A (great) day at the races

(First of two parts)

What’s in a name?

Sometimes that’s all it takes to catch someone’s attention.

The name, “Cover Song,” proved attractive enough and drew plenty of cheers for the 3-year-old filly during an exciting race in the Autumn Miss Stakes at Santa Anita Park on Saturday.

As she increased her speed during the final stretch of the one-mile race on turf, everyone could see that there was more to her than her name. She kept on running despite a bump from another horse, Danilovna. Cover Song would not be denied. She won by a nose.

The money from a 30-1 shot was welcoming for someone who wears many hats in a sports job at a community newspaper. But the thrill of victory was just as great.

Cover Song will always provide a great memory, as will the reason why so many were at the track on Saturday.

A large group showed up for the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation Day at the Races. Jim Murray, what a famous name. And, there is more to that name, too.

Jim is known as the Pulitzer Prize-winning sports writer of the Los Angeles Times, and regarded by many as the greatest. For this writer, he’s the reason I even wanted in the business.

Saturday produced more reminders for why Jim was so great. His legacy carries on through this foundation that provides scholarships for aspiring writers and journalists.

Jim died in 1998, while I was in school at Fresno State. I never had the chance to meet him. But his fondness for horse racing was no secret. Most knew about that. His wife, Linda McCoy-Murray, who remarried to horse trainer David Hofmans in 2012, picked the perfect spot to celebrate Jim and inspire young writers. She is the foundation’s founder.

Shelley Smith of ESPN was honored as Sports Journalist of the Year and special guest Rosey Grier received the Great Ones award as part of the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation program.

The honorees this year were: Scott Chasen (University of Kansas), Amelia Kibbe (St. Bonaventure), Erin McCarthy (Penn State), Austin Siegel (Northwestern) and Logan Ulrich (North Carolina). They could very well go on to greatness with help from a meaningful name.

Jim always loved a good story and he told great stories that we all loved.

At the race track there are so many great stories, of triumph and loss, of love and gain, drama and persistence. Saturday opened my eyes. I wanted to go back, not just because of Cover Song, but because of the purity and beauty of such a magnificent sport.

Something tells me Jim would have loved Cover Song, too.

“We came very close to scratching her,” trainer Carla Gaines told a reporter after the race. That explained why the win was such an upset.

The finish needed to be reviewed. Danilovna drew contact just as Cover Song made her final move. Cover Song and Danilovna were stride for stride just before the wire, where Cover Song dropped her nose across first.

Kent Desormeaux, the jockey, captured his third win of the day.

“Turning for home, I was trying to pick a spot,” Desormeaux told the Associated Press. “I thought I had a line chosen and the horse on the outside [Danilovna] started pushing on us, so I thought ‘Ok, if you’re going to initiate contact, I’m going to hold my ground.’”

Exciting race. I must go back, especially with the Breeders Cup this weekend. More stories to be heard. More stories to be told.