Girls rule in racing

A filly beats the colts and wins the Belmont. A chick kicks the guys’ butts and steals the show at Canada’s Queen’s Plate. Ya gotta love it.

I love my horse racing and my equestrian sports, and I love that there’s a chance for girls to go head-to-head against the boys and often that’s the norm. There’s no division of the sexes in show jumping, dressage or eventing. Male, female, stallion, gelding, mare, it makes no difference. You compete, that’s it. You win, little or nothing is said about the sex of the horse or the rider.

In racing, the fillies and colts are usually divided, but on some occasions they race head-to-head. But the jockeys, guys or girls, aren’t.

In this year’s Belmont, we got to see top-notch filly Rags to Riches dig in her heels and tell one of the top colts of the year - Curlin - that she was going to win today. It was an awe-inspiring run down the stretch. You could physically see her grit her teeth and dig down to her hooves to find the strength and power to inch ahead of Curlin. Honestly, I think he was a bit confused. I don’t think he’s seen such determined competition in his races this year, and I think he’s a fine horse.

It was uplifting to see a filly break the 100-plus year drought at the Belmont. And against the top 3-year-old colts. You can’t say that was a fluke win. She ran every inch of that race. I love to see that determination. Check out the race:

Then just a few weeks later we get to see Canadian jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson beat out the guys to be the first female jockey to win Canada’s biggest horse race, the Queen’s Plate. She rode long shot Mike Fox to the wire first in a crafty ride that gave her horse the best chance to win.


Wilson gushed more about the great race her horse ran than she did about the fact she made Canadian thoroughbred racing history. She just said she was happy a woman won, so now it doesn’t need to be said again and the next time a female wins, the focus will be on her ride, not on the historical statistics.

I love the attitude.

Street Sense’s Triple Crown run dashed in last stride

I gotta give it to Street Sense and Calvin Borel, it was a game effort. But Robby Albarado pulled Curlin’s reserve from the bottom of his hooves in the final strides of the race to steal any hope of a Triple Crown this year. Again.

I watched replay after replay of the race online just so I could dissect it stride for stride. I thought Street Sense had it, but Curlin just dug in his heels and chased him down. That takes guts. And heart. Street Sense put on his now signature power surge again at the end but got run down at the wire.

As someone who would love to see a Triple Crown battle in the Belmont every year, I was crushed to see Street Sense get beat. Especially by a nose. With such a strong run down to the wire, I hate to see a good horse lose what seemed rightfully his. If he got outrun by several lengths, it would show he wasn’t a good enough horse to win. But to lose by a nose is heartbreaking. That shows he’s got what it takes, minus a nose. But in this game the first nose to the wire wins it all. To be a nose behind is just that - behind, not first.

I give it to Street Sense for a valiant effort, but too bad Curlin did such a good job.