Kent Desormeaux really wanted his son Jacob, 9, to see him ride across the finish line to a Triple Crown victory. Besides needing cochlear implants to hear, there’s a good chance Jacob is headed for blindness by the time he’s 21. “He’s lost his hearing, but his memory is profound,” Kent Desormeaux said. “I’m hopeful that if he’s having a bad day, he’ll just think about that day that Dad won the Triple Crown, and hopefully, that will make him smile.”

Instead, Jacob saw his father meet adversity with grace and maturity. Perhaps that’s a better sight for this child to hold forever in memory — even better than a victory lap.