The Winner Is...

As American Pharoah raced over the finish line I swear I could hear my sister, Patty cheering six towns away. I looked over at my husband, Steven, “I'm going to wait until she stops crying before I call her.” I said.

“Is she really going to be that excited?” he asked.

Oh, if he only knew.

When we were little my two other sisters and I would have to spend summers sitting in our older sister Patty's bedroom taking tests on Thoroughbred racing trivia. Patty always called it playing school but I considered it torture. I never had any idea what she was talking about. She'd give us paper after paper of information on the lineage not only of the horses but who the jockeys and trainers were.

I can still see my other sisters lying on the floor, sweating from the summer's heat, waiting for a breeze to blow through the window as they studied for the next test. I, on the other hand, would be staring out the window wondering when we'd be allowed out to play.

The next day I called my sister Patty, she still sounded excited as she picked up the phone. “Did you watch the race?” she asked before even saying hello.

“I did!” I laughed knowing she would still be walking on cloud nine, acting as if she owned American Pharoah herself.

“I was screaming so loud when he crossed the finish line my throat is still sore!” she said.

I had to laugh, because that's exactly how I pictured it at her house on race day. “When I was watching the race yesterday I was thinking about when we were little and you'd make us play horse racing school every summer.” I laughed.

“Made you?” she didn't sound as excited anymore. “I thought you loved that game?”

Now it was time for me to back-peddle. “Oh, well maybe the other girls loved it.” I explained. “I just wasn't into horse racing as much as the rest of you.”

“Oh.” she sounded a bit hurt.

I tried to change back into happier news, “But when American Pharoah crossed the finish line yesterday my first thought was, “Hey, at least if Patty were playing horse racing school now and asked who the latest triple crown winner was I'd finally get an answer right!”

“I used to love teaching you three.” she said sounding a bit happier again. “I have great memories of those summers.”

“I know, I guess I just wasn't a very good student.” I reasoned. “But now at least I know two triple crown winners, American Pharoah and Seabiscuit!”

There was a brief pause. “Seabiscuit was never a triple crown winner.” she said.

“Oh, I guess I'm getting that one confused with another horse.” I said.

“But Seabiscut had a really great story...”

“Oh, That's right. Maybe I'm thinking of another horse that begins with S.” I cut her off before

she went into the Seabiscuit's history.

I felt a bit bad cutting her off but, I was having a flashback to her hot and stuffy bedroom where I was sure to fail the test