Friday, May 21, 2010

May 21, 1989: By a nose

BALTIMORE - The television coverage before the race was all about Sunday Silence and Easy Goer. They were big rivals, Sunday Silence from the west coast and Easy Goer from the east coast. Named the two-year-old champion the year before, Easy Goer was considered the better horse, but Sunday Silence added some spice to the rivalry by winning the Kentucky Derby. Easy Goer, though, was still the betting favorite when they went to the Preakness.

That buildup was easy for an 8-year-old in Minnesota to understand. It was obvious who the two best horses were, and they had easy names to remember. Easy Goer was a classic red, while Sunday Silence was pure black, so they were easy to tell apart from a distance. If you're going to introduce a child to big stakes horse racing, this was the perfect way to do it.

So the 8-year-old made a bet with his older brother on the race, taking Sunday Silence. His brother took Easy Goer. They bet a nickel.

Easy Goer took the lead on the back stretch, but Sunday Silence caught up to him on the turn. As they entered the home stretch, they were noses apart. They stayed that way. And a new racing fan was born.

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