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Though not even worthy of the onscreen leaderboard going onto the final turn, Animal Kingdom chose the Kentucky Derby for his first dirt-track win. With a late push, the No. 16 horse clocked 2:02:04. Nehro placed. Mucho Macho Man showed. More »
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Post-time for the 137th Kentucky Derby isn't until 6:24 p.m. eastern but, hell, NBC starts its coverage at 4 p.m. so it's a stone-cold mortal lock that Costas'll do something toity enough to warrant open-thread discussion. More »
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I like Archarcharch (based on that stretch-running 98 Beyer fig in the Arkansas Derby) and Mucho Macho Man (who finished third in the Louisiana Derby despite leaving his shoe at the gate), and I'll box them in the exacta with Shackleford (who ran a smart second in the Florida Derby). More »
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There are precisely six days a year that the vast majority of America pays attention to horse racing: the Thursday through Saturdays of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. (Add extra days for the occasional Triple Crown chance and any lovable injured/dead horses.) We're smack dab in the middle of that period, so get ready to care: More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5799325&view=rss&microfeed=true This year, the drizzly weather made the usual activities along the Churchill Downs infield (portalet runs, women sunning themselves in bikinis) that much more dangerous (slippery portalet runs) and sleazy (women mudwrestling in bikinis). Here's everything you missed. More »
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The infield scene at Churchill Downs may not be as decadent and depraved as at Pimlico these days, but the rainstorm brought a welcome twist to the action. Feisty fillies, indeed. [via Louisville.com] More »
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In sports, everyone is a winner-some people just win better than others. Like horse racing tracks, which, thanks to some lucky schlub publicly turning nothing into $900,000, should be seeing an influx of fools and their money, soon parted. More »
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Somewhere in Louisville, these owners of Noble's Promise are still in shock — ahem! — that Super Saver, manned by Calvin Borel, took the 136th Kentucky Derby on a muddy Churchill Downs track. Perhaps they need some sorrow-drainers. More »
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Every week, Tommy will excerpt a handful of stories - old and new, sports and otherwise, relevant and merely sublime - that he urges you to read for one reason or another. Today, I'm filling in. Still, send suggestions: craggs@deadspin.com. More »
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Sometimes, I wonder what we did in those dark years without the Internet and, more recently, without Twitter. Friday was one of those days, as I sifted through a Twitter search for a hashtag dubbed "WireDerbyHorseNames." Warning: Omar's coming, yo. More »
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For Dennis Rodman's DJing skillz during his live set at the Derby Pretty Party, which the Frazier International History Museum must have been duped into hosting.The revelers were likely terrified into dancing. [Courier-Journal Late-Night Party Photography Service] More »
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Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and the blogosphere to bring you everything you need to know to start your day. More »
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Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and the blogosphere to bring you everything you need to know to start your day. More »
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NBC's lead race caller Tom Durkin is getting hammered for his I-Am-Yelling-About-The-Wrong-Horses!-routine that annoyed many viewers, especially racing purists, those who had money on Pioneer of The Nile and blind people. More »
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Ok, this has been bugging me since Saturday, so I have to ask—was trainer Bennie Woolley Jr. carrying a gun at the Kentucky Derby? (Probably not—but wouldn't it have been great if he had been?) More »
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Everyone knows the real fun of the Kentucky Derby happens in the stands and infield, not on the track. See the shenanigans you missed out on after the jump. More »
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How did we miss this? Last week, Churchill Downs unveiled a life-sized statue of Deadspin's 2006 Sports Human of the Year Barbaro, who was a horse. My love. Affirmed. NEVER FORGET. [CBS News] More »
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Calvin Borel has done it again. The Cajun jockey who rode Street Sense to a surprising victory two years ago has won again, this time in stunning fashion aboard long shot Mine That Bird. More »
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This year Kentucky Derby horses will be subject to post-race drug testing in an effort to help regulate the sport. Now they'll never come in under two minutes. [Steroid Nation, TSB] More »
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Kentucky Derby favorite I Want Revenge was scratched from this afternoon's race as a precautionary measure. There is concern over an injury that could be exacerbated by making the horse run in the rain. [AP] More »
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It's that time of year—the five-week period when people who could not care less about horse racing the other 47 weeks of the year suddenly become experts in animal husbandry, gambling and stupid hats. More »
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A 2-year-old filly died at Churchill Downs Monday after another horse collided with her during a training session. The collision was caught on video, but it's not for the squeamish. More »
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So another reader has checked in and claims that the art of port-a-john jumping was actually perfected at the Kentucky Derby in 2007, as these photos demonstrate. More »
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Many of us have wondered why prolific message board poet Dee Mirich has remained silent on the tragic Eight Belles Kentucky Derby accident. After all, when Barbaro fell, you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting one of her offerings. But now all is clear: Ms. Mirich had been working feverishly on her magnum opus; a poem that would resonate through the vast reaches of time, perfectlly capturing the mood of a nation. More »
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So, young Americans, what's your preferred technique for sneaking booze into sporting events? In this day of increased security, one must expand one's horizons and think, as they say, outside the cardboard parallelogram. Witness these enterprising gentlemen and their successful attempt to booze up the Kentucky Derby. More »
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When future generations study the first decade of the 21st Century, the debate of course will turn to the Great Racehorse Protests of 2008. In the wake of the Eight Belles tragedy at the Kentucky Derby, PETA is bringing all guns to bear on the remaining Triple Crown events; planning protests at the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore next week and the Belmont Stakes in New York in June. Should be lots of fun, with counter-protesting and everything. Hey, wouldn't it be hilarious if we could somehow manage to run the OIympic Torch through those two locations as well? More »
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Backing the wrong horse is always deadly in politics, especially when it's an actual horse. Poor Hillary Clinton. How can someone get into trouble just betting on the Kentucky Derby? By making a huge deal about placing a bet on a horse that had to be destroyed right on the track, that's how. Now PETA is firing broadsides at her, as she wonders how she's going to carry a state — Indiana — in which Dee Mirich resides. More »
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Eight Belles is probably in Heaven by now, galloping in fields of clover on four sturdy legs and eating tasty apples. No, I'm not sure which friends she's romping about with up there (a safe bet; one of them is not Christopher Reeve). Down here on earth, though, things are quite unsettled. Who is to blame? Could the tragedy have been avoided? Does anyone know the whereabouts of Jeff Gillooly? More »
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You've probably seen this by now, but, alas, it's still great. War Emblem is tired of the dating scene. Take this farm, for instance; everyone here is such a phony. He'd rather stay in his stall and curl up with a nice Dee Mirich poem, if you want to know the truth. The race horse, who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness in 2002, is not exactly fulfilling his stud expectations, according to his handlers. He sired zero foals in 2007 ... the same production as Sir Ian McKellan, and one less than Tom Cruise. More »
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The Kentucky Derby is this weekend. That's fun! Horses! We don't know a lick about it, so we asked Angelo Grasso, of The Gowanus Rotisserie Baseball Gazette, to preview the race for us. Maybe you can even make yourself some money. More »
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For years, SEC opponents have been referring to South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier as a horse's ass. Now, once and for all, he is a horse. And he might just make the Kentucky Derby. More »
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Among grand, innovative ideas in the annals of gambling on horse racing, this is not one of the better ones. More »
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I was under the impression that this thing would be run at around 5 p.m. Not the case, as it turns out ... NBC's coverage starts at 5, but they don't start actually beating the horses until around 6. Somehow, I had forgotten that that a 2-minute requires 6 hours of pregame preparation. More »
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About 45 minutes from now, the Kentucky Derby will get underway, and Barbaro will attempt to defend his crown ... wait, what? Dammit. Oh well. More »
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As we approach the biggest horse racing event of the year, the question hangs in the air: Which horse will suffer a fatal injury on the track, inspiring new innovations in interpretive dance? We're going with "Tiago." More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=257772&view=rss&microfeed=true The outstanding gentlemen at We Are The Postmen attended the Kentucky Derby last weekend, hanging out on the infield and meeting all kinds of fascinating characters. They produced this excellent video about the experience. Our favorites are the Cardinals fan who understands the connection between his team and hard liquor, the lady with the blow-up doll on the Slip n' Slide (really) and, uh, the man lying on the ground in a moment of, oh, we'll call it weakness. More »
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Since it only takes two minutes, and because it's so goddamn exciting, I decided to liveblog the Kentucky Derby. Let's get to it. More »
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Today, my friends, is Kentucky Derby Day. Please bear with me as I attempt to hide my contempt for horse racing. More »
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Now we know why they have a full stable of 20 horses for the Kentucky Derby tomorrow; O.J. Simpson is hanging around at Churchill Downs, and they want to make sure there are enough horses alive to still hold a race. More »
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