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Among my first thoughts when I heard Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit had failed a post-race drug test was….the annual Wiarton Frog Jump.
For many years on Civic Holiday Monday, I would roar up to the Wiarton & District Community Centre & Arena for the annual Frog Jump which was one of the many activities during Rotary Village Fair Weekend.
On the holiday Monday at 10 am, kids from all over would bring frogs from all over and enter them in two distinct contests; first- how far could the frog leap on 3 jumps and later there was a 10 foot race across a carpeted floor to see which frog could get from start to finish the fastest.
It was great fun. It was great entertainment.
Yes, once a frog got unintentionally crushed by the foot of a distracted organizer, but overall, the athletic frogs were returned to their natural habitat once the proceedings were concluded.
Sadly, a band of misguided and over zealous environmentalists protested and Wiarton Frog Jump croaked.
So why did I make the association of the Frog Jump to the Kentucky Derby ?
For many years I noticed the same kid, and there’s no need to mention Brett by name, was getting his frogs to finish in the top 3 in the race category and was carting home prizes on an annual basis.
It seemed to defy the odds of probability, so in what turned out to be the last year at Frog Jump I specifically watched Brett during the racing segment and sure enough, during the chaos and confusion of the mass start for the frog race, rather than release his hands and let Skippy jump independently, Brett, the Bob Baffert of Frog Jumping, actually tossed Skippy towards the finish line, meaning Skippy only had to hop a foot or so to claim another prize for Brett without anyone being any the wiser.
Disqualification in any sport is an ugly word, but at the last Wiarton Frog Jump it was with great pleasure that we DQ’d Brett who became known as the Frog Jump Felon.