Spicer Cub’s Excellent Adventure
It’s the Triple Crown season again (Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes) and at least we can be sure this is one sport Tiger Woods absolutely cannot cheat his way into the final cut.
But even if there’s an Affirmed/Alydar finish in the 2013 Belmont that gives us a new Triple Crown winner, an ordinary little race last Saturday at Pimlico in Baltimore—#11 on your card—will be replayed for years to come.
It begins innocently enough, with a horse named Spicer Cub going to the lead and sauntering comfortably along. Then...
The excitement begins at about 2:28 when the horse bolts to the outside rail. He gets straightened out and heads into the stretch.
At 2:38 you can see the starting gate on the left side of the screen. At 2:41 Spicer Cub vanishes from the video, having bolted again, this time heading toward the starting gate. He reappears and—much to the astonishment of track announcer Dave Rodman, along with every $2 bettor in the crowd—makes a mad dash for the wire.
Immediately after the original video is a replay with a head-on shot showing that Spicer Cub actually ran between the starting gate and the outside rail. That’s over 1,000 lbs. of horse traveling at 35 mph through a gap barely 7 feet wide. (Think Luke Skywalker flying down the Death Star trench.)
At about 5:06 the cameraman pans wide enough to cover the whole stretch. At 5:13 you can see Spicer Cub emerge from behind the starting gate on the far left of the screen. Amazingly, Spicer Cub never stops his stretch drive even though Jockey Xavier Perez lost his irons.
Dave Rodman gives a tour-de-force race call right to the photo finish ending.
posted by Harrison at 9:06 PM
But even if there’s an Affirmed/Alydar finish in the 2013 Belmont that gives us a new Triple Crown winner, an ordinary little race last Saturday at Pimlico in Baltimore—#11 on your card—will be replayed for years to come.
It begins innocently enough, with a horse named Spicer Cub going to the lead and sauntering comfortably along. Then...
The excitement begins at about 2:28 when the horse bolts to the outside rail. He gets straightened out and heads into the stretch.
At 2:38 you can see the starting gate on the left side of the screen. At 2:41 Spicer Cub vanishes from the video, having bolted again, this time heading toward the starting gate. He reappears and—much to the astonishment of track announcer Dave Rodman, along with every $2 bettor in the crowd—makes a mad dash for the wire.
Immediately after the original video is a replay with a head-on shot showing that Spicer Cub actually ran between the starting gate and the outside rail. That’s over 1,000 lbs. of horse traveling at 35 mph through a gap barely 7 feet wide. (Think Luke Skywalker flying down the Death Star trench.)
At about 5:06 the cameraman pans wide enough to cover the whole stretch. At 5:13 you can see Spicer Cub emerge from behind the starting gate on the far left of the screen. Amazingly, Spicer Cub never stops his stretch drive even though Jockey Xavier Perez lost his irons.
Dave Rodman gives a tour-de-force race call right to the photo finish ending.
posted by Harrison at 9:06 PM
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