Triple Crown bouquet:
roses, Susans, carnations
draped on Pharoah’s neck.

On Saturday, June 6, American Pharoah became the 12th Triple Crown winner in history and the first since 1978. His bouquet consists of roses representing the Kentucky Derby, black-eyed Susans for the Preakness, and carnations for the Belmont.

Since I have been aware of the Triple Crown, I have been waiting for a winner. Several horses have come close: War Emblem, Funny Cide, Smarty Jones, Big Brown, and California Chrome to name the ones I recall watching. Seeing American Pharoah win was honestly a dream come true.

This is a three haiku post – so keep reading!

Run for the Roses
Mint juleps and madcap caps
Pharoah for the win!

Way back in early May, the Redding, California crowd had a Kentucky Derby party complete with a Derby hat competition and mint juleps. It was a charming affair, particularly because my hat and my horse won – drinks on everyone else!

Finally, in honor of the Triple Crown victory and in a nod to the haiku format of my blog, I am pleased to present my award-winning eighth grade poem. I incorrectly remembered that it was about Pegasus, though it references winged-hoofs, so I think that’s fair. I also incorrectly remembered which place it won, it was second, not third like I had thought – whoo! This is also a shout out to Laura B. who asked me if I remembered the poem, the answer was ‘no,’ but I did know where to find it!