Monday, May 5, 2008

My Son, Derby Thoughts

First post in a long time:

Worst Derby Ever? Yeah, that's pretty much become a cliche at his point. Is there even a question about that? I mean c'mon.

I watched the race with my dad who was in front of a TV that wasn't attached to some kind of girder or wall, because it was the day of his granddaughter's (my niece's) first communion and we were all stuck at the post-communion party, otherwise he'd have been at the track.

I usually like to be alone in front of the TV for at least an hour before the race.

The ending of the race presented possibly the worst outcome imaginable. I am very grateful that my son wasn't old enough to comprehend what happened (4 years old). I'm always telling him about horse racing and horses and trying to get him interested in the sport. He does enjoy it, more than baseball or boxing (my other 2 favorites), and chooses to have me put on TVG over the Dodger game or Friday Night Fights.

He wasn't even paying attention much to the race, since to him it was just another chance to ask me "I have #4, who do you have?," so I sent him out of the room as soon as I realized what was happening. Eight Belles breakdown made me sick, I've been in a low-grade depression ever since.

It was terrible. There is not much more that can be said. I'm not sure how I feel about the sport at this point, although I want to defend it, what is there that can be said in defense? Should I raise my son on racing like my dad did with me? It seems like tragedy's like these are becoming more and more prevalent.

2 comments:

Superfecta said...

My 3-year-old asked why the horse was sleeping. That was fun.

Amateurcapper said...

Hello,
Did you have your 4 y.o. watch the Breeders' Cup last weekend? No mishaps and lots of great racing.
I've contacted Handride about joining TBA and he wanted your opinion of my blogs, old (http://horseplayerpro.21publish.com/Amateurcapper) and new (http://amateurcapper.blogspot.com/).
I can forward your reply or you can contact him directly.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Rob (aka. Amateurcapper)