Generally Speaking, He's My Feel-Good Pick

If writers wrote the script for the 2009 Kentucky Derby, you can be sure that General Quarters would win. His back story, as many have already pointed out, is exactly what the sport needs, especially on the heels of the Paragallo fiasco.

General Quarters, for those who don't know, is trained by Tom McCarthy, a retired 75 year old high school principal from Kentucky. He has been in the horse business for almost fifty years and has been a full time trainer since retiring in 1990. He has never had anything close to a "big horse." In fact, General Quarters, who is the only horse in his stable right now, won about half of what McCarthy earned in all those years, when he won the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland last Saturday and earned eligibility for the Kentucky Derby.

But here's the clincher: McCarthy claimed General Quarters for $20,000 last year. Not $2 million or even $200,000. $20,000--not small change but less than a year at an Ivy league college.

All of a sudden, McCarthy is in the big time, rubbing elbows with the elite of the sport and enjoying every minute of the accolades that are coming his way. "I hope that the clock doesn't strike 12 right away," he told the Louisville Courier-Journal. "I've always been on the outside looking in, not quite good enough to go on to different stages. Before this, the most I've ever won were allowance races."

Savvy readers might remember that Barbaro was the first Grade I stakes winner for the Jacksons. Racing is one of those sports where success can literally happen overnight, which is one of the reasons it is so seductive.

We all know how much Americans love the underdog--look no farther than Seabiscuit. I can think of no better outcome for the Derby than a feel-good story about a 75 year old prostate cancer survivor getting his just rewards.

With my earlier pick Old Fashioned retired due to injury, you can bet I'm hopping on the General's bandwagon and will be cheering him home. How about you?