First Openly Gay Horse

ONN ONION NEWS NETWORK. And spectators at the Breeders Cup World Championships this weekend will see the first ever openly gay horse to run in a major stakes race. Jean Ann Wharton takes us beyond the facts. BEYOND THE FACTS. Here at Santa Anita Park, many bettors are counting on two time Belmont winner Fantastic Feet to take the Breeders Cup, but it is newcomer Ship's Captain that has everyone talking. Gene Harris, Ship's Captain's trainer. I see him at the head of the field and I think there's no way that horse is gay, but he is. Trainer Gene Harris acknowledged the horse's sexual orientation in last week's Time Magazine. Ship's Captain has no desire to hide who he is. Yes, he's gay. He can no more change the fact that he's gay than he can that he has four hooves. There have been rumors of gay horses competing since the early days of thoroughbred racing. Flat Tire, Whirly Bird, Nor'easter were widely suspected to be homosexual. While the book Out in the Pasture revealed former Preakness champ Silver Dollar struggled to remain in the closet, going so far as breeding with mares to protect his secret. What were your biggest concerns about Ship's Captain coming out? You know the horses. I was worried how they'd react. Would they refuse to ride in the same trailer as him? Would they buck and snort when we walked in the stable? Gaining the acceptance of other trainers and horses is only part of the battle. While many racing fans are commending Ship's Captain for his bravery, others aren't ready to accept the idea of a gay racehorse. It's getting a bad name on racing. No, I don't think there should be anything like that. I think everything should be natural. It ain't right. I'm worried about all the other horses that are with him that they, you know, they have to eat together and they might get horse AIDS or something like that. This is an astonishing amount of ignorance out there. I've been in a stable with Ship's Captain and I'll hear a jockey say, that's so gay and I think I hope he can't understand human language. Despite the horse's high profile, Harris says Ship's Captain's priority is to race, not make a political statement. Ship's Captain is here because he's fast, not because he's gay. There are other gay horses. You know, people go out to a petting farm, there's gay ponies out there that they're petting, there's gay plow horses. This is a part of the world. The latest odds on Ship's Captain winning the Breeders Cup are 16 to 1, but don't count him out just yet. He's already overcome much greater odds just by being himself. From Beyond the Facts, I'm Jean Ann Wharton. Thanks Jean Ann. We'll all be watching to see how that gay horse fares.