Where Would a Racehorse Finish If It Raced Against Other Animals?
I love stuff like this!
They held the Belmont Stakes over the weekend, which is the last of the three Triple Crown horse races, after the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. (Palace Malice won. Orb won the Derby, and Oxbow won the Preakness.)
But what if they broke the species barrier and let OTHER animals run in the Triple Crown races? Here's how several zoologists and other animal experts said a mile-and-a-half race would turn out.
10th place: The CHEETAH would build a 950 foot lead in the first 20 seconds of the race, but he wouldn't have the stamina to finish the mile-and-a-half . . . which is the length of a Triple Crown horse race.
9th place: The TORTOISE would finish in an hour and 34 minutes.
8th place: The SLOTH would finish in an hour and 29 minutes.
7th place: The LION would come out of the gate fast, like the cheetah . . . but after 200 feet, he'd get tired and kind of lazily make his way around the track and finish in a half hour.
6th place: The RHINOCEROS would finish in nine minutes and 30 seconds . . . which is probably faster than most of US would run it.
5th place: A HUMAN who was an Olympic runner could run it in five minutes and 45 seconds.
4th place: The GIRAFFE could finish in three minutes and 15 seconds.
And since the top three places in a horse race are known as Win, Place, and Show.
Show: The AFRICAN WILD DOG would finish third, with a time of two minutes and 54 seconds.
Place: The RACEHORSE would come in second, at two and a half minutes.
Win: The PRONGHORN ANTELOPE would come in first, at a minute and 48 seconds.