....AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME!

[bklyncowgirl]

The horses are in the starting gate for the Iowa Caucuses.

AND THEY'RE OFF!

Southern Man takes the lead with First Lady on the inside. Chicago Kid is close up in third. Senor Ambassador stumbled a bit coming out of the gate runs several lengths back in fourth with Talk Show Joe close behind. Further back to Little Big Man and Connecticut Yankee.

Oh Oh Baked Alaskan has veered off the track and appears to be racing the outrider's pony.

As they round the clubhouse turn, First Lady pulls away from Southern Man opening up a three length lead. The time in the first quarter is a blistering :22.2 seconds.

Down the backstretch, First Lady is still in front, Southern Man a close second and Chicago Kid begins to make up ground. Further back, Senor Ambassador and Talk Show Joe are moving up vying for fourth place with Little Big Man close behind. Connecticut Yankee is in sixth. The outrider have straightened out Baked Alaskan and he is now rounding the clubhouse turn--don't worry, folks, he's alright, just a little confused.

As they round the turn and head for home...

CHICAGO KID MAKES A SPECTACULAR MOVE ON THE FAR OUTSIDE, ROARING PAST FIRST LADY AND SOUTHERN MAN!

BUT FIRST LADY IS NOT GIVING UP!

AND HERE COMES SOUTHERN MAN RUNNING BETWEEN HORSES!

IT'S HEAD TO HEAD, NOSE TO NOSE! DOWN TO THE WIRE! ANYONE COULD WIN IT!

Now isn't this exciting!

[babylonsister]

1. Very clever!

:D

[Colobo]

2. As a horse racing fan, I gotta say this is beautiful! Go Chicago Kid!

[bklyncowgirl]

5. Now if we could only get them to wear their owners (contributers) silks

You know, something to let us know who bought and paid for them our decision of who to root for would be a great deal easier.

[Mira]

3. This woke me up and now there's coffee on the keyboard. NICE !

[a kennedy]

4. I always loved that "and down the stretch they come"

during any of the major horse races. :bounce: and it sure is a horse race. :patriot:

[denem]

6. Love it

[Gman]

7. This is what makes us political junkies

[zalinda]

8. I've already told my son not to bother me

on the 3rd, because I won't be good to anyone on that day.

zalinda

[monmouth]

9. Excellent...Question: On the night of the caucus, does DU have a

thread going or do we watch C-SPAN? This is my first and want to be in on the great verbage that comes from the threads.

[PDittie]

21. Last year C-SPAN

went inside some of the libraries and halls where Iowa voters caucused and eavesdropped, documentary-style, on Iowans' conversations and negotiations throughout the caucus process.

I was fascinated. Hope they do that again.

[alteredstate]

10. I love it!

Great job!

[seasat]

11. Excellent should be top honor of the Duzy's this week. n/t

[Joanne98]

12. It's Southern Man wins by a head!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lucinda]

13. Brava!

Nicely done. :D

[Yuugal]

14. Are you taking action on this?

I'd like 50 on Talk Show Joe to show and 100 on Southern Man to win. :)

[badgerpup]

15. And the winner IS....

FEETLEBAUM!



:spank: Sorry. Couldn't resist.
Loves me some Spike Jones, I do...:loveya:

[The River]

16. You Really Ran With

With what I was thinking just yesterday

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3906907&mesg_id=3906976

[bklyncowgirl]

19. Great minds think alike

This tight three way race reminds me of a real horse race I saw many years ago.

Jockey Club Gold Cup. It was Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew vs Triple Crown winner Affirmed and the seasoned router Exceller ridden by the master, Bill Shoemaker.

They burst out of the gate. Slew went to the front with Affirmed right on him. Steve Cauthen on Affirmed tried to slow down but his horse would have none of it. The two charged head to head down the backstretch at breakneck speed with the rest of the pack straggling far behind. About halfway down the backstretch, way at the rear of the pack, I saw something moving faster than anything on the track. At first I thought it was a bird but it was a horse. Exceller was making his move and he was something to see. From dead last he roared through the turn and ran down the two Triple Crown winners. Affirmed by this time was done for but Seattle Slew managed to come back. Exhausted from his suicidal run with Affirmed, Slew inched up on Exceller through the stretch. Bill Shoemaker on Exceller kept his cool and hand rode the last few yards, holding off Seattle Slew to win by a head.

Right now in the Democratic primaries, we have three tough contenders who seem to be giving as well as they get and don't have any quit in them--and there's still a chance that someone might come out of the pack and run down the winners.

That's what makes horse racing--and politics so interesting.

(Historical note: Exceller came to a bad end. He was retired to stud, never distinguished himself and was eventually sold to a guy in Europe who was so disappointed with the horse's performance in the breeding shed that he ordered him sent to the slaughterhouse--despite the fact that several people offered to take the old champion and let him live out his life in dignity. Naturally people in the horse world were outraged and today there's an equine rescue agency named the Exceller Fund in his honor.)

[BringBigDogBack]

17. It's awesome

and I'm lovin it.

[tekisui]

18. Run Southern Man. RUN!!!

well done.

[itsrobert]

20. The question is; which horse enjoys getting whipped

down the stretch?