October 25, 2015: The first edition of Breakfast at the Breeders’ Cup

There was a strong sense of excitement and anticipation in the air and by the rail as people congregated for the first special morning edition of workouts at the track, launching Breeders’ Cup week with an array of horses entered in the championship races appearing on the track mostly wearing their Breeders’ Cup saddle towels, identifying them by name, uniquely assigned numbers, and the name of the race they were expected to race in. Keeneland’s Betologists were spread across the track apron to hand out lists of the entrants matched to the numbers they’d been assigned and categorized by race, and also to provide insight based on seeing the horses on the track, if desired.

The workouts were listed as beginning at 7 a.m. At this time of year, there isn’t any daylight by then, so I came a bit later, hoping to get good photos but not wanting to miss many of the horses even while conditions weren’t ideal for photography. Commentators announced which horses were working and spoke of their potential chances in their respective races, and how they had trained so far or were looking this morning. They also mentioned that quite a few horses had worked even earlier than 7. Understandable, since morning training does start before 7.

However, there was still a plethora of contenders to see. Holy Lute, who I was so impressed by early in the meet, was the first one on the track around the time I arrived that made me stop and look. He’s not dark bay like his sire Midnight Lute, but he is a tall and solidly built horse. In that regard, he is reminscient of his sire. He ran against the top notch Grand Arch earlier this month, but you never know what can happen in a Breeders’ Cup race. He’s got a stellar sprinter as a sire, after all.

Liam’s Map, a Classic contender, also was quite eye-catching. He too is dapple gray like Holy Lute, but in a darker shade. It was still too dark to get decent photos of him as well, but seeing those two was still worth being out that early.

Lea was the first horse I’d heard of that made a track appearance as the light began to illuminate the sky. The forecast had called for a rainy morning, so I was appreciative that no rain fell on this first of two days I will get to see the Breeders’ Cup workouts. My day job calls the next two days but I will be back Wednesday morning, fresh on the heels of American Pharoah’s Tuesday afternoon arrival, when it is expected he should take to the track at some point. Hopefully while it is daylight.

Lea

Then my friend and I heard that Beholder had been on the training track and was making her way to the paddock to school. A chance to see a horse of her caliber was absolutely not to be missed so we made our way to the paddock along with a horde of other photographers. I read when I returned to Lexington after three days away that she had spiked a mild fever, but appeared to be doing fine now. As she entered the paddock, she looked the picture of health and well-being, taking a calm interest in her surroundings. Her trainer had her go from saddling stall to saddling stall several times, finally explaining that they didn’t know what post position she’d have to the laughter of the gathered crowd. Beholder …. well she really is a horse to behold and took everything in stride. I did initially see her when she worked at Dawn at the Downs in her Oaks year, but she has made such a name for herself since then that I definitely wanted new photos of her and to see her once more. The Classic can be filled with intriguing storylines and backgrounds of the horses entered, as can many of the Breeders’ Cup races. Yet even with a race that can hold such interest, I find this one perhaps the most intriguing I’ve seen since Zenyatta’s, with two horses like American Pharoah and Beholder going head-to-head. That is not to discount the rest of the field, naturally all top horses themselves, but the idea of a Triple Crown winner and one of the most accomplished mares to come along in a while competing against each other is such a compelling draw.

Beholder in one of the saddling stalls

As Beholder entered the paddock and began to walk around the circular paths nearest the entrance, a bay colt with a pony entered behind her and walked the whole length of the paddock, presumably going to the track. I only turned to watch him go briefly before turning back to Beholder because one photographer nearby said that he is Cocked and Loaded, on of the top Juvenile entrants. Also, as I wrote in a previous post, he was bred by Bob Austin, whom I briefly worked for this spring. I am intrigued to see what Cocked and Loaded does. While I never worked with him and was just at the farm a short time before most of their broodmares shipped out of Kentucky and they therefore didn’t require additional help, I still take an interest in him just because I did have a connection with the farm that bred and raised him.

As Beholder entered the smaller walking ring, she seemed to anticipate being expected to head through the tunnel and onto the main track, turning her head that way several times. We had been told several Breeders’ Cup contenders had opted for the training track due to the sloppy conditions of the main track today, after all the rain from yesterday and through the night last night.

Then we settled into the grandstand to watch several more Breeders’ Cup contenders make their appearances on track.

That concluded the first morning of Breakfast at the Breeders’ Cup. The fall colors are just perfect right now, and I walked through a barn just to get another dose of that Keeneland serenity.

The traditional final weekend of the Keeneland fall meet provided a glorious backdrop for the racing rituals as the tree leaves were turning crimson and gold at last. I had been out of town for three of the week’s four race days, so this was my first opportunity to see how it looked like a true fall meet.

The weather was rainy off and on, but fortuitously didn’t fall heavily until the last race concluded. The intermittent rain left its mark on the turf course, and all races were contested on the main track, including the closing day stakes race. Interestingly from patrons’ standpoints, a larger than usual number of races began and ended in front of the grandstand, and included a mile race, which I believe is a race distance not typically used at Keeneland but rolled out during this meet because of the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

The last race was run, the last horse went back to the barn, the trailers rolled in to take the horses shipping out, Corey Lanerie won his first leading jockey title at Keeneland, and the crowds went home. There was a bit of that usual wistful feeling that the meet is over, though it didn’t fully hit me until I went to the track kitchen for another taste of bread pudding and happened to glance at the photos of renowned horses on its wall that my nephews had sought out earlier in the meet, looking for years that coincided with their birth dates. But then, that did have more to do with wanting to see them than missing the meet even though it just concluded.

After all, there are three more days of racing and this is merely an interlude, a conclusion so there can be a new beginning…. a highly anticipated beginning of Keeneland’s first Breeders’ Cup. After all the wait and all the preparations, the moment is nearly at hand. I feel so lucky it is all happening practically in my backyard.

Meet’s end
and illumination

the interesting silks that catch one’s eye

a row of neatly arranged braids mirroring the curve of a horse’s neck

the focus on a jockey’s face as he readies himself to get a leg up

a glimpse into the eye of a Thoroughbred

the gleam of an athlete’s coat

the “look” that draws you in

saddling under the trees, so picturesque

the sun illuminating the famed sycamore

the bond between horse and groom

first time by

shadows across the track

dapples

game face on

eventual winner passing by (and a name in common with mine)

to the lead

more dapples

running for home

a famous face

Rachel’s Valentina

reflections of Rachel

beautiful and sweet

day’s end

All taken at Keeneland, October 17, 2015

Wise Dan was paraded through the paddock after his recent retirement on day 2 of the fall meet. Fans, Keeneland employees, and horseplayers alike couldn’t resist turning to watch as he passed and there were smiles all around as he went by. His history is intrinsically intertwined with Keeneland’s, through a long illustrious career. The highlights were recited by announcer Kurt Becker as Wise Dan walked down the track once more, making it even clearer why so many had paused and turned to watch this living legend pass their way.

As for the day’s racing, the Grade 3 Woodford Stakes was part of the track’s traditional Fallstars weekend, good horses and top races being a sort of prelude to the Breeders’ Cup at month’s end.

The “parade” of stakes races continued with the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America. Champion and last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Judy the Beauty was among the entrants, eventually placing third.

The next stakes race on tap that I watched was the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity for two-year-olds. It was won by Brody’s Cause and Corey Lanerie.

The Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile concluded the stakes races for the first Saturday of the fall meet.

Keeneland Fall Meet, Day 3

The Grade 3 Dixiana Bourbon

The Grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster

California Chrome was recently showcased at Taylor Made for fans, media, and anyone who is intrigued by racing. It was my first glimpse of the chestnut colt since watching him win the Kentucky Derby over a year ago, and he is wonderful to photograph. He has since left Taylor Made to go back into training, but will return as a stallion when his racing career concludes. Below are a few of my images of him from that day and a few other photos from Taylor Made. This event was a bit of a preview of how fan-friendly many more of the farms are trying to become with the launch of Horse Country, Inc. It was a wonderful precursor to that.

The star of the hour, California Chrome

Not to be outdone, Graydar displays his class as well.

The visit concluded with seeing some broodmares, foals, and yearlings.

Rachel’s Valentina, the two-year-old filly by Bernardini and out of Rachel Alexandra, made a much-awaited career debut at Saratoga in early August, and she did not disappoint.  She was clearly the class of that field, winning with a ease that suggested professionalism even this early in her career.  This is not meant to be a comparison to her amazing dam and all that she accomplished on the track, and naturally it is early yet to say what type of racehorse Rachel’s Valentina will become, but I know I liked what I saw when I watched the race replay after the conclusion of my final exam in my final class needed to earn my Equine Management degree.

Though I look forward to watching this filly’s career unfold for its own merits, and not what her sire and dam achieved, it is hard not to feel the tug of that connection with Rachel Alexandra.  And that is why it touched me when the race announcer incorporated one simple but sweet phrase in his race call when he mentioned “Rachel’s little girl.”

I began this journey to earn my degree for the same reason I uprooted myself from my home state and from my family, to follow a calling I heard from a very young age. I didn’t know then it was a calling. I just knew how much I liked racing; I didn’t realize that it was the beginning of it becoming a deeply-rooted part of myself. I only had to spend one week in Lexington, visiting all the farms I had read about and seeing horses I had only watched on TV, to know this was where I was meant to live: in an epicenter of just about everything Thoroughbred.  And when the racing season had an occasional lull, the Horse Park could easily provide a day with horses.

My motivation for starting the degree was much the same: to immerse myself in all things horse, to be the professional at the center of it all, and much less on the sidelines. When I did begin the degree, Zenyatta was in the last few months of her race career that culminated with an attempt to repeat her historic Breeders’ Cup Classic win, and Rachel Alexandra was soon to retire.  Those were the horses lighting up the racing sky at the time, to paraphrase a quote I once heard about Count Fleet (I’m pretty sure it was about him), and no one else could compare as far as I was concerned. In fact, they set the bar so high collectively that I felt a void that persisted in the racing scene long after they retired.

When I realized how difficult some of my classes were going to be, I had to find motivation anywhere I could.  I never really was firmly in the Zenyatta camp over the Rachel camp, or vice versa.  They both meant something to me in their own ways.  So it was not favoritism, but just an example of a horse who was an inspiration when I put a photo of Zenyatta in my chemistry notebook, and wrote above it, “Do it for her and the chance to work with horses like her” – you’ve gotta dream big, right? Dreaming big is what I was doing when I moved here, and starting this degree was also a leap forward to make my dreams be realized.

Watching Rachel’s filly run, looking like she has a world of potential within her, all those feelings came back of how much I had loved following Rachel’s career, and seeing Rachel too shine at Saratoga.  It’s the kind of things dreams are made of, and now that one of my biggest goals in my life – and one of the hardest I’ve ever set for myself – has been realized, I too feel like I have a world of doors opened to me, just as they hopefully are for Rachel’s filly.  Where this road takes us now, who knows?

I look forward to seeing what comes next, for her, for me, and in the racing world in general.

After all, this year has already shown me even the wildest dreams can come true.  You have to look no further than American Pharoah’s grand story and how his stature continues to grow after his Haskell win.  It is still amazing to think that there has at last been a Triple Crown winner in my lifetime.  That is something to savor, and I can’t wait to see him in person once more. I can’t wait to be more completely immersed in racing now, and find my path in that world.