Chad Johnson: The New Barbaro?

How far has horse racing sunk? Far enough that sport's biggest event of the day isn't at Belmont, but at River Downs in Cincinnati.

At 4:53 p.m. ET, a 4-year-old named Restore the Road will race a 29-year-old named Chad Johnson. Because you can't exclaim "Oh, the humanity!" without "Man." And you can't promote "Man vs. Beast" without "Man." Or, uh, "Beast." (What about " Meast vs. Meast?")

Restore the Road will race 1/8 of a mile. Johnson will run 1/16. Thank god: It's for charity. ( FeedtheChildren.org)

And, yet: I'll bet you can still make a wager at your local OTB. Currently, Beast is favored over Man at 5-7.

Full post-race coverage tomorrow. Judge for yourself what more post-race coverage of Chad Johnson than Belmont says about things.

(Memory Lane: Back in March 1983, Chris Collinsworth raced a horse — Mr. Hurry — at Turfway Park in Kentucky. Collinsworth got routed.) — D.S.

Man vs. Beast [ The Sporting Orange]