And Pharoah wears the Triple Crown

As the field of just eight horses worked through the last turn before heading toward the final stretch, I stood up and voiced some concern about Madefromlucky, a Todd Pletcher entry that for a brief few seconds, looked like he might be making a run toward American Pharoah’s lead.

Turned out my concerns didn’t last long. Madefromlucky ran out of gas about as soon as his come from behind spurt started, and as the horses came down the final stretch, jockey Victor Espinoza leaned on Pharoah just slightly, but not as much as he could have.

Pharoah kicked in what appeared to be some sort of nitrous boost and in just a couple more seconds, the seven competing horses were getting smaller and smaller and for the first time in nearly four decades, we were able to celebrate a Triple Crown winner.

I made that prediction in this space last week, but I can’t take much credit for my horse race predicting skills in this case because every time I’ve heard that question asked in the past couple of weeks, at a rate of about 10-1, the answer has been “Yes – Pharoah will win the Belmont and the Triple Crown.” (In all fairness to myself, I did pick him among my list of winners for all three of the races, and for that, my horse betting stock has gone up somewhat).

It was a fun race to watch, and with the chance for the Triple Crown win, Saturday’s race was made even more exciting for part-time racing fans like myself.

Pharoah paid $3.50 on a $2 wager, and I did have a small bet on the winner – again. The bet was placed by a friend who happened to be where he could legally place a bet that day, and although I tired to get in touch with “Johnny” with instructions to just forget the winnings and bring the ticket home with him – I was too late. My Triple Crown souvenir had already been cashed in.

A Kentucky legend is going to the house

I was a little saddened last week to read in the Lexington Herald-Leader a column by one that I consider to be a Kentucky sportswriter legend, Mike Fields, that noted his final high school sports coverage would be Sunday’s KHSAA Baseball State Championship report.

After that, and after 41 years on the job – 35 of which have been with the Herald-Leader – Mike is retiring and going home.

We only had one face to face meeting, briefly at a Sweet 16 basketball tournament a few years ago, but we’ve exchanged emails from time to time, all about issues involving Kentucky high school sports.

We did learn from each other that in addition to our love for high school sports and the athletes that play the game, we did a have a couple of other things in common. Mike was one of the first recipients of the Rudy J. Ellis Distinguished Service Award from the Kentucky High School Athletic Directors Association, an award I also was a proud recipient of in 2012. We were both also lucky enough to be the recipient of by-pass heart surgery – both also in our early 40s at the time, something that has allowed us to continue to promote high school athletes for several more years (so far).

Mike did a fantastic job of keeping the state readers informed as to the goings on inside Kentucky high school sports, on every playing field.

Mike’s weekly roundup of high school happenings every Friday was a must read for high school sports junkies (like myself) for many years, and his angle on the issues will certainly be missed.

Good luck to a colleague on your next chapter in life, and thanks for the past 35 years of keeping us up to date on the student athletes wearing the blue and white – and every other color of uniform in Kentucky.