SONG CHALLENGE WINNER!

The Song Challenge:  Shoot For The Moon - If You Miss, You'll Still Land Among The Stars -- A horse who has lost 89 consecutive races has finally won one, against a human.  Zippy Chippy holds the North American record for the number of races lost by a thoroughbred.  But he finally ended his losing streak by taking on a two-legged challenger.  The 10-year-old gelding beat a minor league baseball player in a handicap match race billed as Man versus Beast II. It was held before the International League game between the Rochester Red Wings and Ottawa Lynx in Rochester, New York state.  He saw off Red Wings outfielder Darnell McDonald by a length in a 50-yard race.  "I might have got him at 40 yards, but that extra 10 yards put him over the hump," said McDonald, who added he had never lost a race to a human.  Last year Rochester outfielder Jose Herrera outran Zippy Chippy in a 40-yard race.  "Zippy was ready today," jockey Jorge Hiraldo said. "Last year he was a little scared."


Come All You Gambling Lads by derrymacash
(Tune:  The Curragh of Kildare)

derrymacash's Comments:  Since the Curragh is famous in Ireland for horse-racing, training, etc., I've set the following to the tune of "The Curragh Of Kildare."


Come all you gambling lads
Who've ever lost your wad
On nags like me that never should have run
Come listen to my song
I shan't detain you long
It's the only race thus far I've ever won

I'm longish in the tooth
And I've lost the bloom of youth
I'm skinny and I'm gammy and I'm lame
I've never led the pack
I've been always at the back
Hardened gamblers flinch to hear my name

All you who've bet your rent
And never won a cent
I pity all the grief that you endure
For every race I start
Leaves me with a broken heart
The shame and guilt I don't know how to cure

The trainer said one day
Since you cannot pay your way
I'm gonna have to boil you down for glue
If you'd only win one race
Then I'd give a little grace
And I put you out to grass for a year or two

Oh, now master dear I cried
I would like my final ride
To be a race where I might taste success
So please, I beg of you
Pit my four legs against two
It's the only chance I have of being best

We started on the chase
He set a tidy pace
He tested all my stamina and strength
When we were halfway round
I started losing ground
And soon he was leading by a length

But then the jockey cracked
The whip across my back
A stroke that put some vim into my stride
And at the winning line
The victory was mine
I nearly fainted with the rush of pride

Come all you gambling lads
Who've ever lost your wad
On nags like me that never should have run
Come listen to my song
I shan't detain you long
It's the only race thus far I've ever won

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