Screw politics and head for the starting gate for May 4

We haven't seen the first robin in Aberdeen yet, and wonder why these harbingers seem to come up here later and later with the passing years.  So, we rely upon another harbinger, the horse race season, to get the feel for spring.  The Kentucky Derby is only a month away. The contenders field is beginning to take shape.

It is time to put aside politics and look at something more beautiful and interesting.  Horses may be quirky, sometimes ornery, but they are quite few steps up the behavioral ladder than politicos, and what is written about them escapes the petty posturing and nastiness that comprises political discourse.  



On Saturday there were two races where one can get a sighting and some good possibilities for contention.  At Gulfstream Park, 18 miles north of Miami on the coast, The Florida Derby was run.  The winner was a colt named Orb, who was held back into mid-field

Orb

at the start of the race, but at the second turn he put on a burst of speed and passed up three horses battling it out for first place.  It was his fourth win at Gulfstream.  Although Orb had already qualified for the Kentucky Derby, he added another 100 points and $600,000 to his qualifications. 

Revolutionary

At the Fair Grounds race track in New Orleans, the Louisiana Derby was run.  The winner was Revolutionary.   He hung back second from last at the beginning of the race, and then glided past the entire field to win the race by a neck and earn 100 points to qualify for the Kentucky Derby. 

A horse that did not run Saturday but is handicapped as the favorite is a stable mate of Revolutionary's,

Verrazano

Verrazano.  He has run every race he's been in, and will run this Saturday in the Woods Memorial at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, N.Y. 

Here is a list of the Kentucky Derby contenders by Joe Drape and Melissa Hoppert of The New York Times.