Prince of Praise (Stallion) 赞美王子（种马）

赞美王子（种马）Zànměi wángzǐ (zhǒng mǎ)

The year was 1994. The date: Monday 4th April. The time: 4:00 pm The venue: Royal Ranwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia. The crowd: easily over 400,000. The distance: 1,600 meters.

那一年是 1994 年。日期：4 月 4 日星期一。时间：下午 4:00 地点：澳大利亚悉尼皇家兰维克赛马场。人群：轻松超过 400,000。这场比赛的跑数是: 1600米。

I was six years old at the time. I was as nervous as ever at the start of that All-Ages race. There were a total of thirteen of us qualified for this final showdown for that year. Of the thirteen there were five from New Zealand and I was one of these five.

那时我六岁。在全年龄段比赛开始时，我和以往一样紧张。当年共有 13 匹赛马有资格参加这场最后的对决。十三匹马中有五匹来自新西兰，我是这五匹马中的一匹。

The commentator’s voice over the public broadcast went something like this:

“The thirteen runners over the 1600 metres race are just beginning to load up.

“That’s Soho Square, the favourite, very much on his toes and beautifully turned out and looked a picture in the paddock.

“And just coming into our picture is Telesto, one of two fillies in the race. She’s known to be very good at opening speed and the overnight rain will help her as she likes a bit of a soft underfoot.

公共广播是这样播出的：
“1600 米赛跑的 13 名跑马者刚刚开始蓄势待发。 “那是最受欢迎的 Soho Square，他非常兴奋，结果很漂亮，在围场里看着一张照片。 
“刚刚进入我们照片​​的是 Telesto，它是比赛中的两只小马之一。 众所周知，她的开门速度非常好，隔夜的雨水会帮助她，因为她喜欢脚下有点柔软。

“Now, that’s Surfers Paradise, a known champion, going to the stalls.
“Just going in is Prince of Praise, a steady performer from New Zealand and the Champion 2-year-old in 1991, with blinkers on for the first time.

“Then comes Zinder, an Australian beauty. She’s been tailed off on his last three outings, rather disappointing races, these.

“All the runners are filed in now and one of the last to be reluctantly but safely pushed-in is Javelin, by Famous Star (GB -Great Britain) out of Kay Ward (NZ -New Zealand). Although he is a steady performer, I think the heavy penalty this time will be a little too much for him.

“现在，那是冲浪者天堂 (Surfers Paradise)，一个众所周知的冠军，去摊位。
“刚刚进去的是赞美王子 (Prince of Praise)，来自新西兰的稳定表演者和 1991 年 2 岁的冠军，第一次戴上眼罩。 
“然后是澳大利亚美女津德尔 (Zinder)。她在过去的三场比赛中被淘汰出局，这些比赛相当令人失望。 
“所有参赛者现在都已报名，最后一个不情愿但安全地被推入的选手之一是 Javelin，由来自 Kay Ward（新西兰）的 Famous Star（英国）。虽然他是一个稳定的马，但我认为这次的重罚对他来说有点过分了。

“And they’re, they’re all in. They’re under starter’s orders, and they’re off! “As expected, Prince of Praise raced to the front. He is a complete outside at 51/1. He likes to be in front but at this distance, can he sustain the lead? “Deposition is off to a flying start, just a nose behind the leader. “Following really close behind are Excited Angel, All in Fun, March Hare, Soho Square, Skating and Javelin, in that order. “Now at the half way mark, March Hare takes over the lead but Prince of Praise is not far behind. He, together with Soho Square and Romanee Conti, from the outside, are about a head or so behind. “Javelin and Surfers Paradise are a length behind and at the last, four or five lengths behind is Deposition.

“他们都在。他们在首发的命令下，他们走了！ 
“果然，赞美王 (Prince of Praise) 冲到了最前面。他在 51/1 时是一个完全的外线。他喜欢在前面，但在这个距离上，他能保持领先吗？ 
“Deposition 一开始就很顺利，就在领先者身后。 
“紧随其后的是 Excited Angel、All in Fun、March Hare、Soho Square、Skating 和 Javelin，依序排列。 “现在到了一半，March Hare 领先，但赞美王 (Prince of Praise) 子也不甘落后。从外面看，他和 Soho Square 和 Romanee Conti 都落后了大约一个人头左右。 
“标枪 (Javelin)和冲浪者天堂 (Surfers Paradise) 落后了一个长度，最后，落后四到五个长度是Deposition。

“Three-quarters of the way now and Prince of Praise comes out front followed by the bunch of Soho Square, Skilful Star, Skating and Romanee Conti. Then comes March Hare being pressed by Surfers Paradise. Tucked steadily behind these six is Zinders, hanging slightly to the left and Javelin by now shows his weight by trailing behind. “With a hundred meters to go, it’s Soho Square, Romanee Conti, and Prince of Praise, a very close third. “March Hare is coming in now for a late burst and the first five are now bunched up at the finishing mark. Too close to call, I say. All five are just a shade from each other and a photo finish is called for.

“现在已经进行了四分之三，赞美王子（Prince of Priase) 出现在前面，紧随其后的是 Soho Square、Skillful Star、Skating 和 Romanee Conti。 然后是三月野兔 (March Hare) 被冲浪者天堂 (Surfers Paradise) 压制。稳稳地藏在这六个人后面的是 Zinders，略微向左悬挂，而 Javelin 现在通过落后来显示他的体重。 
“还有一百米，就是Soho Square、罗曼尼康蒂 (Romanee Conti)、赞美王子 (Prince of Praise)，非常接第三。 “三月野兔 (March Hare)现在进入后期爆发期，前五匹马现在聚集在终点线。 太近了，我说。 所有五匹马都只是彼此的阴影，需要依靠照片。

“The result now is just in. First, Prince of Praise. Second, March Hare by a whisker, Third, Soho Square, by a nose. Fourth, Romanee Conti, by a forehead and Fifth, Deposition, by less than a head. What a race! What a result! Prince of Praise from New Zealand, trained by Bruce Wallace, jockeyed by Carl Carmody and owned by FPF Lai and KK Wong. A cool AUS $600,000 win by this black Stallion.”

“现在的结果就出来了。第一，赞美王子 (Prince of Praise)。第二，三月兔 (March Hare)，靠胡须，第三，苏荷广场 (Soho Square)，靠鼻子。第四，罗曼尼康蒂 (Romanee Conti)，一个前额和第五，沉积 (Deposition)，一个不到头。真精彩！什么好的比赛！结果太美了！来自新西兰的赞美王子 (Prince of Praise)，由布鲁斯华莱士 (Bruce Wallace)训练，由卡尔卡莫迪 (Carl Carmody)骑师，由FPF Lai和KK Wong拥有。这头黑色种马赢得了 600,000 澳元的奖金。”

In human terms, a six-year-old horse is equivalent to a 26-year-old human.  The website  https://www.thespruce.com/comparing-horse-to-human-age-1887320

places the comparison of horse to human ages roughly as follows:

Horse Aged 1 year (called foal, weaning or yearling) is equivalent to human age 6 years old at the Infancy, Babyhood, Toddlerhood, Preschooler stage of human development.  In other words, in the first year of a horse’s life, it has gone through four stages of human life.

Horse Aged 2 years is equivalent to a human of 13 years - the Adolescence / Puberty stages.

Horse Aged 3 years is equivalent to a human of 18 years (teenager).

Horse Aged 4 years is human’s 21 years of age (young adult).

Horse Aged 5 years is human’s 25 years of age (adulthood).

Horse Aged 7 years = Human’s 28 years; horse aged 10 years = human’s 35 years;  horse’s 13 years = human’s 43, middle age; horse’s 20 years = human’s 60 years, seniors; horse’s 27 years = human’s 78 and horse’s 30 years = human’s 85 - extremely old age.

I was born in 1988 and so by human standards, I am old, really old but fortunately still mentally fit.  The average age of a horse, particularly a racehorse like me, is 25 years.  So, in theory at least, I should have been gone ages ago.

在人类方面，一匹六岁的马相当于一个二十六岁的人。该网站 https://www.thespruce.com/comparing-horse-to-human-age-1887320
将马与人类年龄的比较大致如下：
1 岁马（称为驹、断奶或一岁马）相当于人类发育的婴儿期、婴儿期、幼儿期、学龄前儿童 6 岁。也就是说，在一匹马生命的第一年，它经历了人类生命的四个阶段。
2 岁的马相当于 13 岁的人类 - 青春期/青春期阶段。
3 岁的马相当于 18 岁的人（青少年）。
马 4 岁是人类的 21 岁（年轻人）。
马 5 岁是人类的 25 岁（成年）。
马 7 岁 = 人类 28 岁；马10岁=人35岁；马的13岁=人的43岁，中年；马的20岁=人的60岁，老年人；马的 27 岁 = 人的 78 岁，马的 30 岁 = 人的 85 - 极度衰老。
我出生于 1988 年，所以按照人类的标准，我已经老了，真的老了，但幸运的是，我的精神状态还不错。一匹马的平均年龄，尤其是像我这样的赛马，是 25 岁。

Back to the story of my life.

My first major win in a sprint race was when I was still a colt (at the age of two in 1990).

[side notes: Colt - young castrated male horse, up to three years old. Gelding - male castrated horse. Foal - a horse of either sex less than one year old. Yearling - a horse of either sex between the ages of one and two. Filly - a young female horse under the age of three. Mare - an adult female horse from the age of four.]

I remember my first win well. It was just a short distance of 840m and I ran in a record-breaking time of 48.21 seconds. I was particularly happy that I had beaten my training mate and best friend Lodore Lady, a filly, who had constantly clipped me by a nose or two in training runs. This time, at the Listed Race called Welcome Stakes, I had beaten her by a good one horse length and she was just behind Roger Jon, a thoroughbred from Christchurch, South Island.

回到我的人生故事。
我在短跑比赛中的第一次重大胜利是在我还是小马的时候（1990 年两岁时）。 
[旁注：柯尔特 (Colt)-年轻的阉割公马，最多三岁。阉马 (Gelding) - 雄性阉割马。驹 (Foal) - 一岁以下的任何性别的马。一岁马 (Yearling) - 一到两岁之间的任何性别的马。 Filly - 三岁以下的年轻母马。母马 (Mare)——四岁的成年雌马。] 
我清楚地记得我的第一场胜利。这只是840m的短距离，我以创纪录的48.21秒跑了。我特别高兴我击败了我的训练伙伴和最好的朋友 Lodore Lady，一匹小马，在训练中经常用一两个鼻子夹住我。这一次，在名为 Welcome Stakes 的列出的比赛中，我以一匹马的长度击败了她，她仅次于来自南岛克赖斯特彻奇的纯种马罗杰·乔恩。

This first win brought joy from my human “Dads” Francis Lai and Kit Wong and they were there celebrating my win with an expensive bottle of campaign (part of the prize for my win) that instead of drinking, they poured over on my head. That was my first taste of liquor and I felt the bitterness of the drink as I licked the liquid around my lips. I must say that I did not fancy the drink and I could sense at that time that my trainer Bruce Wallace was not impressed either. I gave a nod of appreciation to my rider, the young 17-year-old (human years here), Willy Arnold.

这第一场胜利让我的人类“爸爸”Francis Lai·和 KK Wong·王感到高兴，他们在那里用一瓶昂贵的活动庆祝我的胜利（我获胜的部分奖品），他们没有喝酒，而是倒在了我的头上。那是我第一次尝到酒，当我舔着嘴唇周围的液体时，我感觉到了酒的苦味。我必须说我不喜欢这种饮料，当时我能感觉到我的教练布鲁斯华莱士 (Bruce Wallace) 也没有留下深刻的印象。我向我的骑手，17 岁的年轻（这里是人类的岁月）威利·阿诺德（Willy Arnold）点了点头。

43 Starts: 10 wins: 7 placings. - What a career!