Thursday, February 1, 2007

Future of Horse Racing Lies with Frank Stallone of Animals

I'm no psychologist, so it's difficult to determine whether the horse racing world is in the "denial" or "bargaining" stage of grief over the recent death of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, but everyone is almost definitely setting themselves up for disappointment by counting on his brother to carry on his legacy. Though it is no doubt heartbreaking for those close to the sport to know that Barbaro's potential to develop into the next Seattle Slew or Secretariat will never be fulfilled, you might want to rethink transferring all of those eggs into the basket of a horse with (literally) no name.

Just because the yearling in question shares the same mother and sire as Barbaro (or that the sire's name, Dynaformer, may be doubly encouraging in that it makes one suspect he's an Autobot), that doesn't necessarily mean that he's cut out for racing. Maybe, like Jimmy Carter's brother Billy, he'll make a career of endorsing a namesake beer, or, like Patrick Swayze's brother Don, he'll, uh...occasionally hang around with Patrick Swayze. The point is, if things don't pan out for Barbaro's younger brother in the realm of horse racing, it won't be the end of the world.

After all, Barbaro's mother is currently in foal again to Dynaformer...and that horse could easily turn out to be the next Jim Hanks.

2 comments:

Sandy Knauer said...

I was a little embarrassed when the local channels ran the 'big news' line across the bottom of the screen to announce that Barbaro had been euthenized. I thought that was reserved for really big news, like when someone tries to recruit a U of L coach away from us.

Now that you have written about this event, I feel better and almost wonder if I shouldn't have braved the cold to attend the memorial.

suaros said...

Hi Sandy. Just visiting the neighborhood. Think I'll walk over to your porch and visit later today.