, a 2nd leg winner named Bird That Mine, or will another dark horse appear out of no where? [ED note: Rachel Alexandra won the Preakness.] Is Cal Borel, the exuberant jockey, a turn coat for not riding Bird That Mine? Check out the competition. Who is your favorite?
Will the boys rule the day or will there be a female interloper breaking the glass ceiling for the first time in 85 years?
Click to view the competition.
Additional video footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjePyvH7024&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBxJvzktxrw&NR=1
The Luis Ramirez murder and the subsequent acquittals of all the white boys, despite the mountain of evidence and eyewitness testimony, is “A Logical Step in the Process of Establishing a Subhuman Class”
http://promigrant.org/diary/687/the-luis-ramirez-murder-a-logical-step-in-the-process-of-establishing-a-subhuman-class
The above article is poignant and on the mark. Something went horribly wrong when the Shenandoah police offered criminal assistance to the white murderers of Luis Ramirez (the mother of one of the murderers was dating a local cop who met with the murderers to help them get their stories straight). I remember how Lucky Ducky tried to make some weak excuses as to why the police would refuse to arrest the white murderers for over two weeks despite the testimony of a retired police officer and eyewitnesses who knew exactly who the white murderers were.
But now, a true line in the sand has been crossed, a dangerous door has been opened with the outrageous acquittal of these murderers. The foundation of our justice system, the jury, is now undeniably a threat to Latinos in this country.
What happened to Ramirez and the subsequent acquittals was, quite simply, a lynching.
Mackie, how about moving this comment down to the Ivan the Terrible thread. That one is an older thread I put up and I have requested that everyone who has an off topic comment go to that thread. Thank you.
Awesome, Mackie!
Mackie, what happened to Mr. Ramirez is an injustice. I fully expect that it will be remedied at the federal level and that Hate Crime charges will be filed.
I’ll be rooting for the filly this afternoon!
Slowpoke, I am torn between Mine That Bird and the filly. Borel is a turn coat.
Did you see the running of the urinals? That is the reason they have done away with BYOB at Pimlico. Totally gross!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n8xMAh29rc
If anyone finds the exact post time, please put it here.
Rachel Alexandra wins the Kentucky Oaks 5-1-09
http://www.kentuckyoaks.com/2009/videos/3936
The jockey is Calvin Borel.
Just watching a few of the races of Mine That Bird in these videos, I am just not so sure about the horse. Is it the horse or Borel’s skill as a jockey?
http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2009/racing-information/contenders/mine-bird
Not being a horse racing enthusiast until Borel and Mine That Bird got me interested, I am disappointed he is not the jockey for Mine That Bird. I know in his interview it sounded like they had not planned on racing Mine That Bird in the Preakness, but would think he might have liked to have had a 2nd chance to get Mine That Bird to victory. Would have been neat if him and Mine That Bird took the Triple Crown. Well, it makes things more interesting, I guess!
Interesting MH – I wonder just how much difference the horse jockey makes – it is obvious some difference, but a horse jockey can’t take a complete loser and make it a winner either. Well, that might always not be true. I remember some movie about a horse that was a loser and a jockey seemed to make it into a winner – you probably know the movie – the name escapes me now. Anyway, will be interesting how Mine That Bird does with different jockey. I know Mine That Bird had long odds (50:1) at the Kentucky Derby and was not really considered a contender. Also will be interesting to see how Borel does on his horse. Definitely makes things a bit more interesting this weekend!
MH – that running of the urinals video cracked me up!
O.K., I will be the downer on this thread too. I worry about the treatment of animals when used for sport and betting. Champion horses that end up at slaughter houses, grey hounds that have no real life after racing, who are the overall real winners? Someone please tell me why using animals for sport is in the best interest of the animal.
Gainesville, that would be Seabiscuit. Not sure I spelled it right. This was the first I have seen of the running of the urinals. No WONDER that track did away with BYOB. People used to drag big coolers in there.
Elena, champion horses don’t end up at slaughter houses. They live a cushier life than you or I do. How tough is it to run around a pasture, eat some hay and oats, special blend of course, and to get a half million dollars stud fee? I don’t know a single man who has it that good.
They have excellent housing (probably the ac is more reliable than at my house), find pastures that grow special grass, have excellent vet care with all the latest state of the art medicine. If they get old and down, they are peacefully put to sleep, unlike any place in the United States.
I know nothing about dog racing and would never attend a dog race.
Horse racing has been around as long as horses have been domesticated. They are treated as prized possessions pretty much every where they are raced. It helps to remind yourself that a little more than 100 years ago they were our main mode of transportation.
In fairness, I think some of the lesser tracks probably conditions that are less than desirable. I just can’t name any.
Post time is just after 6 pm on NBC.
I think it is human nature to cheer for the dark horse. Mine that Bird is definitely a dark horse. Borel did ride Rachel Alexandra in 5 of her wins. I just read where she was not being run in any of the Triple Crown events by her old owners. She was sold last week and was entered at the last minute in the Preakness.
This story has a great deal of intrigue.
Thanks MH, yes indeed Seabiscuit was the horse I was referring to. I think you & I spelled it right.
That running of the urinals is one of the crazier things I’ve seen. Yes, good thing they eliminated BYOB. What a mess!
I do agree a bit with Elena, I’ve heard of use of doping and stuff with horses. Admittedly, I know next to nothing about horse racing, so I’ll leave it to others who know it better than I to debate that topic.
I do know many many adopted Greyhounds. I once thought about adopting one myself. They make great doggies and are usually just 2 years old or so. Of course, I’m sure there are many that go unadopted. Again, I don’t know much about greyhound racing, have never seen an actual race. But I do know several people who own Greyhounds, one of which nearly did convince me to adopt one. Only problem was, i had small townhouse, didn’t think I had room for it to run around in, etc. Otherwise I probably would have ended up with one. Very easy to adopt a Greyhound.
As to ethics of using animals in sports, I’m on the fence on that. Can definitely see there are some animals who are injured, etc. in the name of the sport. On the other hand, horses are used for domestic labor and even riding on horses, not so sure how the horse really likes that. Dogs though are mostly pets, so a little easier to come down on the side against dog racing. I guess I can have an easier time justifying horse racing than dog racing. Maybe if I had a horse as a pet (or I owned a horse and rode it) i might feel differently? Again, I know next to nothing about horse racing, and even less about dog racing other than seeing lots of greyhounds end up being adopted and living out most of their lives as happy pets. I’m sure there are some who end up injured, or not adopted, etc. That is the not so good side, to be sure. And I can’t get too excited about seeing the greyhounds run around in a circle. I have more fun watching my own dog chase after other dogs, or other dogs chase her, at the Merrifield Dog Park (we were there last night for an hour).
Thanks MH about post time for race. Funny, I better check my DVR, i thought it showed it on from 4:30 PM – 6 PM so assumed race sometime in the middle. Never trust the program guide! Better go adjust that to be 4:30 PM – 7 PM I guess. Probably won’t watch it live, will zip through like I usually do the recording and see the important stuff.
I think there is a lot of pre-show stuff where you get to see the horses, the jockeys, the owners, etc. I had a hard time tracking it down so you might want to leave it as is and just fast forward.
Human beings dope themselves. I dont think it hurts the horses, I think it just puts them at an unfair advantage. It is probably more regulated with horse racing than with human beings. I am sure there are abuses. Do we outlaw all sports though?
I think jockeys might have some room to complain. The ones who make big names for themselves do fine. Many an immigrant has also made big bucks coming to America as a jockey. However, jockeys have to keep their weight down to something almost unimaginable for a man–under 120 pound on average. Many are bulemic in order to achieve this unrealistic weight. Forced vomiting also rots out their teeth. There are all sorts of health issues with this life style.
OK MH, yes I like to fast forward through things and stop and watch pieces that interest me, if they had pre-race interview with the jockey I’d definitely watch that. I have room enough on DVR, better to be safe than sorry! I can’t count times I’ve recorded something only to see it extend beyond end of recording! I could see the race come on and just as they were in the final 1/4, my DVR recording stops!
Interesting about jockeys, I knew they had to be small and thin, did not think about bullimia though. Do know from reading/hearing about it, bullimia leads to bad teeth. Disgusting! But it is big problem for some people, obviously. To do it so you can compete in sport, doesn’t sound like my idea of fun.
The running of the urinals doesn’t look too appetizing, MH! Reminds me why I stopped drinking some years ago…..just wasn’t all that much fun anymore, and led to stuff like that.
I definitely think the jockeys have the worst end of the racing deal unless they are the real high rollers in the racing industry.
Slow, Totally understand. I finally learned on Aftershock. After a while a person learns it is easier not to feel like crap.
I hope everyone saw the race. I think if Calvin Borel had ridden Mine That Bird, he would have come in first. As it stands, The Super Filly owns the day!
@Elena
Elena,
In the area where Heritage Hunt is, there was a retirement farm for race horses that could no longer run. In the middle of Heritage Hunt, there is a HUGE house where the owners of the farm lived. These horses lived excellent lives after their racing “career” was over – they had a full time vet to see to their medical needs and plenty of room to run. Eventually the owners had to sell it to investors because the cost of keeping up the horses was getting too much to bear.
Heh – that’s kind of funny – where horses went to retire, people now go to retire! I didn’t catch the irony in that until know –
Slowpoke – the running of the urinals takes me back to my college days and things like “Greek Week”. Haven’t seen anything like that since then, and glad that I haven’t.
I think the males here liked the running of the urinals as much as the running of the Preakness! 😉
You wish, do you remember the name of the farm?
It was an exciting race! My throat still hurts from cheering! On the one hand, I’m glad the girl won but how ’bout Mine that Bird!! He almost won, coming from dead last and from the outside. He was still the underdog, but I guess he has put the critics to rest. I think he might have caught Rachel Alexandra if the race had been longer…the Belmont will be interesting.
Firedancer, Rachel Alexandra looked like she was running out of steam. He looked like he was on fire. I think we might have been looking at a Triple Crown winner if Borel had ridden Mine That Bird and/or if the track had been longer, like the track at the Belmont Stakes.
Did anyone feel our earthquake?
MH, we had heavy lightning and thunder here and rattled the house. But was there some earthquake too? Of course, might have been small and centered around Manassas so not felt out here in Gainesville.
Think if Borel had ridden Mine That Bird he would have won. Did not realize Belmont is longer track, assumed being a novice at horse racing that the big 3 races were all the same length.
@Moon-howler
I’ll have to ask – my parents live in Heritage Hunt and a majority of the street names have to do with horse racing (Triple Crown Loop is the only one I can remember this late at night). The house is still standing – I asked my mom who used to live there and she told me about it. I’ll see if she remembers the name of the farm.
“The Marsh Mansion was built by John Marsh and his wife Hazel in 1967. Mr. Marsh was an insurance executive with offices located in downtown Washington, DC, and also a former secretary of the army. Mr. Marsh raised and sold racehouses and grew hay. Marsh Farms also operated a rehabilitation facility for thoroughbred horses that served a nationwide clientele. The farm resembled a small self-contained city. The property consisted of the residence, an outdoor pool, a large greenhouse on the present tenth tee, a tenant house, seven apartments for staff, barns, stables, a race track (now hole #5) used by 40-50 horses a day, indoor whirlpool, a pond with a dock, an exercise pit, and pastureland.”
From http://www.heritagehunt.org/HH%20History/History01.pdf – scroll down to the third page and it has the information about Marsh Mansion and the farm.
One last thing – the farm was in operation as a rehab facility until 1998. If you get a chance to see the mansion, it is gorgeous – they had to do a lot of work to get it back into it’s original condition, because the owners eventually lost the mansion to the bank and it was in pretty bad shape
The earthquake was in Roanoke. I am just not sure how far away it was felt.
Thanks you wish. I did not know anything about it being there.
but what about horse who aren’t champions? @Moon-howler
Most race horses are stallions. Most race horses, even on the lesser tracks, have a brief time in their rather long lives that they can race. Most finish out their days being at stud. Are there exceptions? Sure. There are exceptions to everything. Race horses are expensive property. Most are owned by people of means.
Horses are no longer our main mode of transportation. They are an investment.
M-H,
Thank you for posting about the Preakness.
One notable aspect about the Preakness is the unabashed celebration of debauchery by young white people that takes place in the infield. They don’t just engage in debauchery…they celebrate it in a way that can almost be described as brutal.
If you notice it’s almost 100% young white people.
Can anyone here explain why?
As a person of color, I would be sincerely worried about being in this crowd because I know racism would be in the air. And I know it’s 100% guaranteed that, sooner or later, one of these white people, male or female, would make a racist insult towards my person. And then it’s anyone’s guess where things would go from there… If the police got involved, I would fully expect to be charged with a crime.
These are the same kinds of young white people and the same kind of sick white culture that, under different conditions, brutally murdered Luis Ramirez. You can see it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq5snDokcDs&feature=related
It’s also interesting to see how the women in this video allow themselves to have their clothes ripped off, since to protest would be seen as ‘uncool’ and a ‘buzz-kill’…which the sick culture of young white people have elevated to the status of immoral. When you no longer have a moral compass, whoever ruins the party is the closest thing you can get to a bad guy.
More racist statements. You have obviously never been to a race track, Mackie. Many people of color go to the track.
I look at the running of the urinals and I see stupid. You look at it and you see white. How very interesting.
You are right. Someone probably would say something to offend you. You get offended by everything because you have a constant chip on your shoulder and never fail to strut it, loud and proud. How freaking sad!
I thought the running of the urinals silly and stupid, and just as silly and stupid as my college days watching the annual “Greek Week”. By the way, people of all colors participated in Greek Week. It was not a young white male thing. And how does anyone know that everyone participating or spectating the “running of the urinals” is white? A minute of video clip proves nothing. Not to me at least. Again, it is just like stuff that went on at my college during the annual Greek Week – early May – right after classes ended, before final exams – that had diverse group of participants from fraternities. I was not a fraternity type person, but some events took place on main campus. Most infamous was the “campus crawl”, where participants were to stop at all 31 frat houses, drink a beer and then continue on – a running race at the beginning. This was a takeoff on the pre-Thanksgiving Turkey Trot which was a legitimate running race (the campus was on side of huge mountain) – where the winning team from a fraternity or a dorm, got a free turkey dinner. That was a grueling race without consumption of beer, but the “Campus Crawl” was a truly disgusting thing as you can imagine. There were also other events, but I’ll leave the rest to your imaginations!
Anyway, i only write this, to say that the Preakness thing took me back to those days, which also were just people doing stupid stuff. And, it was not limited to white males, but other ethnicities which all were represented at my college (many students from South America – one person directly across the hall from me Freshman year was from Peru), participated.
M-H,
You see, should young black people do similar things, white people wouldn’t call it something innocuous like stupid…they call it a riot…and they send in the police by the hundreds.
Black people are never allowed to gather together like this and do these kinds of things without an overwhelming police presence. The bureaucrat cops know who controls their paychecks. They know that if they allowed black people to go crazy like this, all the terrified voting whites would be calling for the police chief’s resignation.
The white parents who see their kids in these videos, say their kids are just being young and rowdy. But what would those same voting white parents say if all the young people in this video were black? Would they lambast the immorality of black culture, hip hop, and black promiscuity?
Yes.
If a young white woman wandered into this crowd and all the young black males began to rip her clothes off as in this video, does anyone doubt the police would immediately move in with billy clubs and tear gas?
This is all part of the double standard that pervades our society.
When young black and hispanic men do what comes natural and group together in private all male clubs for the sake of male bonding, it’s called a ‘gang’, and anyone who is a member is automatically viewed as a criminal by white people despite the fact that they might have never committed a crime. They’re placed in a gang database for life where any crime they commit, means a huge ‘gang enhancement’ will be added to the sentence. Not to mention that they will most likely be found guilty of any crime, on the flimsiest evidence, when they stand in front of that jury, just based on the fact that they’re in the gang database. In other words, it’s an official double standard of conviction and punishment that white people have created for young men of color.
When young white men do what comes natural and group together in private all male clubs for the sake of male bonding, it’s called a ‘fraternity’ or ‘a circle of friends’, and white people make comedy movies about them. None of those young white males ever face an public suspicion or ire simply because they’re part of an all male club. When any of those young white males commit a crime, they are judged as individuals and the punishment is allowed to fit the crime.
Boo-effing-Hoo Mackie.
I didn’t look at the video you suggested.
You have obviously never been to a race track or you would see plenty of black folks there. Talk about something you know something about. Racing isn’t it.
You might want to check on that paranoia while you are at it. you obviously want to continue racial strife. Most of us here don’t.
BTW, you are becoming more transparent.
Thanks for your input, Gainesville.
Going back to topic, again, It will be interesting to see what happens to the Preakness when Pimlico closes, and it probably will. They had it spruced up pretty nicely for the Preakness but for how long?
The Belmont Stakes will be run June 6. That track is 1.5 miles. I think that there might have been a different outcome if the Pimlico track had been that long.
Thanks for info on length of Belmont stakes. I was wondering about that. Prior to this, I just assumed as a novice that all 3 races were same length! I had heard on radio or read in paper that Pimlico was in trouble, and might close, etc. Guess Preakness will have to go someplace else in some future years. Wonder if it will be at Pimlico next year, or if this might be the last racing season at Pimlico.
Actually, hate to go off-topic, but one fraternity was disbanded and banned from my school, due to several members basically committing some bad things (possible rape, some bad hazing practices, etc.). Entire fraternity blamed, even though acts were confined to probably a few bad apples.
Sorry for the off-topic post, just wanted to show an example of not just individuals who did those things being punished.
I think off topic is fine once the thread becomes ‘older,’ Gainesville. Naturally, conversations are going to evolve. What I am trying to curtail is off topic comments starting off the thread as comment #1. I think those remarks are just rude to the rest of us.
You are absolutely right. The entire fraternity often gets busted for the misdeeds of a few brothers. That happened to my husband’s fraternithy. He was one of the bad guys. They had alumni guests and some of the brothers chose to have their band play for the guests. They sang several very off color songs that grossed out some of the wives. Naturally the national chapter was notified as well as the college. I believe the frat house went on social probation for a year. Nowadays you could probably buy the song they sang (yes, I have heard him ‘sing’ it) at the music store. When I was in college I had a friend gang raped by a couple of guys at a fraternity party. That fraternity went on probation for several years. That is standard procedure I think. The message is, police yourselves and your organization better.
Sorry to hear about your friend gang raped at fraternity. I am fuzzy on details in this particular case as it was more than 25 years ago (I’m showing my age). But I remember it was gang rape type incident, but prior to that frat had been “on notice” due to some other extreme stuff. Of course, gang rape thing was last straw. Do not know what charges were brought (if any) against guys involved in rape. May not have proceeded to actual rape, but at least was leading that way, perhaps. Again, very fuzzy on detailed. Was the Delta Tau Delta frat (or as referred to on campus as “the Delts”) – that much I remember. I was not in a fraternity but this was big news on campus, of course.
I’m sure date rape on campus happens far more frequently than most people realize, yet fraternities are never seen as inherently criminal organizations. How is that?
After all, white people are aghast at the tales of young female members of MS-13 being ‘sexed’ into the gang and comment to themselves at how barbaric these latino gangs are.
But the white women you saw in the video above who allowed themselves to have their clothes ripped off (and probably much more off camera and sometimes on camera)…these pretty white boys aren’t really making ‘sexing’ the girls into their group, are they? No, they’re just being young. Even if these white girls sleep with every guy on camera, they’re just exercising their right to have multiple partners…they’re not immoral like the latina ‘gang’ members.
Somehow, having your fraternity’s license revoked seems trivial compared to having your name entered for life into a ‘gang database’ whereby if you commit any crime in the future, you automatically have massive ‘gang enhancements’ added to your sentence, even if your name is in the ‘gang database’ by accident or has been maliciously placed there by the system.
Your example for fraternities would be comparable if the authorities, upon learning a young male was a frat boy, would put his name in a ‘sexual predator’ database for life where if he should commit any crime in the future, a huge ‘sexual predator enhancement’ would be added to his sentence, or converting his misdemeanor into a felony, thereby ruining his life.
The “white women” weren’t trying to join the fraternity – there’s one difference in your analogy. Otherwise, I’m not that interested in this whole debate. And, I know the university referred the matter to the police, I just don’t remember the outcome – my memory is not that precise 25+ years later, and not being a “fraternity guy” it was only on my radar at the time since it was a somewhat big news item. That fraternity, as in almost all frats at my school, was racially diverse, that much I can tell you. Certainly plenty of black members in that one, whether there were Hispanic members, I can’t say – but there WERE lost of foreign students from South America at my college, and I even had a math professor that was Hispanic. College frats aren’t all “pretty white boys”. That’s all I have to say on this topic, I don’t have a lot of vested interest in pursuing it further. I’m not defending frats either, I never even had the slightest interest in joining one, not my scene.
meant to say “bu there WERE lots of foreign students (not lost – silly typo but confusing to read). Anyway, kind of done with this debate, again not something I care that much about.
Don’t attempt to tell me what ‘white people’ are aghast at.
All rapes on any campus are not committed by fraternity members.
All fraternity members are not white. Far from it.
No one mentioned the criminal charges against someone who was involved with rape, gang or otherwise. The point, which you apparently missed, in the discussion between Gainesville and me, was that those who aren’t involved are also punished, in that the entire fraternity is put on probation or banned. Broadbrushing, in other words. That, Mackie, is something you should know a great deal about.
I see another book coming to Borders in the near future: The World According to Mackie: Where imperialist Japan and gang members are the good guys, and all cops, Americans and white people are bad. Do I have that right? Oh I left off only white people go to the race track.