Yesterday, I watched the 145th Run for the Roses–the Kentucky Derby. It was a wonderful scene, although the day was wet, the track was wet, the lovely and extravagant hats were wet, the horses and jockeys were wet. It’s a day that many people look forward to all year.
What do I like about it? The horses! They are beautiful, sleek, high-strung animals of speed and grace. I like the way people come together, more than 150,000 yesterday, and there’s a spirit of comaraderie, of joy at being there. Hearing all those voices singing My Old Kentucky Home, a Stephen Foster song, sends a shiver down my spine. I’m grateful that, with all the division among our citizens today, all the arguments and differences and, yes, sometimes downright hatred, that this is momentarily laid aside to see the horses run.
When those nineteen horses burst from the gate yesterday, they were set on one thing–winning. The jockeys all wanted that coveted spot close to the rail. Goggles protected their eyes from the mud from flying hooves, and they bent over their flimsy little saddles, urging their mounts on, faster, faster. The sloppy ground blurred beneath the feet of the horses and every muscle strained, every heart beat toward that finish line.
Maximum Security took the front and stayed there. No one could catch him. He stretched out, running, running, and he won! The jockey was jubilant. The trainer was all smiles as he accepted congratulations, but sad and shocking as it seemed, as incredulous as it appeared, Maximum Security was disqualified after he had won. The reason? The track was muddy, remember, the jockey’s goggles were probably hard to see through, and, unknown to jockey or his mount, Maximum Security had prevented another horse behind him from going around. The second jockey was able to avoid a collision, but going at around thirty-seven miles per hour, it must have been miraculous that there wasn’t a major pile-up.
What a disappointment! But, that’s the way it was. Jubilation turned to frustration and shock on one side, joy on the part of the horse and jockey who were declared the winner. Life is like that, isn’t it? Sometimes, doing our best isn’t good enough and we suffer a major set-back. Things happen that aren’t our fault, but life isn’t always what we make it; sometimes, it’s how we take it. We get up from defeat, wash off the mud, and try again. We know that inside, we are winners and that’s what counts.
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