Montana-Trained Horse in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby

A Montana-trained horse named after the Jamaican Olympic athlete who stopped a live TV interview so he could honor the American national anthem. That's two reasons I will be rooting for Bolt d'Oro at Saturday's Kentucky Derby.

Here's an excerpt from a great story posted at TheRinger.com headlined: "The Millionaire, The Cowboy, and the Horse That Won't Scare"

The last and only horse from Montana to win the Kentucky Derby was a horse named Spokane in 1889. They called Spokane the “Spirit Horse of the Rockies,” and said that the big, muscled-up colt that was born in the wild and rugged territory (Montana would not become a state until six months after Spokane’s win in Louisville) had “desperately outran the raking claws” of a mountain lion that had left scars on the horse’s body. Others claimed that the horse was fed a steady diet of a mysterious tea made from wildflowers picked by medicine men near the Flathead River, a concoction that helped the valley produce the strongest and healthiest men and the fastest and stoutest horses. It stood to reason that the tea also now gave Spokane his powers.

Alex Hartman says he expects the horse will be ready for the Kentucky Derby. Already Bolt d’Oro has bounced back from difficult races and injuries that would have sidelined other horses, and Montana likely has something to do with it. “I think it gets them fit naturally. Bolt’s a little stronger because he’s been out there training on dirt paths and hills and stuff. Bolt is tough, he’s solid. You gotta say that Montana has done some good.”

Click here to read the full piece.

The article also notes that Bolt d'Oro was named in honor of Jamaican Olympic athlete Usain Bolt, who famously stopped a live TV interview mid-stride in order to honor the American national anthem being sung in the background.