I'LL HAVE ANOTHER WILL WIN THE TRIPLE CROWN

I'll Have Another (9), ridden and urged by Mario Gutierrez, beats Bodemeister, ridden by Mike Smith, to the finish line to win the 137th Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 19, 2012, in Baltimore.(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The heart of a true sports champion is always special to behold and that includes horse racing. ‘I’ll Have Another’ has just won two legs of the Triple Crown but what we are now witnessing is a rare bonding of a special horse and its jockey where they have become not only one but an unstoppable force on the race track ~ as they most certainly will be at Belmont Park on Saturday, June 9^th in New York: Allen L Roland

Watch this Preakness video closely and you’ll see jockey ( Mario Gutierrez ) and horse become one as I’ll Have Another over takes Bodemeister in the stretch to win by a neck ~ but he was literally flying at the finish while Bodemeister was obviously spent. Look carefully at this Getty photo and you’ll see a horse in his jockey in perfect sync with each other.

I'll Have Another Preakness victory / 3 minute video 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AAivdpjiV0

Veteran Racing writer, Martha M Boltz, saw it the same way ~ “ With his chestnut head low, his neck extended to its maximum and those hooves flying in the dust, I’ll Have Another with Mario Gutierrez clinging to his back, added the Preakness win to his string, making him 4 for 4 on the track. And the young rider who came out of virtually nowhere (Hastings Race Track in Vancouver) a few months ago, smiled and shook his head, wiping tears from his eyes, as he said in his soft Mexican accent, “It’s not me ~ it’s all about the horse. He’s just a great horse … Sometimes in the ephemeral world of horse racing, there comes together a perfect duo, a man and a horse, with a symbiosis that is basically inexplicable. The man knows and feels the 1500 pounds under him, and the horse knows the 125 pound jockey on his back, and they work together. This was one of those days”. See article ~ http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/sports-around/2012/may/20/ill-have-anotherand-he-did/#.T7lfhGJjkh4.email

Having owned a horse for several years in the late 1980’s ~ I can personally speak for the bond that often exists between a horse in its owner or in this case a horse in its jockey.  My horse was a Paint and his name was Scout. He was gentle and well trained but he loved to run and he knew all my verbal cues. I still fondly remember saddling up Scout and riding into the Sonoma vineyards and slowly trotting up to a quarter mile dirt road between the vineyards. Scout knew what was coming and shuddered in anticipation as I positioned him at the start of the straightaway. I verbally clucked just once with my tongue and we were off and running ~ at full stride with me clinging to his back and urging him on ~ Let’s go Scout !  

Riding 1500 pounds of horse at full gallop is beyond exhilarating, it’s a bonding experience in all its glory.

And that’s my point ~ Jockey Mario Gutierrez has that same bonding connection with I’ll Have Another which will provide the deciding edge at the Belmont as well as a triple crown victory. I can definitely identify with Gutierrez who still says in awe  “He’s a wonderful horse ~ he just wait till I give him the word, and then he does it.”

Here’s an interview with a humbled Mario, who had just won the Preakness, where he confirms the joy and delight of that experience of riding a gallant 1500 pound horse that responds to your cues and wants to run. 4 minute video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt3QVMf2VhA

As David Daniels writes in Bleacher Report ~ “Horses aren’t alone when they cross the finish line. Jockeys will forever play second-fiddle to the thoroughbred, but shot callers like Mario Gutierrez deserve more credit. His ability to push the right buttons at the perfect time is what led to I’ll have Another's victory in the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.”

Tom Pedulla of USA Today reported that Steve Cauther ~ the jockey that won the last Triple Crown 33 years ago in1978 with Affirmed (and the last to do so) ~ is a huge fan of Gutierrez. He said of Gutierrez:

"They found this new kid like me in the day. They believed in him, and he can ride. He obviously fits the horse, and the horse responds to him ~ The horse definitely responds to him. I’ll Have Another concluded back-to-back Triple Crown competitions with finishes to remember. Bodemeister built a comfortable cushion between himself and I’ll Have Another each time only to have those leads evaporate. And I’ll Have Another isn’t the one flipping the switch at just the right moment ~ Gutierrez is.”    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1190293-preakness-2012-winner-mario-gutierrez-just-as-impressive-as-ill-have-another

So there you have it, a horse with a gallant heart who loves to run and a gifted jockey who truly knows and respects his horse ~ but also knows when to turn him loose.

History will be made on June 9^th when I’ll Have Another wins the triple crown and Gutierrez will be right behind his ear in the home stretch ~ urging him on as both horse and rider share their exciting and historic moment in history.

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/ill-have-another-will-win-triple-crown.html

  

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com ) 

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on  www.conscioustalk.net

Horse Racing's Greatest Stretch Runner / Zenyatta

Photo by John Gress / Reuters

Jockey Garrett Gomez rides Blame, right, to edge out Zenyatta, with jockey Mike Smith aboard, in the Classic race at the Breeders’ Cup in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday.

In some ways Zenyatta’s greatest race was her last one, the one she lost by a head, for 72,000 spectators at Churchill Downs clearly saw the heart of a champion who passed 11 horses in the stretch and only a scant fraction of a second kept her from passing blame at the finish line and retiring undefeated: Allen L Roland

I’m not usually into horse racing but the Zenyatta story caught my attention ~ undefeated in 19 races, always coming on in the stretch and the only girl racing with the boys in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

The race left 72,000 spectators, a national TV audience, including myself, breathless but I’ll let Joe Drape, NY Times.com, who was there, tell the story ~ this is sports writing at its best !

Stretch Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTl2fdMXfv8

LOUISVILLE, Ky. “ Her owners, Jerry and Ann Moss; her trainer, John Shirreffs; and for that matter anyone who had watched and loved the great race mare Zenyatta knew that the real running ~ the edge-of-the-seat-drama ~ really didn’t start until she turned for home. Nineteen times before, Zenyatta had looked desperate and in trouble at the top of the stretch. Nineteen times before, she had found a gear to rocket past her rivals in the final strides.

So when jockey Mike Smith cornered the big girl and squared her shoulders toward the finish line in dead last, the more than 72,000 people here at Churchill Downs rose to their feet and held their breath. Zenyatta not only had 11 horses to pass, she also had a dozen or so lengths to make up.

This time, however, Zenyatta was in a different kind of trouble. This was the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, with a field full of thoroughbred racing’s royalty. They were boys. She was the only girl in the bunch, and at age 6 the oldest of the lot.

Zenyatta had started sluggishly, too. Sure, she always spotted fields some daylight, but Smith was worried before they hit the first turn. Her stride was uneven and looked like a rocking horse’s, with a wobbly glider. Dirt was hitting her face for the first time ~ Zenyatta had run 17 of her previous races on smoother synthetic surfaces.

Somehow, Smith settled her, and Zenyatta picked up some steam rounding the far turn. But now Smith was stuck inside, a wall of horses ahead of him.

He angled her left, one path, two paths, three paths, and it was not pretty. Zenyatta’s strength is power, not agility, and she looked like a bull trying to fight her way out of a ring.

“I needed to cut some corners somewhere,” Smith said.

When he finally got her outside and clear, Zenyatta charged. She shot by Musket Man and Paddy O’Prado and absolutely gassed the Preakness champion, Lookin at Lucky.

There was only one colt left, and he was a good one. Blame had won 8 of 12 in his lifetime, and 5 of his last 6. His rider, Garrett Gomez, had threaded Blame between two rivals and still had seven lengths on Zenyatta with the wire getting closer.

“At the eighth pole, I thought I was going to get there pretty easy,” Gomez confessed. But then he peeked beneath his arm and saw Smith and Zenyatta getting bigger and bigger.

“I knew she’d be coming,” Gomez said. “She’s the best I’ve ever seen.”

Smith was fanning Zenyatta, a mare he loved, with his left hand. She dug in, and Blame’s lead grew smaller with every stride. With 20 yards to go, Zenyatta was at Blame’s tail. Then hip. Then neck. There was a roar, the flash of a finish-line photo, and then silence.

Gomez thought he and Blame had won. Smith knew they had.

“She ran her heart out,” Gomez told Smith.

The photo finish will show that a dwindling head separated Zenyatta from a perfect 20-0 record. The race chart will say Blame covered the mile and a quarter in 2 minutes 2.28 seconds and rewarded his backers $12.40 for a $2 bet.

The sight of Smith in tears, his head buried in his hands, moments after the race, showed the fuller story. It told of how a kind and fast horse can lead to heartbreak as well as majesty.

Smith was inconsolable. He is a Hall of Fame rider who has been on the best horses in the world. But Zenyatta, he would tell you, “was the best ever, a gift from God, my everything.”

It didn’t matter to him that this was a race for the history books, and Zenyatta was just as amazingly noble in defeat had she been in her prior victories. He, Shirreffs and the Mosses have campaigned a thoroughbred who transcended the racetrack. They shared her with casual fans, which in turn fell for Zenyatta’s charisma and mastery.

Gomez understood what he had done by defeating Zenyatta, and was not entirely comfortable with it. He won three races this Breeders’ Cup and readily admitted that the victory atop Blame here was the biggest of his career.

“I really do have mixed emotions about it,” he said. “She’s been an ambassador for racing. We had a lot of people out here supporting her. She going for 20 of 20, and she came up a head short. I’m glad I was able to give her the defeat, but at the same time I wish she could have gone out 20 for 20 at someone else’s expense.”

Instead, Zenyatta went out at the expense of Smith. Or at least he thought so, and he couldn’t stop replaying the race.

“I got away slow and got squeezed out of there,” Smith tried to explain, tears swimming at the corner of his eyes. “I couldn’t level her off. If you have to blame anyone today, it would be me.”

Soon, the tears streamed down Smith’s face, and what could have been weighed too heavily on him.

“It’s my fault,” he said. “She should have won and it hurts.”

Smith lifted his head when he was asked how good his horse was.

“She ranks up there with the greatest of all time,” he said.

Zenyatta had run like one of the greats. Blame’s trainer, Albert Stall Jr., knew she had, too.

“In defeat, she didn’t lose anything,” Stall said.

Smith, however, had wanted to make sure the horse he loved got the accolades he felt she deserved.

“If I’d have won this, you could arguably say she was,” he said. “To come up a nose short.”

Smith swallowed. “It’s too hard,” he said.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/sports/07breeders.html?src=twrhp

Blame’s trainer, Albert Stall Jr, was correct ~ “ in defeat Zenyatta didn’t lose anything” ~ for millions of people, including myself, will never forget experiencing her giant heart and will to win, which will live far longer in our memories than a narrow defeat at the Breeder’s Cup on Saturday, November 6, 2010.

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/horse-racings-greatest-stretch-runner.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Weblog: http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com
Website: www.allenroland.com
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