The first race that comes to mind was Zenyatta's win in the Lady's Secret. I was back in Kentucky to visit my Dad for his birthday. He was in hospice. A group of us watched together, family and friends. My family had already been exposed to Zenyatta due to my persistent emails with links to stories, but several of the friends had not. Most of them doubted she was going to get up in time (I admit I wasn't certain), but when she did we all cheered. It was the last race Dad and I we would watch together, and the next day we said so long. He passed away 13 days later.
Back home after the funeral, I received a large envelope in the mail from a good friend who knew how much I wanted to attend the BC, and see Zenyatta in person. She sent a pair of tickets, saying that she knew how tough times had been, and that I had taken quite a lot of time off work to visit my Dad and go back for his funeral. She said, "You've got to come back to Kentucky one more time," because life is short and when those once in a lifetime chances occur you can't let them pass you by. So we did! And that entire DAY was special. From my first bet, a ticket to win on Pluck (who I'd heard about on ATR), to my Classic trifecta, and all the winning and losing tickets in between.
I'll never forget either of those days.
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