2014 Kentucky Derby : What do Seattle Slew, Zenyatta, Animal Kingdom and Lake Chelan have in common?

Lake Chelan photo by William King

   

     The other day, when I wrote a small tidbit about Seattle Slew, I learned something about the amazing Triple Crown winner that I did not realize prior to writing the piece. Though I was aware that he took the horse racing world by storm in 1977, I was a teenage boy with baseball dreams, and was not involved in the Sport of Kings yet. While he was winning in Kentucky, Maryland and New York and becoming the only Triple Crown winner of the eleven who have accomplished the feat to achieve it while being undefeated, I was learning to hit curve balls less than a 100 miles away from the home of his owners, Karen & Mickey Taylor, who were from White Swan, Washington. This tiny hamlet of approximately three thousand people must have been the most unlikely place on earth where the roots of a superstar would form. What would an odds maker set this line at?

     But that was not what I learned the other day. I learned that Seattle Slew, beginning with the very first race of his career, had what was later termed a unique "war dance." It seems that he had a habit of tiptoeing on the track in the post parade. Though I never saw Slew do this ritual, the great Zenyatta showed it to me many times, and we all know how her dances worked out. Nineteen wins and a second from twenty lifetime starts seems to lend credence to my thoughts. Having witnessed the way Zenyatta would do her dancing ritual and head bobbing, both in the paddock and the post parade, I am confident that it relates to confidence. The greatest horses know in their hearts that they are superior. They know they love to run like the wind. They know they have a burning desire to win. The ones who lack this trait, are sometimes skittish and nuzzling up to the outrider or will have choppy strides as they enter the track. These types of horses are not what I am looking for. 

     I remember a few years ago on the eve of the 2011 Kentucky Derby, I was looking very closely at the numbers of the eventual winner, Animal Kingdom. I told my closest associates that I really thought that he had a chance to win the race. His sire was Leroidesanimaux who was considered more prominent on the turf, but I had watched one of Animal Kingdom's siblings, Always a Princess, have much success on the dirt for legendary trainer Bob Baffert. I was really beginning to like his chances the next day. The one drawback was that his preps for the Derby had been run on the turf and the synthetic tracks, not the deep dirt of Churchill Downs, and my mathematical formula I call the Intelligent Choice Racing System or IC system for short, had selected him as the 8th best in the field of twenty. I have always considered myself a "numbers" guy, and it made it hard to select him.

     When the horses came on the track on that first Saturday of May in 2011 I received a phone call from my Cousin. I had told him that the best horses will often give "tells" about how they are feeling that particular day, and he was anxious for my analysis. As we talked on the phone during the post parade and I was making mental notes about the field, Animal Kingdom came into view on my flat screen. I was instantly inspired by his pre-race demeanor. He looked like the most confident animal on the track by far and I told my Cousin this. I had already caught a break in the previous race when Get Stormy had won the previous race as IC1 lone speed via late scratches and I had played him in the Daily Double to Animal Kingdom in the Derby. Now, after seeing him on the track, I knew I had a great chance to cash my double ticket. I stayed on the phone with my Cousin as Animal Kingdom powered home to gain the roses, much to our delight. The Daily Double returned $393.

     But how in the world does Lake Chelan fit into this Trifecta of greatness? One thing I have learned about life and horse racing is to take time to enjoy the magnificent. In other words, even though numbers don't lie, sometimes it's highly beneficial to take a break from the numbers and appreciate the beautiful world we live in. I am a fortunate man to be surrounded by magnificent places like Lake Chelan, and to enjoy the magnificent animals that love to run, like Seattle Slew, Zenyatta, and Animal Kingdom. The countdown is on. Fifteen days to go. The 2014 Triple Crown hopeful will be dancing, prancing, and bobbing his way around the Twin Spires, and I can hardly wait.