Analysis

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Brave Little Horse? You bet

By: Allen Abel

Posted: 01/7/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Thoroughbred horse Rapid Redux. (JIM MCCUE )

LAUREL, Maryland -- The Brave Little Horse That Never Loses stepped lightly into stall No. 3. It was the coldest day of the new month and, like every other thoroughbred in the world, the Brave Little Horse had been marked another year older on the first of January. So now he was six.

Six was rather old for a well-worked galloper still to be sent out campaigning, especially against an arctic wind. But since the horse in our story never loses a race, and since he had been castrated and therefore would be of no value as a sire, it seemed only natural to the men who owned and trained him and rode him that he should be saddled and mounted and led to the gate once again at the creaking, nearly abandoned old hippodrome called Laurel Park in the suburbs of Washington.

And truly, the Brave Little Horse, a winter foal who had been given the name Rapid Redux not long after he was born in Kentucky in February 2006, seemed eager to be off and running.

He already had won 21 official races in a row, which was more than any other thoroughbred on this continent since before the War of 1812, and even when training, his handlers liked to say, he wouldn't let any other animal beat him around the track.

The record-breaking gelding rapped his legs against the boards as he waited in stall No. 3.

"It's always a good sign when a horse kicks his stall," said a wise old bettor standing at the rail. "It means he can't wait to run."

But there were ominous portents as well.

The day before the race, the trainer, a West Virginia man named David Wells who certainly was not the same David Wells who used to pitch for the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees, revealed that Rapid Redux had suffered a small cut in his right front hoof.

"We were 30 per cent going to run him, and 70 per cent not going to," said trainer Wells.

But the Brave Little Horse had had a good morning workout, and the cut appeared to have healed, so the trainer told the owner, a local man named Cole who was wearing purple trousers, that the race might as well go ahead.

They both stood with Rapid Redux in stall No. 3 of the freezing paddock, and David Wells was so nervous about risking the winning streak -- not to mention the gelding's fitness and very survival, should God forbid he break down -- that he forgot to wear a coat over his pastel purple shirt.

It was hardly going to be the Kentucky Derby or the Queen's Plate or the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe anyway. No one ever pretended that the Brave Little Horse would stand a chance against the best colts or even the fastest fillies in the world. After all, he had been claimed for only $6,000 as a four-year-old, and he only had been sent out against other discounted or non-winning horses at such locations as Charles Town and Timonium and Mountaineer Park.

But still, Rapid Redux had won 21 races in a row on seven tracks at seven distances under seven riders, and this was no small feat because life is not a Little Golden Book.

Fate holds Cruelty and Failure in her hands along with Victory and Glory, and dispenses them beyond our understanding, according to her whim. We hide this truth from our children for as long as we can, and we may hope that Heaven conceals it as well from beautiful horses. But any man at a paddock rail can testify to this.

Now a trumpet sounded and five brown horses nodded toward the starting gate in the waning grey day. A man named Acosta was riding Rapid Redux in the most garish silks imaginable: bright yellow, with the name Jill lettered in pink across his back and JDIANEZ down the left leg. The former was owner Cole's girlfriend, and the latter was rider Acosta's baby daughter, who was waiting with her mother beside the turf.

The race began and the Brave Little Horse That Never Loses went immediately to the lead. But a much bigger gelding named Awesome Rhythm stayed with him, down the backstretch and around the final turn.

"Rapid Redux is asked the question!" the track announcer shouted with an eighth of a mile to run, which was his way of saying that Acosta, the jockey, was whipping The Brave Little Horse as hard as he could.

Such as it was, the crowd of dozens cheered and wailed as the final hoofbeats fell.

Later, rider Acosta would say that he knew at the very start that his horse's hoof wasn't perfect, and that he had worried that he might have too little left as the metres churned away. But there is something in a champion that overcomes these hobbles while the rest of us -- weaker, less determined, human -- abandon our ambitions and our dreams.

By less than the length of his body, for the 22 time in a row, the Brave Little Horse won the race.

The trainer and the owner and the Jill, whose name was on the rider's back, embraced in the winner's circle, and Acosta gave his goggles away and picked up little Jdianez.

"They could go around again and it wouldn't matter," someone shouted from the stands. And the Brave Little Horse That Never Loses said not a word and danced away.

Allen Abel is a Brooklyn-born Canadian journalist based in Washington, D.C. (when he's not at the track).

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 7, 2012 J1

Factual inaccuracy? Something missing? Help improve our journalism.

Know about news? Share your story suggestions, photos and video.

Spelling error? Punctuation problem? Send us an email if you’ve found a typo.

More Analysis

Undock

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

Have Your Say

New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.

The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.