It came so fast, the first Saturday in May,
The run for the roses, a splendid day,

Twenty some odd horses all ready to run,
The first jewel of the Triple Crown would soon be won,

The day before the race Wimbledon and St. Averil were scratched,
But still there was a field of 18 that were well matched,

The celebrities began to arrive and settle into millionaire’s row,
As the excitement for the race began to grow,

The horses were ready but they had to wait,
Because 9 other races had to go off from the starting gate,

There were millions of Mint Juleps and cups of champagne,
But as the 8th race went off it began to rain,

The track was listed as sloppy only the 3rd time in history,
And the odds of who would win was still a baffling mystery,

Limehouse was on the inside,
He would have to fight stride for stride,

Song of the Sword was looking good,
He was unmistakable in his red and black hood,

Lion Heart had the early speed,
But few though that he would succeed,

Number four was Action this Day,
He was a champion 2 year old and was a beautiful bay,

Wimbledon was scratched without a doubt,
This was the first derby that Baffert was out,

Number six was Florida Derby winner Friends Lake,
Most people thought his win had been a mistake,

Minister Eric would come from post seven,
But no one thought he would run his way into racing heaven,

Master David was post eight,
Most thought that he didn’t even rate,


St. Averil was gone from the running,
Despite the fact that his looks were stunning,

From post ten was Imperialism, who would have some run,
He had a special bond with his trainer, who was only twenty-one,

Now 11 was The Cliffs Edge a dark brown colt,
A lot of people thought he would be off like a bolt,

Borrego was twelve and had run in the slop,
But still his numbers continued to drop,

Post number 13 was Birdstone,
He was a relative unknown,

Read the Footnotes was from post fourteen,
But his last race had left a lot to been seen,

Smarty Jones was the horse to beat,
He had a story to tell and with a perfect record he was one of the elite,

Castledale was a long shot,
But he had to have something or he would not have made it to this spot,

Pollard’s Vision was blind in one,
But despite his blindness he could fly,

Tapit was at number eighteen,
Out of everyone he was the most green,

Pro Prado was a grey,
From post nineteen he had a long way to run that day,

Last but not least was Quintons Gold Rush,
From post 20 he would be lost in the position crush,

The call came for jockeys up, the bugle sounded and the horses began to make
their way,
As the traditional song “My Old Kentucky Home” began to play,

Despite some unpredictable horses at the gate,
They all went in as if they knew their fate,

Finally they were off for the fasted 2 minutes in sports,
After 3 years of training and set backs of all sorts,


As predicted Lion Heart took the lead,
Although he was in front he was not going full speed,

Smarty Jones was up near the front but held in check,
He would not be let go till the last part of his trek,

The excitement was all around,
As the horses hooves hit the ground,

The speed, stamina and courage was there,
The elegance and power hinted to nothing as who would win was still up in
the air,

As they reached the stretch the horses were let out,
And for those who did not know they found out what the derby was all about,

The stretch drive was here and Lion Heart was hanging on,
But soon his strength would be all gone,

Smarty Jones came to challenge as he increased his pace,
There was no doubt he would win the race,

He sweep under the wire 2 and 3/4s lengths in the lead,
He had shown that he was a noble stead,

Lion Heart hung on to place,
And Imperialism was 3rd hot on the chase,

But Smarty Jones was the hero here,
He had hung on to his undefeated career,

Now for undefeated horses to win the derby there were two,
Smarty Jones and the great and amazing Seattle Slew,

He was given his roses,
And made to stand still for several poses,

Smarty Jones will go down in history as the 130th winner of the Kentucky
Derby.

***Ok so I’m obsessive about horses….what can I say…it got a little
long…sorry about that…I hope you’ll watch the Preakness Stakes the second
jewel of the Triple Crown but if you don’t im gonna write a poem about it
too….please please comment and tell me if you liked this or not…and if you
did not like it can you tell me how to make it better…thanks***

 
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