racingmeridian.com

So I get a 5am call from the Po - lice last Saturday asking to see me. Yep, nothing is quite as gut wrenching as an early morning call from Po-Po asking for the pleasure of your company.

Here’s the skinny; a dude had been arrested in my neighbourhood in possession of resident’s mail. Included were items like cheques, driver’s licenses, banking info, credit card statements and the like. I was quickly familiarized with the portentous phrase “identity theft”. I have been an unhappy and concerned camper the last few days.

I finally met up with the police today and, after answering a series of questions (have I ever authorized a third party to pick up my mail, did I know the person arrested etc.) I was given my mail back.

I was sweating as I took hold of the serious looking letter, sliced open at the top. What did it reveal about me? How had I been compromised? Trembling, I took the mail and yanked out the contents. There, before my naked, steaming eyes, I was finally able to discover what the miscreants of this city had uncovered about the beleaguered Meridian.

They know I have five overdue books from the Toronto Public library.

Damn! The librarians in this city are crazy; the letter was official looking enough that criminals, selectively removing mail, had hungrily snatched the info that I owe $5.10 for not returning The Light In August in a timely fashion.

What a relief. And fantastic police work by P C Goodwin in arresting the slimy bastards perpetrating these crimes.

SEA THE STARS..the imperious son of Cape Cross concluded one of the greatest three year old campaigns in thoroughbred history with his dazzling win in the Arc at Longchamp Sunday. The colt was brusque at the beginning, demanding of jockey Mick Kinane that he occupy the first tier. As Kinane argued forcefully with this approach, Sea The Stars began tossing his head about and descending backwards into the tumult of the 18 horse field. By the halfway point he seemed frustrated and disinterested, 20 lengths behind the pacesetters and impeded by a wall of horseflesh. But…hold on. As the pack rocketed into the straight a bit of daylight opened and Kinane forcefully gave Sea The Stars his head. I’ll never forget the sight of the colt picking it up and, as is his way, within twenty strides inhaling the animals in front of him. The tremendous personality of the horse was apparent, again, as he began to gawk and wander after opening up a lead.

During the course of his wins he has never truly been engaged for more than a furlong (by Rip Van Winkle, currently the second ranked horse in the world, in the Eclipse). Thanks to the marvellous You Tube site one can, as I did last night, watch all six of his 2009 starts in succession. The greatest European runner of my lifetime, maybe of anyone’s lifetime, it becomes apparent that the bottom of his talent was never reached. A lovely, extroverted type, the animal seemed as bent on enjoying himself as he did on squashing his foes. When Mick Kinane reminded him of the seriousness of the business at hand, the colt would respond with explosive acceleration and profuse commitment…for a while. A furlong was about all he needed to slay and demoralize the best of Ballydoyle.

We choose to celebrate his legacy rather than bemoan his absence from America or the decision to retire at three. Such are the vagaries of an industry in remorseless decline. But for one shiny moment, in the year 2009, punters were shown the poignancy of elite performance and the wonder of a thundering marvel collapsing the impossible into the crystal shards of the probable. A stark, elegant reminder of the glory of sport and the endless human capacity to rejoice when a legend dances in our midst…