Welcome to the ‘greatest two minutes in sports’

Every sport has some amount of exhilaration, moments that go down to the wire. But there is only one ‘greatest two minutes in sports.’

For years, the Kentucky Derby has been known as the greatest two minutes in sports. While the race isn’t run in exactly 2 minutes, it’s close enough. And because it is run so quickly the excitement is packed into a very small amount of time.

There are a few other things that go into it though. Horse racing is, just by its nature, a sport of the elite — “The Sport of Kings.” Yes, there is the occasional diamond in the rough, that comes out of nowhere to surprise the world. However, most of the horses in the Derby have been more of less on this path for years. Some changed hands along the way, and the prices for racehorses, especially ones thought fast enough to run in/win the Derby can be astronomical.

The two sides of the spectrum can be seen in two (relatively) recent Derby winners. I’ll Have Another, the 2012 winner, was purchased in 2011 for $35,000. That may seem like a fair amount of money, but for a racehorse, especially one of Derby caliber, it was nothing short of a bargain. I’ll Have Another was sold following the Triple Crown to a Japanese breeder for 10 million. He was three years old. The Derby winner in 2000, Fusaichi Pegasus, on the other hand, was purchased for 4 million, before he had ever seen a racetrack. He was just a year old when someone decided to (essentially) gamble 4 million on him becoming a star.

The other great thing about the Derby is unpredictability. Horses, like the people who ride and train them, have good and bad days. The most talented horse won’t always win.

Each second in the race carries the possibility for disaster and the possibility for glory. When the horses are moving at that speed (nearly 40 miles and hour!) one wrong step. could prove disastrous, and each decision the Jockey makes is so vital to the outcome.

There’s a lot on the line in the Derby, for the horses, the trainers, the jockeys and the owners. It only happens once a year — and for some of the participants only once in a lifetime. It truly is the greatest two minutes in sports.

Next: 20 short stories about the 2018 Kentucky Derby horses

For more from the Triple Crown, starting with the Kentucky Derby, make sure to follow FanSided and stay tuned to our horse racing hub for all the latest news and results.