The rain pelted the headstone, leaving streaks on the black marble and mirroring the misty eyes of the 100 or so admirers who had come to say goodbye. None of them knew the deceased well. Many had seen him only on television.
They lifted plastic shot glasses filled with Kentucky bourbon to the gloomy heavens and murmured melancholy toasts to the departed, Medina Spirit.
I attended a memorial service for the racehorse who finished first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, only to have his victory erased after a failed drug test. A thoroughbred typically lives 25 years.