You Go, Girl!

Rags to Riches became the first filly in 102 years to win the Belmont Stakes this Saturday, and only the tenth filly ever to win a triple crown race.

Sired by A.P. Indy, her paternal sire was Seattle Slew, and she also counts Secretariat as an ancestor, so she had my support right there.

I win again!! Yay!

Al said I should buy dinner with my winnings. No problem, the Stakes winner buys the steaks... until I saw how much they were. I asked Al if we could please buy the loser instead.

Now for the "Coincidence? I think not..." department:

Later that evening, the TV movie of the week was "Ruffian", a dramatization of the world's greatest filly. It was billed as a 'family event'. Excuse me? She dies!! What's so heartwarming about that? The family that sobs together stays together? What next? Cujo: the Story of a Boy and His Dog?

I spoke to a few girlfriends that day, and they didn't even want to watch the movie! They were still traumatized by seeing it on live TV years ago. This has to be the greatest tragedy ever in sport. So, armed with about three boxes of Kleenex, I settled in to watch the show.

First off, was Ruffian played by a male horse? Sure looked that way in a few scenes!! I mean, couldn't they find another female that looked like her? Or were they trying to represent her unusually large (for a filly) size?

The movie was OK, but I didn't cry, so it couldn't have been too good. The part where they put the little inflatable cast on her leg really brought back the memories, though. It also showed them burying her in the infield of Belmont track. The whole horse! Not cremated. I didn't expect that. Very sad. Guess she's out to pasture with Barbaro now.