u/Full_Willingness_450

Derby Day.

I was at the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday of May, 1986.

Put $20 on Ferdinand—50 to 1.

Truth is, I was betting on Bill Shoemaker as much as the horse.

They pulled it off.

He came back and was Horse of the Year in 1987.

And now every Derby Day, I think about him.

Because in 2002, he was sold, shipped to Japan, and disappeared—most likely slaughtered.

That part never sat right with me.

Hard to reconcile those two moments:

the roar of Churchill Downs… and how it ended.

Champion on the track.

Deserved better after it.

Derby Day.

I was at the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday of Ma,y, 1986.

Put $20 on Ferdinand—50 to 1.

Truth is, I was betting on Bill Shoemaker as much as the horse.

They pulled it off.

He came back and was Horse of the Year in 1987.

And now every Derby Day, I think about him.

Because in 2002, he was sold, shipped to Japan, and disappeared—most likely slaughtered.

That part never sat right with me.

Hard to reconcile those two moments:

the roar of Churchill Downs… and how it ended.

Champion on the track.

Deserved better after it.