“It's better to fail with honor than to win by cheating. After all, if you fail with honor you are still a winner”

None of this would have happened if the Sam Houston Race Park track photographer hadn't been shooting from the inside rail. The $50,000 Richard King Turf Stakes on January 17, 2015, was the ninth race of the night, the seventh that jockey Roman Chapa had competed in since the start of the meet at Sam Houston Race Park the night before. Quiet Acceleration, a six-year-old thoroughbred owned by Texas trainer Danny Pish, was running toward the middle of the pack, boxed in by the rest of the field. The dark bay gelding hovered in fifth place as the riders pounded down the backstretch, surrounded by pounding hooves and the cries of jockeys urging on their horses. After Blaine High School sophomore Malik Stewart was pinned by Michael Albertville High School's Mitchell McKee in a championship match, Stewart didn't sulk or storm away in frustration. Instead he shook hands with McKee and his coaches, and then walked over and offered a handshake and a hug to McKee's father.