FOR ANYONE who has ever been to Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May, the giddy, chaotic moments after the Kentucky Derby linger in the mind like the dull, bitter taste after hours of drinking bourbon and sugar water on an empty stomach. Those memories are brief, kaleidoscope-flashes of color–pink and yellow and black, mostly. This year, at that happy time, Big Hats outnumbered victory celebrations by 100 to 1. It was obvious that a long-shot had won.
Anytime a long-shot wins a horse race, the crowd buzzes with excitement, much of it the din of whispered curses and second-guessing. At this year’s Kentucky Derby, that electric murmur came when 20-1 War Emblem shocked everyone with an easy victory. How fitting. War Emblem sweeps to an easy Derby win as the United States trounces the Taliban in the war on terror.
