The Jockey

Slide on over to the Times and check out "The Jockey" by Barry Bearak. Article and video are worth your time:

That afternoon, things were going Russell Baze’s way. The jockey won the first three races. “It looks like an easy game today,” he said after dismounting in the third. He hummed as he walked, nothing particularly tuneful, just an intonation of joy.

But he finished out of the money in the fourth and lost by a head in the fifth. The very next race was the one most anticipated. Baze was aboard a dark brown filly. The horse settled into the starting gate just as she should, her head straight and her feet well-set.

Then the door bust open, and Russell Baze, the winningest jockey in American history, yelled "yaaah" as loud as he could.