There are at least 362 other days in a year when, honestly, few care about whether the good folks beneath the gold dome ever get serious about bringing horse racing to Georgia. Just about any non-Triple Crown race day, to be specific.
The lobby that wants to bring a sport of ever-ebbing popularity to the state seems well-intentioned and well-armed with projections of economic splendor. And I’m sure Cobb County already has in place at least one secret plan to build a track somewhere before the first taxpayer can raise a peep. But, really, it’s an issue that never seems to get out of the gate.
Until one day a California Chrome comes along. Then you’re thinking: Be kinda fun to go somewhere to place a couple OTB wagers, have a party, maybe wear a checkered coat and fedora, feel like a real 1954 player.
This has to be the year, right? After the longest Triple Crown drought has stretched to 36 years since Affirmed won the Kentucky Derby-Preakness-Belmont gauntlet, this horse has kind of a now-or-never feel to it.
No other three-year-old has shown the slightest interest in beating California Chrome. There is a movie aching to be made about the horse that came from a modest background (an $8,000 mare), a couple owners who thought so much of their abilities they named their business Dumb Ass Partners, an ancient trainer, the oldest to win a Kentucky Derby, and a jockey who seems to have a Vulcan mind meld relationship with his ride. All the horse has to do is survive a little mile-and-a-half gallop that has tripped up the previous 12 horses coming to New York with a chance to win a Triple Crown.
Got a 10-dollar bill burning a hole in my pocket, and would love to get in on some of this action. Going off at 3-to-5, Double C could just about finance my next Whopper combo.
Saturday is the one time when everybody can be a horse racing fan. It is the kind of day to make a PETA member grab a hot dog and a Racing Form. With Georgia being Georgia, you may have to turn your own home into a race track just to set the proper viewing mood. That’s nothing that throwing a few cigar butts on the floor and spraying some of that Glade Stable Surprise-scented air freshener couldn’t accomplish.
It’d be worth the effort.
Because now is the time for some Chrome-plated history.
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