by Ruth S. Baker

“Country House wins Kentucky Derby after Maximum Security disqualified in stunner”
—The Guardian

The horse that lost the Derby
This year at Churchill Downs
Made prematurely blurby
Announcers look like clowns.

He put his best foot forward,
That horse (let’s call him Max),
But also sideways—nor would
He keep within his tracks.

O many was the dollar
Involved in his defeat!
The President, in choler,
Deplored it with a tweet;

All cyberspace is booing:
The case looks set for years
With suing, counter-suing,
And millionaires in tears.

Max keeps his feelings hidden,
But, at a guess, he’d say:
I crossed a line, as bidden.
Barn! Sunlight! Gallop! Hay!

Let’s hope he’s somewhere herby—
No crowds nor Triple Crowns—
The Horse that Lost the Derby
This year at Churchill Downs.