Here's the story:
Guinness for strength
By Hal Habib, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 30, 2004
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Want the lowdown on Saturday's Kentucky Derby, straight from the horse's mouth? You'll have to yank that pint of Guinness out of it first.
Turns out Tapit is not only the name of one of the favorites in the 130th Kentucky Derby, it's also a hot tip on his favorite pastime.
Every night, Tapit chugs a pint of Guinness.
"He is a happy horse," says his trainer, Michael Dickinson.
With a remarkably straight face, Dickinson, known as "The Mad Genius," goes on to explain why you can't lead a horse to only water: "It's an appetizer. The main part of his diet is oats. That's like Corn Flakes, and we all like milk on our Corn Flakes. Well, he likes Guinness on his Corn Flakes."
So get off your high horse, mint juleps. Outta the way, Gatorade. If Tapit hits the winner's circle Saturday, nobody will have to ask "Is it in him?" Especially the ad execs.
Cartoonish-looking Irishman No. 1: What are you holdin'?
Cartoonish-looking Irishman No. 2: A bottle of Guinness.
Man No. 1: What fer?
Man No. 2: Tapit. So he'll win the Triple Crown.
Man No. 1: Give Guinness to horse and win the Triple Crown?! BRILLIANT!
Tapit's followers think so. When word leaked out about his diet, one fan from Baltimore posted a message on the Internet. "If he runs in the Preakness," the fan wrote, "he could hang out in the Pimlico infield before the race and guzzle down a few with his fans!"
Whoa. That's putting the Budweiser cart before the horse. Tapit drinks responsibly. Before you plop your $2 on him, rest assured that Dickinson won't be giving him a cold one before the call to the toast.
"We don't want him to fail the Breathalyzer in the paddock," says Dickinson, a 54-year-old native of Yorkshire, England.
Afterward, wild horses couldn't drag him away.
"Actually, I do like Guinness," says Ron Winchell, Tapit's co-owner. "I drink a black and tan. I'm going to call them for an endorsement. I might have to bring one to the winner's circle if that happens."
Terrific, but somebody better take care of this gift horse's mouth.
"He's pretty spoiled now, so not much is going to change," says Dickinson, who also gives Tapit three raw eggs nightly, Rocky Balboa-side-up. "He'll still get the one Guinness. We love him dearly."
Surprised by this link between beer and horses? Don't be. Take 1759. Arthur Guinness mixes barley, water, hops and yeast to invent Guinness Extra Stout. He then goes on to father 21 children. Today, this is known as "retiring to stud."
Want a more recent example? How about in the pop group America, which in the 1970s had a huge hit with the song A Horse With No Name, which reveals, "In the desert you can remember your name, 'cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain, la, la, la, la... " lyrics best understood after several Guinnesses.
Out of the desert, back to the track. In the '90s, Chuck Turco trained a horse named I Drink Alone, who, while eschewing one bourbon, one Scotch and one beer, nevertheless did imbibe regularly.
"He enjoys his beer," Turco once said. "He's partial to Budweiser. Only after races can he have a beer or two. I don't think he's ever missed his beer after a race, and he drinks it out of the can."
Pebbles won the Breeders' Cup Turf in 1985. A Rolling Rock fan? Nah. A pint of Guinness a day.
If other Derby horses were drinkers, they really did drink alone, in secret.
"Never have," three-time Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert says, when asked if he ever gave a horse a beer. "We've given them wine to make them eat."
There are hints there were others in this mix. The Derby roster includes Bourbon (third in 1903), Go For Gin (winner, 1994), Jamaican Rum (sixth, 2001) and Trouble Brewing (seventh, 1968). Last year's champion, Funny Cide, even inspired Funny Cide Lite.
Does it do any good? Science hasn't gotten around to examining the correlation between downing a pint of Guinness and running 1 1/4 miles, so we gave it a hand. Thursday afternoon, after spending $2.49 on a pint (Note to boss: About that strange charge on my expense account... ), I took off running through a residential area near Churchill Downs.
The impact was unmistakable. After a half mile, I felt a sudden urge to find a men's room (sources say there are none on the back stretch). Believing I had picked up the pace near the end, I glanced across the street to see a woman, in heels roughly the height of Jerry Bailey, running for her mailbox faster than me.
Having run a handful of marathons, I might normally expect to finish in 10 minutes, no problem. My Guinness-aided time: 14:17. My Beyer Speed Figure: minus-62.
But that's just me. Gary Galanis, a Guinness spokesman, is so hopeful Tapit, his new favorite colt, will come through that he's making an offer: "If he wins, and he enjoys Guinness, I'll enjoy some of his oats. It's a nice trade-off."
It would be for Dickinson, who might finally hear a nickname other than The Mad Genius.
"Brilliant," Galanis says. "He would be absolutely brilliant."
|
/
Anybody here follow the sport of kings?
