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Lil E. Tee and the Kentucky Derby
(Hardcover)
by John Eisenberg
In Stock: Ships within 2-3 days.
Retail Price: $24.95 - Our Price:
$22.45
On the first Saturday in May every year in Louisville,
Kentucky, shortly after 5:30 PM, a new horse attains racing immortality.
The Kentucky Derby is like no other race, and its winners are the finest
horses in the world. Covered in rich red roses, surrounded by flashing
cameras and admiring crowds, these instant celebrities bear stellar
names like Citation, Spectacular Bid, and Seattle Slew. They're worth
hundreds of thousands of dollars. From the time of their pampered births
and training on fabulous Thoroughbred farms in Kentucky, Florida, and
California, they are destined for the Derby. But in 1992, a funny thing
happened on the way to the roses. The rattling roar of 130,000 voices
tailed off into a high, hollow shriek as the horses crossed the finish
line. Lil E. Tee? ABC broadcasters knew nothing about him, but they
weren't alone. Who knew about Lil E. Tee? A blacksmith in Ocala,
Florida, a veterinary surgeon in Ringoes, New Jersey, a trainer at
Calder Race Course, and a few other people used to dealing with average
horses knew this horse - and realized what a long shot Lil E. Tee really
was. On an obscure Pennsylvania farm that raised mostly trotting horses,
a colt with a dime-store pedigree was born in 1989. His odd gait and
tendency to bellow for his mother earned him the nickname
"E.T". Suffering from an immune deficiency and a bad case of
colic, he survived surgery that usually ends a horse's racing career.
Bloodstock agents dismissed him because of his mediocre breeding, and
once he was sold for only $3,000. He'd live in five barns in seven
states by the time he turned two. Somehow, this horse became one of the
biggest underdogs ever to appear on the American sporting landscape. Lil
E. Tee overcame his bleak beginnings to reach the respected hands of
trainer Lynn Whiting, jockey Pat Day, and owner Cal Partee. After
winning the Jim Beam stakes and finishing second in the Arkansas Derby,
Lil E. Tee arrived at Churchill Downs to face a field of seventeen
horses, including the highly acclaimed favorite, Arazi, a horse many
people forecast to become the next Secretariat. A 17-to-1 long shot, Lil
E. Tee won the Derby with a classic rally down the home stretch, and
finally Pat Day had jockeyed a horse to Derby victory. |
