In the wackiest race in Kentucky Derby history, the horse that crossed the finish line first, finished seventeenth
Welcome to Plain English. Your recipe for success. A podcast for English learners; we go a little bit slower so you can follow all the words and really focus on understanding the ideas. I’m Jeff; JR is the producer. A full word-for-word transcript of this episode, complete with translations into seven languages, can be found at PlainEnglish.com/156.
Coming up today: the controversial finish to the Kentucky Derby, the most popular horse race of the year. That’s right, the winner—or, I should say, the horse that crossed the finish line first—was disqualified after a foul. It was the first time that happened in the race’s 145-year history. We’ll tell you more about that coming up. Plus, “long shot.” That’s the expression today. And we’ll close with a quote, since it’s Monday.
But first a reminder about MosaLingua. They are an innovative language-learning company with cutting edge apps and programs that are fun to use, and effective too. You can learn more by visiting PlainEnglish.com/learn .
Kentucky Derby results reversed after challenge
It’s often described as “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” but the Kentucky Derby this year could also be described as the most perplexing two minutes in sports. Maximum Security, the horse that clearly crossed the finish line first, officially finished seventeenth. You see, immediately after the race concluded, two other jockeys in the race challenged the results, saying that Maximum Security had committed a foul. The officials who govern the race are called the racing stewards, and they spent twenty minutes reviewing the footage of the two-minute race. And they disqualified Maximum Security. They placed him seventeenth in the nineteen-horse race, and crowned the second-place finisher, Country House, the winner.
It is the first time in the race’s 145-year history that the winning horse was disqualified on a foul. What did he do wrong? The race stewards ruled that he veered out of his lane and into the path of another horse, War of Will, starting a domino effect: To avoid a dangerous wipeout, War of Will had to adjust his trajectory, affecting another horse, who in turn had to do the same, and so on. Maximum Security was placed seventeenth because it was judged that his foul affected the next sixteen horses in the race.
I had a hard time understanding this, since I don’t really watch a lot of horse racing. When I watch a horse race, it looks like they’re all bunched up together. How is it possible that they have a “lane”? They clearly all have their initial lanes. When the race begins, they’re at their respective posts, in their assigned positions, from the inside to the outside, numbered from 1 to 20. We all remember from running on tracks in school that if you’re running in the outside lane, you have to run farther than the person running in the inside lane if you’re both running one complete lap. So after the gates open, the horse rush forward and pretty soon they congregate near the inside rail.
When they get there, they establish their lanes, their respective positions. And once the horses have established their positions, they can’t swerve from right to left. The jockeys have to control the horses so they don’t interfere with the path of another. In the replay of the race, you can see when Maximum Security edges to his right, and his back legs come very close to the front legs of the horse behind him, at the time War of Will. If the two had collided, or gotten entangled, there could have been a devastating wipeout. Horses can die on the racetrack after accidents.
Speaking of accidents, there was already an uncomfortable spotlight on the sport of horse racing this year, even before the Kentucky Derby controversy. At the Santa Anita racetrack in California, there were 23 horse fatalities in just three months this year—an alarming rate. They suspect that a combination of factors contributed to the breakdowns: rainy conditions, irregularities in medication given to horses, and pressure to fill races with horses that are not ready for racing. The sport has a long tradition, but it has its darker sides—big money, injuries, medications (legal and illegal), a lot of wear and tear on the animals.
I can’t pretend to offer an opinion on whether the judges made the right call, but the majority of experts interviewed afterward say that the racing stewards did make the right call. In a race that’s not as high-profile as the Kentucky Derby, the decision to disqualify Maximum Security’s victory would have been pretty quick, many people said. Instead, over 150,000 spectators and millions of people watching on TV waited twenty minutes for the matter to be settled. Country House, by the way, was a historic long-shot: it had been given 65-to-1 odds to win the race, the second-longest odds ever for a Derby winner.
The stakes were high. The Kentucky Derby is the biggest wagering race in North America and the most-watched horse race in the world. There was more than just the $3 million prize money on the line: bettors around the world had wagered over $200 million on the race. The Derby is held the first Saturday of May at a racetrack called Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. They have been running that race every single year since 1875. The track is just a mile and a quarter in length, and the race is usually over in just two minutes. The Derby is the first of three championship horse races in America: the next two are the Preakness Stakes in Maryland and the Belmont Stakes in New York State.
I want to say hi to Lars in Germany. He used the phrase “recipe for success” in a business context the other day, and it went over really well with his clients. Lars listens in the car on the way to work and he wrote to say he’s made some great progress over a year of listening, which is fantastic. Thanks Lars for listening and it’s an honor to be your recipe for success.
You know, so many of you ask me what you can do to sound better, to reduce your accent, and to sound like a native. And the best advice I have is to practice reading out loud. I think when you’re speaking, your brain has to do two things. First, it needs to find the right words. Then, it needs to actually make the right sounds. I don’t know about you, but finding the right words in Spanish is hard enough for me, without worrying about how the words are pronounced. So that means you need practice saying the words out loud. That way, when you go to speak next time, actually saying the words is second nature, and you can dedicate all your brainpower to picking the words you want to say. So, I would recommend picking an English article or even the transcript of this episode, and just read it out loud. Take as much time as you need; don’t be afraid if you stumble. But just read it out loud. Do that once a week, and you’ll get used to saying the words.
Another thing you can do is check out the pronunciation course they have at MosaLingua. The good thing about this course is that it’s not given in English—it’s in your language. Spanish, Portuguese, German, Japanese, whatever. It’s got some great exercises and good information about how to sound natural in English. And let me tell you, when you start to sound better, your confidence will improve too. If you’re interested in the MosaLingua course, check out the link at PlainEnglish.com/learn.
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