Chapter 30

It was the third Saturday in May and time for the running of The Preakness at Pimlico in Maryland, and again Jim Hastings and Jed Clancy were on hand for the CBS-TV broadcast of the race.

In the runup to the race, the live camera was on in the broadcast booth and the two were talking about the upcoming event.

“Well, Jed,” Hastings commented, “a lot has changed in the last couple of weeks.”

“I can only say amen to that,” Clancy replied. “In the first place, there have been any number of horses that had been nominated for this race that have been withdrawn by their owners. It’s one thing to lose a race, but it’s something very different to be destroyed. And in the Derby, the other horses were devastated. Apparently their owners don’t want a repeat for fear of destroying their mounts’ future racing potential.

“And there’s another major change,” Clancy continued. “Normally we don’t comment on horserace betting, but today is different. Pimlico went to the Maryland Racing Commission and got special permission to suspend the minimum payout. As I’m sure many of our viewers know, $2.20 is the minimum payout on a two-dollar bet. But because of what happened in Kentucky, the track officials feared that they could go broke if they had to maintain the minimum.”

Clancy shook his head in bewilderment. “Jim, this is like no other race I’ve ever heard of. It’s shaping up to be two races in one. It’s as if the Bluegrass Farm entry, King of Bluegrass Farm and Black Silk, are being conceded first and second, while there’s another race for third- and fourth-place money.

“Frankly, what I expect to see are the Bluegrass horses romping around the track while the rest fight out the tactical race for third place we were expecting to see two weeks ago. And in that connection, it appears that there will be far more money bet to Show than there will be on Win and Place combined. And that’s a truly wild situation.

“In that connection, while we normally don’t comment on betting action, this item is truly news. As I’m sure many of the viewers know, two weeks ago at the Kentucky Derby, the tote board at the time of the race showed the Bluegrass Farm entry to be at 99 to 1. However, there was a light showing on the board indicating that the real odds were greater than that. Well, Jim, it’s only two weeks later and now the Pimlico tote board shows #1 and #1a, the Bluegrass Farm entry, at 1 to 99! And again the light is showing. If the odds were as shown, the win payoff on the Bluegrass Farm horses would be one dollar on 99 dollars bet. In other words, if you win, you bet 99 dollars and get 100 dollars back. But the light indicates you won’t even do that well. And remember, for any normal horserace the normal minimum payoff of $2.20 on two dollars does not apply!”

“Thanks, Jed,” Jim Hastings said. “And now the horses are coming out on the track to parade past the grandstand to the starting gate. Would you look at King and Blackie! They’re prancing down the track side by side as if they’re in a parade! Have you ever seen two prouder or more beautiful horses?”

“You said it all, Jim,” Clancy commented. “That pair of horses looks like they’re out for a nice Saturday-afternoon ride ... and I really think that’s what we’re going to see.”

“And now the horses have reached the starting gate,” Hastings continued, “and the Bluegrass Farm entry, carrying numbers 1 and 1a, are doing exactly what they did at the Derby: At a word from their owners, they go into the gates as quietly as you please. And again many of the other horses are restive and causing a small delay. But while that’s going on, King and Blackie are just standing as still as statues.

“All the horses are in the gate, and again we can see King and Blackie dropping their hindquarters. And... They’re off! Again those two black beauties come out of the gate together like they were shot from guns. Only this time, since they have the gates closest to the rail, they just keep going straight ahead.”

“Look at them go, Jim!” Clancy exclaimed. “It’s a replay of the Derby: That pair just jumped way out in front, but there’s a difference this time. Where in the last race, King led Blackie by a head, today it looks more like a nose. Beyond that, though, just look! They’re matched stride for stride as they just run away from the rest of the field!”

“And, Jed, it looks like you called this race exactly right. What we’re seeing is, as you suspected, a race within a race: The rest of the jockeys are ignoring King and Blackie and are racing against each other. And it’s important to remember that in this field are all seven of the horses who finished The Wood Memorial within a single horse length. And, indeed, it’s easy to see them jockeying for position.

“But in the meantime, King and Blackie just keep doing their thing. And their thing is to just keep extending their lead. It almost appears that that pair gains about a foot on the field with every stride they take.”

“You’re absolutely correct, Jim. But beyond that, I think I saw it in The Times on Monday following the Derby: There was a statement reported to have been made by a British bookmaker to the effect, ‘I’m not even sure those bloody horses were even running at top speed.’ Well, you know what? I think he might have been correct. And you know something else? Just look at that pair of horses! Do they look like they’re straining? I certainly don’t think so, but they’re running away with it anyway.”

“As they come into the clubhouse turn, it’s just more of the same. Jed, I’m virtually certain we’re going to see another record broken here today. The record winning margin at The Preakness is a bit over 11 lengths. I think we’re going to see that shattered. And, by the way, the speed record for the race is 1:53.4; I think that’s going to go down, too.

“Just look at them coming down the homestretch! They are just so incredibly smooth! And they certainly don’t appear to be going flat out, either.

“Good grief! It looks like another 200-yard winning margin. And the time is coming up on the board: 1:42! That horse took nearly 10 seconds off Secretariat’s record in the Derby, and now he’s taken more than 11 seconds off The Preakness record.

“But, Jed, look at the rest! It’s the Wood all over again! As they cross the finish line ... there’s the signal: It’s a photo finish ... for third place!”

Jed Clancy couldn’t control his laughter. “Jim, have you ever in your life... ? The Corcoran twins are cantering back toward the winners circle staying as close as they can to the clubhouse rail to stay out of the way of the horses just coming across the line!”

“And it’s official,” Jim Hastings reported. “In third place by a nose is High Angel, with Kate’s Pride in fourth. Now we’ll take you down to the Winner’s Circle where Jan Carver is waiting to talk with the owner/riders of the two Bluegrass Farm horses.”

“Thanks, guys. This is Jan Carver at the Winner’s Circle where again, as at the Derby, King of Bluegrass and his love, Black Silk, today share the blanket of Black-Eyed Susans.”

Tanya and Tasha had taken off their riding helmets and were shaking out their blonde hair. Only then did Carver realize that no one was holding the horses who were alternating between nuzzling their mistresses and nuzzling each other.

To Tanya she asked, “Tatiana Corcoran, who’s holding the horses?”

The question took the girl by surprise. “Huh? Oh ... No one, I guess. Why do you ask?”

The reporter just shook her head.

“They’re not going anywhere,” Tasha noted. “Just look at them! They’re very happy to be here in the Winner’s Circle, very happy to be with each other, and, I guess, happy to be here with Tanya and me.”

“Tanya, I don’t know if you know it yet, but today you set two records in a race that was first run in 1873. Well, until today the record winning margin was 11 lengths and change. While it’s certainly not official, it appears you may have won by 65 lengths! And whatever the official judgment turns out to be, you didn’t beat the record, you shattered it! And at the same time you shattered the record for time by more than 11 seconds. So congratulations! What do you have to say?”

“Thanks, Jan,” Tanya replied. “But there’s really not much for me to say. All I did was to stay on King’s back and talk to him. And since the only sounds I heard were his hoofbeats and Blackie’s beside him, I figured we were sufficiently ahead of the field that I didn’t need to look back.”

“Tanya, you and your sister were so far out in front that you might have strained your neck if you had tried to see the next-closest horse. What a race!”

Tanya accepted the trophy and then the twins, as co-owners, accepted checks for first- and second-place money. Once again, in a million-dollar race the twins walked away with more than $800,000.

Back up in the broadcast booth, again Jed Clancy and Jim Hastings were talking. “Jim, this has been a wild day. And since we brought up the betting action before the race, it’s only fair to tell our viewers how it came out.

“Well, it’s official: The Bluegrass Farm entry paid $10.01 to win, $20.01 to place, and $4.80 to show! Yes, I know. You’re used to hearing payoffs on a $2.00 bet. But in this race, you get a penny on $10.00 to win and a penny on $20.00 to place. If you’re betting less than those amounts, you only get your money back. Can you believe it? Folks, that resulted from the extraordinary amount of money bet on third place. And that money was spread among all the other horses. Incidentally, High Angel paid $6.40 to show, so he’s the bettors’ big winner in today’s featured race.”