NFL Horse Racing

Big Brown did it again today, racing to a dominant victory at the 133rd running of the Preakness Stakes and getting one step away from becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years.

Big Brown went off as a huge favorite at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, with the odds reaching an amazing 1-5 as just about everyone bet on the favorite to win. It was justified. Big Brown cruised early and galloped away late, absolutely obliterating the field down the stretch. Although Gayego got off to a good start and had an early lead, there was never a point at which Big Brown appeared to be in any trouble.

He ultimately won by more than five lengths. Macho Again placed and Icabad Crane showed.

Jockey Kent Desormeaux and trainer Rick Dutrow have a great horse, a horse that will now be favored to win a place as one of the greatest in history at the Belmont.

A couple of hours after the death of Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby, the political blogger Kevin Drum wrote this:

Hillary Clinton chose filly Eight Belles to win the Kentucky Derby today. Instead, EB came in second and then had to be euthanized after breaking both ankles right after crossing the finish line. So here's the contest: Who do you think will be the first pundit/columnist/talking head to use this as an idiotically extended metaphor for the state of Hillary Clinton's campaign?

I don't know who the first was, but I know that one of the dumbest came from the Chicago Tribune, which wrote this in a Thursday editorial:

The only filly in the crowded field crossed the finish line second, but the fans who'd bet on her still had one last gasp of hope. Perhaps some fortuitous technicality would disqualify the first-place finisher. But things got worse instead of better. We're talking about Eight Belles, who was euthanized Saturday after almost winning the Kentucky Derby. But we're thinking about Hillary Clinton.

On a day that the United States had two unexpected winners of big horse races -- Chad Johnson showing a man can beat a horse at Cincinnati's River Downs race track and Rags to Riches showing a female can beat a male at the Belmont Stakes -- the United Kingdom also had a horse racing upset.

Florian Holginger finished 11 minutes before the first horse to win the annual Man versus Horse Marathon in Wales. The Marathon -- which at 22 miles is a bit shorter than a standard human-only marathon -- is a sporting event that started the way so many great things start, as an argument at a bar:

The event started in 1980, when local landlord Gordon Green overheard a discussion between two men in his pub, the Neuadd Arms. One man suggested that over a significant distance across country, man was equal to any horse. Green decided that the challenge should be tested in full public view, and organised the first event.

As it turns out, the vast majority of the time, the horse is superior. Holginger is only the second man to beat all the horses in the 28-year history of the event. So congratulations to Florian Holginger and Chad Johnson for showing yesterday that man can beat horse even at horse's own game. Our whole species thanks you, gentlemen.

(That picture isn't from the Man versus Horse Marathon. I'm not sure what's going on in that picture, actually, but it looks like that man might be racing that horse through a river or something.)

Chad Johnson beat the race horse "Restore the Roar" in a race at Cincinnati's River Downs race track today. From the Bengals official site:

Chad Johnson stunned the world Saturday when he beat a four year old thoroughbread at River Downs by a dozen lengths. Johnson, who ran 110 yards compared to Restore The Roar's 220, said the Bengals are going to go to the Super Bowl now and do what the Colts did last year.

Chad also said that this is just the first of several wild things he will do for charity [this was for the Feed The Children foundation]. He said on ESPNews that he wants to set up a sparring match with Floyd Mayweather and a one-on-one match with Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, both being for charity.

You can watch the race and listen to Ocho Cinco's comments here.

Bengals' wide receiver Chad Johnson will race against a horse (Hat tip: Lance McAllister) at River Downs on June 9th. The stunt will raise money for the "Feed The Children" charity.

"Man vs. Beast" as it has been billed, will take place on the turf course. The horse will break from the inside from a starting gate at the eighth pole while Johnson will break from the outside rail going 1/16th of a mile to the wire. The distances are calculated to give the fans a photo finish.

His opponent will be "Restore the Roar", a 4-year old colt. And this isn't the first time a Bengal wide-out has raced a horse. Back in 1993, Chris Collinsworth tried to do it and lost by a nose. Jockey P.J. Cooksey, who defeated Collinsworth on that epic day, will also ride Retore the Roar against Ocho Cinco.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

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Michael Vick is dealing with this dog fighting controversy all wrong. Stop distancing yourself from it, Mike, stop issuing all the "no comment"s, and wrap your arms around this thing. You're not saving face by hiding, you're missing a tremendous marketing opportunity.

Hire some PR people, design a snazzy NDFF (National Dog Fighting Federation) logo, get a championship belt to fit a pitbull, and get it a TV deal on NBC. Because if animal violence is televised and enjoyed with a mint julep, then it's perfectly acceptable.

I'd also recommend taking one particularly charismatic pitbull, grooming it as a noble and magnificent champion (name it something like "Marmaro," maybe), and then have it brutally mauled to death during a nationally-televised pit fight. You'd be surprised at how much people love that stuff.

If you strip away the pretty silks, the pristine race tracks, the women in their pretty hats, and the multi-million dollar TV deal ... are horse racing and dog fighting that much different? Is there no irony to be found in the fact that sports pages everywhere paint Vick as a pariah for his alleged involvement in dog fighting, while at the same time lionizing the jockey who whipped Curlin into a first-place finish at the Preakness? The only difference is that when the dogs are injured, Vick isn't sitting on top of them with a leather instrument of pain.

Animal cruelty is animal cruelty ... it shouldn't matter if it takes place in Michael Vick's parlor, a dirty back alley, or at the neatly manicured grounds of Pimlico.

As we noted this week, O.J. Simpson was thrown out of a steakhouse the night before the Kentucky Derby, as the proprietor of the establishment didn't want the distractions caused by the Hall of Fame running back and double murderer (allegedly).

The Simpson camp had initially suggested that he might sue the restaurant, but now they say no lawsuit is coming. The reason? Any money Simpson makes would immediately be claimed by the family of Ron Goldman, the busboy Simpson murdered (allegedly). The restaurant owner had this to say:

"(I) got a phone call from the (Fred) Goldman Lawyer and he's (Simpson attorney Yale Galanter) not going to be able to do this lawsuit anyways, because they have already taken pre-emptive action in case there is a claim."

So I guess this means you can feel free to do whatever you want to Simpson without having to worry about a lawsuit. I wouldn't quite call that justice, but it's something.

For some news stories, the headline is enough. "O.J. Simpson thrown out of steakhouse" is certainly enough to make me chuckle. The Juice was looking to get into a steak the night before the Kentucky Derby, and the owner of the restaurant wasn't having it.

"I didn't want to serve him because of my convictions of what he's done to those families," [steakhoue owner] Jeff Ruby said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "The way he continues to torture the lives of those families ... with his behavior, attitude and conduct."

"I didn't want that experience in my restaurant," Ruby said, later adding that seeing Simpson get so much attention "makes me sick to my stomach."

He said he went to Simpson's table and said, "I'm not serving you." Ruby said when Simpson didn't respond, he repeated himself and left the room.

That is gangsta, Mr. Steakhouse Owner. My hat is off.

Although it would've been a little bit more awesome if he had gone up to O.J. and said, "I'll serve you a steak, sir, but I'm going to have a bus boy sit next to you and cut it up for you. We're just a little uncomfortable handing you a knife. You understand. Also, please don't make direct eye contact with any of the white women here. They're nervous around you."

The Spokane Valley, Washington race horse Drink the Wind, who won 22 races during his career, has had to be put down because of injuries sustained in a pit bull attack on Sunday.

It's the second time in the last six months that the sports world has encountered the bizarre set of circumstances of pit bulls killing a horse; pit bulls owned by Steelers linebacker Joey Porter killed a horse in September.

The pit bulls attacked Drink the Wind in its pasture after running from their yard, which was a block away. The dogs bit the horse's neck and muzzle, pulled him to the ground and mauled his face and neck.

The dogs' owner, Mike Schelin Jr., was cited for allowing dangerous animals to run at large."I'm really sorry it happened," Schelin said. "I feel bad about it, but dogs will be dogs, I guess."