Among the pain, confusion, questions and sadness after the Iroquois Steeplechase May 12 in Nashville, Tenn. came a supreme effort. Arcadius put on a clinic on how to win the Grade I. Because of fate, circumstance, mortality, he paid the ultimate price in the process.

Published in Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred May edition.

In an oversized wash stall in a white-sided barn on a hill, an Irishman leaned into a chestnut colt and sprayed crisp, clear, well-fed water down and over the horse’s knees. Smoking, of course, the horseman fed the occasional cigarette to his equine companion – who didn’t seem to mind – and even let the horse grab the hose now and then.

ST's Joe Clancy wrote a sports feature in Tuesday's New York Times that covers the victory and death of Arcadius at the Iroquois Steeplechase Saturday. The powerful event struck Joe and pretty much anyone else who was there. You can read the Times article online or in Tuesday's print edition (page B13). Below, Joe writes about what it was like.

Catching up with the results from Willowdale, here Augustin Stable's Radio Flyer won the open timber feature for Richard Valentine and Darren Nagle.

They’re not supposed to end like this. Winner’s circle ceremonies are for the good in the sport, the triumphs, the back-slaps, the excitement, the joy. Saturday at Nashville, the aftermath was anything but happy as Arcadius died of an apparent aneurysm shortly after winning the Grade I Iroquois Steeplechase.