10 Best Horse Races I've Ever Seen

Though I've been avidly watching the ponies run round the track since I can remember, it's only been in the last 6 or 7 years that I've actually followed them with something other than a two hour Saturday afternoon attention span. Very few races stick out in my mind from seeing them live before 2000 but there are some notable exceptions. Below is my own collection of the ten best races I've seen live at the track or the comfort of my own couch.

Honorable mentions go to Candy Ride's Pacific Classic, any race Say Florida Sandy, Xtra Heat, or Hallowed Dreams showed up for, every Derby 2002-2006 with the exception of Giacomo's 2005 debacle, Thunderello and Orientate's BC Sprint, Funny Cide's Preakness, a crazy Japanese race with a horse named Deep Impact, Cigar's loss going for #17, the 2 year old campaign that was Officer, the best of Left Bank and Ghostzapper, Lemon Drop Kid's Belmont and Thunder Gulch's Derby.

10. Churchill Downs Distaff, November 3, 2001 - Once the obsession bug got me it was my every waking thought to drag anyone who would take me to the track. I'd been to Calder and the once lively Birmingham Turf Club in my younger days but at that point a horse to me was merely something to be cleaned up after. Back to 2001 where my dad and I hit the road for Kentucky in what was probably the most perfectly timed weekend of my life. It was Pat Day bobble head doll day. Some would say they're life sized. Anyways, in the 9th race Pat Day had a Gulch filly named Nasty Storm who I was big on and I bet her as such. What makes this one memorable was a three part scenario. My roommate back in Athens gave me money to bet John Ward's Forest Secrets in what turned out to be a few of the most convaluted wagers I'd ever seen at a race track. The lady at the window actually stopped me half way through to ask how old I was, no matter, I made the bets and the gates opened. What happened next is an odd phenomenon in sports where all tact and dignity goes out the window. I dont know whether I had ever yelled, "run you slow son of a bitch" as loudly or as close to an older family member in my life which might have been awkward if he wasn't drowning me out with a slew of oddly connected vulgarities. I hope for both of our souls that God couldnt hear us over the track announcer but then he might have been heavy on the 6 horse with us and cut us some slack. Heaven knows I got that horse in the winner's circle and followed it up with getting Mr. Day (all time favorite horseman in any capacity) to autograph over Nasty Storm's racing form history. Great day.

9. Test Stakes, July 27, 2001: The highly anticipated showdown between undefeated Carson Hollow (who had won her first four races by 27 1/2 lengths) and the Bobby Frankle trained You. This might be the best stretch run I've ever been priviledged enough to witness. Carson Hollow set scorching fractions alone on the lead but was caught at the top of the stretch by You, who would make the Test her 5th Grade I victory. Carson Hollow hung on and neither gave an inch battling down to the wire, but it was You who would cross first by a whisker in 1:22 over the 7 furlongs. You went on to greatness before hitting the breeding shed and Carson Hollow tragically died from complications of colic surgery a year later. The Test lives on.

8. Breeders Cup Classic - October 27, 2001: I know I'm going a little heavy on the 2001 campaign here but these were honestly great races. The Breeder's Cup is all star day for horse racing and the Classic is the all star race amongst the all stars. Tiznow was coming off a spectacular nose victory over Irish powerhouse Giant's Causeway in the 2000 Classic and not many people thought he had a shot to repeat in 2001. The new British invader was Sakhee and the crowd backed him as though he was Napolean showing up on foreign soil. My favorite horse of all time, Albert the Great, had announced his retirement in a teary press conference citing his desire to travel a little bit, spend more time with his family, and hook up with 125 of the hottest fillies in the world following this, his last race. Al didnt disappoint dueling on the lead with Orientate (who had no business being in the Classic, though he'd win the Sprint the next year) before being caught by Tiznow and the foreign invader late in the stretch. Tiznow nosed out his second straight, Albert held on for third on his way to the shed, and Sakhee learned what the British, the Japanese, Hideo Nomo, and David Hasselhoff had all learned before him. You just dont show up and beat the Americans.

7. Kentucky Derby, May 7, 1989: The first race I can specifically remember watching. The pride of the east and the pride of the west squaring off with Easy Goer, under Pat Day, a better than even money favorite. Sunday Silence, the western invader, got the better of him on a horribly slow, horribly muddy track and again in the Preakness before Easy Goer got him in the Belmont. Sunday Silence would get the better of him again by a neck in November's Breeder's Cup Classic. I'm not happy with my parents' choice to bring me into this world after Affirmed and Alydar had their day in the sun but Easy Goer-Sunday Silence was nothing short of spectacular.

6. Blue Grass Stakes, April something or other 2004: Had the priviledge of attending this one. It was a pre-Derby clash of the three year old titans with The Cliff's Edge, Limehouse, Action This Day, Preachinatthebar, and Lion Heart all taking part. Wasnt actually much of a race, so maybe I shouldnt have it at #6 but short of the Breeder's Cup and the 3 classics you won't ever get to see this much talent in one race. The Cliff's Edge pulled out the victory under sometime country singer/jockey/complainer Shane Sellers for Nick Zito edging out Lion Heart who if memory serves me correctly would go on to finish second in the Derby.

5. Louisiana Derby, March 9, 2003: Again, I got to go down to the Big Easy for this my introduction to the French Quarter as much the Fair Grounds. Another clash of greats as Baffert's Kafwain and Badge of Silver went off as the favorites above an odd Frankle shipper named Peace Rules and a gutsy gelding from New York named Funny Cide. It was Peace Rules who took the day over Kafwain and Funny Cide though in a bizarre twist, and I'm not making this up, Kafwain would fail a drug test and get taken down off the board. Badge of Silver has just made a recent return to the track, Peace Rules and Kafwain hit the breddingshed shortly thereafter and Funny Cide runs on, oblivious to all female horse attention. Sad really.

4. Florida Derby, March 18, 2002: What I remember about this one was the whole Miami experience. Having never spent any substantial time down there before, my dad and I toured the finer parts on the city including the jai-alai arena/thingy. If you've never watched jai-alai, it involves throwing a golf ball a hundred yards off a brick wall while the opponent has to catch it in some unholy lacrosse stick/horn/thingy and throw it back off the wall. Shadiest "sport" i've ever seen but the old people eat it up down there. I was fortunate enough to see jose in the arena drop the golf ball and lose while the 85 year old woman next to me yells "SON OF A BITCH!!", throws her betting ticket on the floor, grabs her walker and heads for the door. Odds are good I was asleep in the hotel room before she made it. I digress. This was the spring of Harlan's Holiday and Booklet down in Florida with Booklet winning each race by decreasing margins. The Holiday caught him in the Florida Derby, and went on to be a 6-1 favorite on the most bizarre Derby field I've ever seen. Booklet was never the same and died two years later from Colic.

3. Belmont Stakes, June 5, 2004: This was the day I got to see Mary Lou Whitney apologize for winning the Belmont. Outstanding. We all know the story, Smarty Jones goes for at, gets it, and has it snatched back in the last minute by some Birdstone character. I was in a hotel room in Savannah watching it and could not speak for the 15 minutes following. I actually looked out the window and saw a flag and half mast at the post office and aknowledged that they'd already heard. Turns out over on ABC, CBS and FOX Ronald Reagan had died but at the moment it seemed ill timed on his part. I've never seen a race where so many people called me later to ask if I was okay and offer condolences. I probably never will again.

2. The Preakness Stakes, May 21, 2005: The greatest rebound I've ever seen. I dont know what the hell Scrappy T was trying to pull but it made for the best horse racing moment of my generation. Afleet Al drops to knee like he's proposing then hops up and dominates. You all saw it, it was great.

1. Kentucky Derby, First Saturday in May 2001: This race was the reason I stepped up the interest. Had it been a crappy race with nobody in it, this might be a NASCAR blog. Instead I got to see the horse of a different color, Monarchos (above), Point Given, Dollar Bill (who maintained his own blog despite lacking opposable thumbs), Invisible Ink, A.P. Valentine, Balto Star, Songandaprayer (Bobby Hurley owned stud who set the fastest fractions in Derby history before more or less collapsing at the quarter pole), and Congaree. The trophy had been handed to Point Given before the gate opened but it was Monarchos who took the day. Second fastest Derby winner next to Secretariat and only the Big Red Machine had a more memorable Derby call.