The Dark Horse

Tweet My partner mentioned to me today the myth of the Dark Horse and how the term came to be. His second (or third) hand story has it that an owner painted his horse black (thus the dark horse) to disguise it from the masses in the early days of horse racing before they performed pre-raced verifications. The story goes on that the horse wins easily paying big dollars and the owner subsequently gets caught.

The dictionary lists dark horse as "a little-known, unexpectedly successful entrant, as in a horserace." Another source lists it's meaning as "Someone who emerges to prominence; being previously little known." According to most sources, the term supposedly originated in Benjamin Disraeli's novel The Young Duke, 1831, where it metaphorically alluded to an unknown horse winning a race. I also uncovered three movies (circa '32, '92 and '05), two novels, one recording company owned by George Harrison (see inset), one album, one song, one brewpub in Marshall, Michigan, one comic book publisher, one Argentinian rock band (holla), a Marine battalion and one dark nebula (an interstellar cloud) all with the name Dark Horse!

So who is the dark horse in this year's Belmont? Is it Tomcito (who I've written several times that this is the race he should have been pointed to all along based on his running style)? Is it Ready's Echo (a Toddster repeat) who waited too long to come off the pace in the Peter Pan, but was rallying late? It's definitely not Casino Drive, with the press he has been receiving, especially after Edgar Prado was named as the mount yesterday. Will a dark horse even emerge like previous Belmonts with the TC at stake (see Sarava, Birdstone)?

Top Chef Handicapping Update

Well my Top Chef handicapping is about as good as my equine abilities. If only Spike (Toga Rez morning line elimination odds of 3-1) would have kept his trap shut and not punked judge Rick Tramato at the Judges' Table about having frozen scallops in his walk-in, I think he would have outlasted my elimination choice, Lisa (Toga Rez ML 1-1). Memo to Spike: punking the judges isn't a good idea. So down to the final four. I'm pulling for Stephanie over Richard in the finale, the Toga Rez (the artist formerly known as the Saratoga Resident who went hip hop on me) will set his odds next Tuesday.