Dark Bilious Vapors

At least ESPN was on top of the story. I didn't see any other sports sites that had the race results up just a few minutes ago. None of the news sites did either, but I'll give them a pass on that, since arguably Ronald Reagan's snuffing it is more significant news.

I'd have not paid the race any attention, but I was too lazy to fix dinner tonight, so I ambled down Madison to have a burger at Huey's. I was just about done and considering leaving when the barman put NBC's Belmont Stakes broadcast up on all of the bar's TV's, and since there was at least an outside chance that Smarty just might win the Triple Crown (the first Triple Crown winner in a supposedly record 26 year long stretch without one), I elected to nurse my drink a while and spend the extra 15-20 minutes at Huey's in order to see if I could watch history in the making.

No such luck. Not that I'm complaining; it was a pretty good race (or at least it seemed to me; but I'm not a horse race afficianado, so what do I know?), and for a while it looked like Smarty was going to do it. But, alas, Birdstone came from behind in the stretch and won by a length.

I didn't take a look at the odds on Birdstone when they marched the horses before the camera on their way to the starting gate; but judging the odds that I did see (Smarty was 1-5, and everyone else seemed to be in double digits to one) there are a few very happy bettors tonight. I certainly wish I'd bet a few dollars on Birdstone to win.

Len on 06.05.04 @ 06:20 PM CST