COLUMN: Charismatic was very … well, charismatic

Opinion by WILLIAM WILCZEWSKI

 

To some, Charismatic was just a horse.

To others, he was a lot more.

I’m in the second category.

More specifically, he was a great memory—and one that I talk about often when I look back on my career as a sports journalist.

In this case, though, in 1999, I had a camera in my hand instead of a notepad.

On the track.

At the Kentucky Derby in Louisville.

Blood-Horse Magazine on my left.

Sports Illustrated on my right.

I was in a class well-above my head.

Little did I know, though, that all this fascination would vanish when the starting gate opened and Charismatic—who passed away at age 21 on Sunday—broke from his standstill and finished with jockey Chris Antley waving his No. 1-finger enthusiastically to the hooting and hollering crowd.

I literally felt the ground shake that day.

I also saw a beautiful, sinewy animal do what he did best in his prime.

Run.

And run fast.

It was one of a few Derby’s I’d shot in the late 1990s, and is still one of the best memories of not only my career but of my life.

Granted, I’ve been told by more than one person that I really don’t have much of a life, but because of this experience, I must beg to differ.

Now, Charismatic is no longer with us.

His memory, though, will continue to live on forever—at least in my eyes.

My proof is an 8x10 of the shot I took at the finish line that magnificent sunny day in May, Antley proudly waving that finger onboard The Chestnut Wonder.

I gave that 8x10 to my Uncle Al. After his passing, it was safeguarded into the hands of my cousin Mark, who now has it proudly displayed in his office.

It just doesn’t get much better than that.

Thanks, Charismatic. R.I.P.