Deja Derby, sort of

 Of course I thought of Indy, watching it for the fourth or fifth time. It's May. I'm an Indy guy. It's how my mind works.

And so here came Rich Strike out of the ether to bogart the Kentucky Derby yesterday, and I thought, "Wow. He just pulled a Sam Hornish Jr." Even had red-and-white silks, like Hornish drove a red-and-white racecar that day in 2006 when he bogarted the Indianapolis 500 in the final strides, er, yards.

They both came out of the ether, Sam and Rich Strike. There was this sense of unreality to both, watching the replays over and over. You kept thinking it was a trick of the light, a magic act, because no way could it happen, no wa- WAIT WHAT DID I JUST SEE??

Hornish was done like dinner with two turns left in 2006. Then he wasn't. 

Rich Strike was done like dinner at the head of the stretch yesterday, a back marker with all the other mutts. Then he wasn't.

The 500 was Marco Andretti barreling to the checkers with a couple of football fields to go. Then it wasn't.

The Derby was Epicenter and Zandon battling it out with a handful of strides to go. Then it wasn't.

Here came Hornish out of the ether. And here came Rich Strike. 

Of the two, it's Rich Strike you most can't get your head around. Hornish was royalty, a Penske guy. Rich Strike was a Not Even In The Field guy. He was the underdog of all underdogs, an 80-1 shot, an alternate who only got in the Derby because of a late scratch.

A literal outsider, Rich Strike broke from the 21 hole, which meant he was basically across the river in Jeffersonville. His jockey, Sonny Leon, races out of Mahoning Valley Racetrack in Youngstown, Ohio, which is not exactly Saratoga. Needless to say, he'd never had a Derby ride before.

But from the head of the stretch to the wire, he was freaking Eddie Arcaro.

Deep in the muck, he picked his way to front, squeezing through holes that weren't there until he squeezed through them, splitting a final two horses to claim the rail. By that time, Zandon and Epicenter had collected Messier and down the stretch they came. 

And then it was Hornish time.

Then, amazingly, Rich Strike was moving like a freight train. The rest of the field were monuments at Gettysburg -- even Epicenter and Zandon, caught so suddenly at the wire it surprised even the guy making the call.

And now, once more, I'm watching the replay.

I still don't believe what I'm seeing.

I won't believe it no matter how many times I watch it.

Sam Hornish Jr. in 2006. Yeah. That's what this was.