Barbaro
A Nation's Love Story
Chapter One
Quest for a Champion
In 1941, there existed a crazy thoroughbred horse named "Whirlaway," a small chestnut colt who stood fifteen "hands" high (each hand is 4" wide). His trainer, the great Ben A. Jones, characterized him as being as nervous as "a cat in a room full of rocking chairs" and not too bright. "You could teach him," Jones said, "but you couldn't teach him much."
In fact, one might say, just looking at his tail made him seem crazy. Instead of being like most horses', which were trimmed at the hocks, he had a tail that went almost all the way to the ground. Indeed, his nickname was "Mr. Longtail." But it was kept long for a reason. When he was running, the tail would stretch out and flail at other horses, who would automatically keep their distance from this nervous horse.
Jones tolerated Whirlaway for one simple reason: As someone once said, "He could outrun the wind."
Indeed, he could. In the Kentucky Derby, he ran the fastest time ever, 2:01 and 2⁄5, a time that would stand until 1962, and ... read full excerpt from: Barbaro ebook
