“Lemme tell you about thoroughbreds. They only see shadows, no colors. They can hear anything from here to next Sunday; they can smell anything that’s living or not; and they can remember better than elephants when they need to. But nothing’s gonna help their second-rate stomachs that are more sensitive than your eardrum, or a third-rate breathing system that’ll break down easier than a flivver, or those ankles that are twenty-three pieces of glass. See, the goddamn animal is impossible.”
It made no difference to Annie. After growing up in a railroad shack, she wanted in on that thoroughbred world.