Field Trips Archives - Page 6 of 8

November 13, 2015November 13, 2015

A November to Remember

Share This:

There truly is no rest for the weary. On the final day of last month we all watched in awe and disbelief as we finally got our Grand Slam, with American Pharoah winning the Breeders’ Cup following his Triple Crown victory. The very next day, in the same city, we kicked off with Fasig-Tipton’s one day November Sale and in the following day we moved right into Keeneland’s November Breeding Stock sale for 12 days. What a whirlwind!

On November 1, 2015 Fasig-Tipton sold 92 horses for over $43 million dollars combined. The top sale was Angela Renee. She is a grade 1 stakes winner who sold for $3 million dollars.

Today is the lucky Friday the 13th and the last day of this Keeneland sale. I got to attend on a few fine days and it was fantastic. I saw so many beautiful Thoroughbreds and met some nice, helpful people as well.

One of my favorite horses is so far the sales topper. She is Take Charge Brandi! I met her this summer at D. Wayne Lukas’ barn at Churchill. He was there to watch her at auction. See his picture from Keeneland’s October meet below. I was able to pet her pretty face, also seen below. She is a chestnut filly who was born in Kentucky on 2/7/2012. She has had 11 starts and is a multiple graded stakes winner. Take Charge Brandi took first place in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies race in 2014 and won an Eclipse Award that same year for Champion 2 year old filly. She was purchased at the Keeneland 2013 September Yearling Sale by Willis Horton. She last raced in the Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing in September where she did not finish. She has lived at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Lexington, KY since and she has now been purchased for this farm where she will be bred to Curlin. He raced in all 3 legs of the Triple Crown, improving with each race, coming in 3rd, 2nd and then 1st in 2007. He won the Breeders’ Cup Classic that same year. Curlin has 4 Eclipse awards and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014. His stud fee is $100,000. That is half as much as American Pharoah’s fee at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud. Hill ‘n’ Dale owns 20% of Curlin.

My other favorite trainer, Kellyn Gorder, was working with Cowboy Rhythm when he won at Keeneland on 10/18/15 by 3 and 1/2 lengths. Cowboy Rhythm is a 3 year old colt and he sold at Keeneland during session 9 for $335,000. He was sold by WinStar Racing to Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. I was with Cowboy Rhythm in the paddock and winners circle the day he won at Keeneland. See the picture I took below.

That same session another horse I enjoy sold for $550,000. He is Donworth. Day 9 of this year’s November sale saw 16 horses go for 6 figures when last year there were no horses that sold in that price range on the 9th session. Donworth placed 2nd in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland this past April. His trainer was Graham Motion. He won his 1st and 4th career starts. He was sold in the Regis Farm dispersal by Three Chimneys Farm to Doug O’Neill. I went out to see Donworth in the barn before he went into auction. See him below.

By the close of day 11 yesterday, we could already call the sale a success. This year’s sale is a day longer than in 2014. The gross accumulation is 5.8% ahead of 2014 already. 2,735 horses have been sold versus 2,512 in 2014. The total for these sales is over $217 million dollars this year versus last year’s $205 million. I am excited to see what this day brings. It is always a good time at Keeneland. So pretty and so tasty too. Nom, nom, bread pudding! Thank you for reading and sharing!

Share This:

November 3, 2015November 4, 2015

Ceremony for Cigar

Share This:

A week ago tonight, on 10/27/15, among all the preparation and anticipation for this year’s Breeders’ Cup, a gathering of people assembled at the grave of Cigar to honor him with a new memorial statue. Gone but not forgotten, Cigar won the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 1995. This Sunday I paid my respects to his grave site once again.

Being the lucky Lexingtonian that I am, I have had the treat of making multiple trips to the Kentucky Horse Park, in Lexington, KY, over the course of my life. I have had the pleasure of meeting Cigar as well. He lived at the Horse Park from 1999 until his death October 7, 2014. I saw his grave at the KY Horse Park Memorial Walk of Champions this past July. Last week, Kentucky artist and former horse trainer, Douwe Blumberg, revealed his statue depicting Cigar’s Breeders’ Cup race. Cigar’s trainer, Bill Mott, and his jockey, Jerry Bailey attended the unveiling of the new statue. Many kind words were spoken and memories shared at the presentation. Cigar is remembered as charismatic and an ambassador with spirit and determination.

History remembers Cigar as the Thoroughbred who won 16 straight races in a row. Only Citation and Zenyatta have done as well. He was sired by Palace Music and his dam was Solar Slew by Seattle Slew, 1977 Triple Crown winner. He was a late bloomer. He didn’t race at all until he was 3 years old and he didn’t stop racing until he was 6. Cigar was born April 18th in 1990 in Maryland and owned by Allen Paulson. By 1995 he won the BC Classic going 1 and 1/4 miles in 1:59.58, a record. He went on to be Horse of the Year and American Champion Older Male Horse each in 1995 and again in 1996. He also won the internationally famed Dubai World Cup. He retired as the leading Thoroughbred in earnings at over $9 million dollars. Cigar is the American Horse of the Decade for the 1990s. In 2002 he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Blood-Horse ranked him 18th in the U.S. Thoroughbred Champions of the 20th Century. There is a life sized statue of Cigar at Gulfstream Park in Florida where he won the Donn Handicap. The Cigar Mile at Aquaduct Race Track in New York is named for him.

When he retired to stud he went to Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky. This is the same place American Pharoah moved to yesterday. Unfortunately, Cigar proved to be sterile. He retired again to the KY Horse Park Hall of Champions where he lived out his days. He developed osteoarthritis and at 24 he needed surgery. Following surgery he died in recovery from a vertebral fracture. At the KY Horse Park he is buried near Alysheba, Forego, Bold Forbes, Kona Gold and John Henry.

Near his grave healthy and happy lives go on for the other champion Thoroughbreds, barn cats and visitors but no one can forget our great, Cigar. As his statue and stone state, Cigar is incomparable, unconquerable, invincible and unbeatable. Please, share and read along about all of my Thoroughbred posts and look for a Keeneland November Sale story coming soon!

Share This:

November 2, 2015November 2, 2015

Firsts, Favorites, Famous and Fun

Share This:

Breeders’ Cup 2015 was held for the 1st time ever in Lexington, KY at Keeneland this past week. The track featured a Prelude to the Cup on Thursday with 9 live races followed with 2 more days of graded stakes races with 4 Breeders’ Cup races on Friday and 9 BC races on Saturday. The dates spanned October 29th thru 31st of 2015. I was present for all 3 days. The events were wonderful!

For the Prelude to the Cup the weather was gorgeous. I walked the grounds and marveled at the sea of purple that had taken over and all of the new and temporary structures. It was a quiet event and a good day for mingling with my friends, old and new. All the photos above except for the program and lanyard collection were taken that day.

The BC Juvenile Turf was the 6th race on the 30th but the 1st BC race of the series. Hit It a Bomb, #14, won the race. He is seen above as is the 7th place finisher, Manhattan Dan, in his coat.

Race 7 was the Las Vegas BC Dirt Mile. Liam’s Map shown in the top picture above won. Two of my personal favorites ran this race as well. Mr. Z, #4, I met and petted following my birthday, earlier this year. I shouted out my love to him from the rail pre-race and I got his attention. #8, wearing pink, is 4th place finisher Wicked Strong. He was the barn friend of Twitter’s favorite horse, Juba. Wicked Strong has now retired to stud at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, KY.

Catch a Glimpse, #4 above, won the 8th race. This was the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf. Last year’s winner was Take Charge Brandi. I petted her too this past summer at D. Wayne Lukas’ barn at Churchill Downs. She is for sale at the Keeneland November Sale that starts today. I hope she has a long happy life as a broodmare.

Friday’s BC races wrapped with race 9, the Longines BC Distaff. Stopchargingmaria won. She is wearing #4 in the picture above. She is trained by Todd Pletcher and has had an amazing year winning multiple grades stakes. This was her third Grade 1 stakes win in a career of 16 starts. There was one more stakes race that day as the sunset.

On the final day of the BC the 1st BC race was race 3, the 14 Hands Winery Juvenile Fillies race. This race was won by Songbird, #10 above. I fell in love with Rachel’s Valentina, # 9 in the above photo, who placed 2nd in this race, when she won both of her only other races at Saratoga this summer.

Race 4 was the Twin Spires BC Turf Sprint. This race was won by Mongolian Saturday. The rail made it hard to see him wearing #14 in the photo above. His connections were dressed out and seated in the loge box behind me during the BC Classic. They were having fun with a selfie stick in the middle photo. Lady Shipman placed 2nd. She was a pretty girl as seen from the Enclosure, a temporary spot near the walking ring.

Wavell Avenue wearing orange #7 managed to fight her way up from middle of the pack, as seen above at the turn, to 1st place. She was ridden by Joel Rosario. Race 5 was the TwinSpires Filly and Mare Sprint.

In the 6th race, the BC Filly and Mare Turf, a local favorite won. #11 Stephanie’s Kitten is owned by Sarah and Ken Ramsey, Keeneland’s leading owner award winners. This is the third BC win for Stephanie’s Kitten. She is seen in the paddock area and winning her race above.

A new track record was set by Runhappy when he won the TwinSpires BC Sprint. This was race 7. He is shown about to cross the finish in the green #5 above. Runhappy won a graded stakes race at Keeneland the same month for opening weekend of the Fall meet.

Tepin was a fast filly that beat out the males to win the BC Mile. She is seen taking the title above, in race 8. She won a grade 1 stakes race at Keeneland on the opening weekend of this last Fall meet at Keeneland too!

Nyquist, #13, barely beat Swipe, #12, to win the the 9th race. This race was the Sentient Jet BC Juvenile. Neither horse had the lead from the start, in fact they were plenty behind but Nyquist held out his nose to win. Look how close they are in the photo above!

Found is the beautiful Irish filly that beat her male counterparts to win the Longines BC Turf. She is definitely an international champion. Race 10 had a $3 million dollar purse. She is one lucky and talented filly. See her two paddock pics above.

Then, in Race 10, the BC Mile, I’m pretty sure we all know who our star is, above. That is American Pharoah. I gave him his very own BC story in my post Grand Slam? Yes, Ma’am!

Plenty of celebrities were on hand to witness history in the making as well. I got photos of Jean Cruguet (top right), Seattle Slew’s Triple Crown jockey, and Ritchie Sambora (middle left), the rocker from Bon Jovi. I also saw Bobby Flay, famed chef and caught word that Kate Upton, a model, was there too. My parents recognized Kenny Mayne, from Dancing with the Stars (top left).

Finally, I just want all of you to know that there were no break downs and all the horses, their connections and the fans really had a lot of fun at the Breeders’ Cup. I will always remember my time at BC 2015. I have literally thousands of pictures and so much to share but this is a blog post, not a novel. Keep following for an upcoming post on my Kentucky Horse Park visit from yesterday.

Share This:

November 1, 2015November 1, 2015

Grand Slam? Yes, Ma’am!

Share This:

Above: American Pharoah leaves the race track for the last time, retiring to stud as a true champion.

We, the fans of horse racing, ask for the stars and American Pharoah delivers! Other sports like tennis and baseball have a “Grand Slam” to finish their season and now, for the 1st time in history, so do we! We waited 37 years to have a Triple Crown winner and the horse to do this was American Pharoah. In 1984 the Breeders’ Cup Classic was created as the definitive race to highlight the year end champion of international racing. Going in to this year’s Breeders’ Cup, we knew that we might have the 1st champ to win both the Triple Crown and the BC Classic. We all waited eagerly and we got our Grand Slam!

Above: American Pharoah draws the largest paddock crowd at Keeneland, in Lexington, KY, that I have ever seen. My friends waited 4 hours or better to get a glimpse and it was difficult.

What a year to go with my passion and start blogging on the Thoroughbred industry. I started the very first day of this year with my brand new computer from Christmas. My experience has been one joy to the next. I love the opportunity to share with all of you as others in the industry are so kind to share with me as well. It has been an amazing year. Watching American Pharoah’s career is a dream come true for racing fans. He won the Kentucky Derby by a length, then the Preakness Stakes by 7 lengths and the Belmont Stakes by 5 and 1/2- lengths as fans wept for joy, many having seen such Triple Crown greatness for the 1st time in their lives. Yesterday, 10/31/15, he won the BC classic in 2:00.07 by 6 and 1/2- lengths!

Above: American Pharoah parades before taking post position 4 and then he blurs past me shortly after he breaks from the gate already in the lead.

The Breeders’ Cup Classic is a 1 and 1/4 mile race on the dirt with a purse of $5 million dollars. American Pharoah was the 3-5 favorite to win and he did so beating Keeneland’s track record, for a race of this length, which was 2:05.36. To learn more about American Pharoah and his connections check out the tags on my blog or read my post Fabulous Pharoah Too see more of his great BC Classic win, watch this cool video IMG_2961 and see my photos below.

Above: Victor Espinoza has no use for the whip. He points at us, the fans, as he sails by the finish line and we can’t even see American Pharoah’s hooves touch the ground.

Finally, thank you to all of my friends that got me great seats and photos and to Bob Baffert, American Pharoah’s trainer, Victor Espinoza, the amazing jockey, Ahmed Zayat, the owner, all of the fans, the industry employees and connections that helped to make history. Also, a special thanks goes out to American Pharoah, the horse. He has some character and true athleticism and passion. He will retire tomorrow at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud, in Kentucky. Let’s all hope he has a long happy life and sires many more champions like himself. This is Espinoza’s 3rd BC win. Baffert just won his 12th BC race. The Zayat family is enjoying their 1st BC win. In the BC Classic Effinex ran 2nd and Honor Code showed 3rd. Stay tuned for a full Breeders’ Cup post on all of the other great races over the 2 day event.

Share This:

October 29, 2015October 29, 2015

Purple Prelude Passion

Share This:

Breeders’ Cup Eve is upon us with today’s event, The Prelude to the Cup! For those lucky enough to make it to Keeneland in Lexington, KY we are in for a special treat. Today, 10/29/15, Keeneland has been draped in rich purple to covert my favorite race course into the grounds for the 2015 Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

I will be present today after the gates open at 11 A.M. EST to witness 9 live races and Breeders’ Cup contenders schooling in the paddock. Race 1 starts at 12:30 P.M. Race 8 posts at 4:24 P.M. and is the feature race, The Lafayette Stakes. Our handicapper friend drew my attention to the 5th race. He says to pay attention to “horse 9, Cheryl D. Trainer, Larry Rivelli, wins a sharp 26% with first timers. This 2 year old daughter of red hot Uncle Mo has a nice set of works and she should be ready to win at first asking. Let’s hope we get close to the 8-1 morning lines.”

Race 5 has a purse of $56,000 and is a maiden special weight. Twelve 2 year old fillies will compete in this 6 and 1/2 furlong race. Cheryl D has had two nice workouts at Keenleand this month and 3 works at Arlington prior. She was bred in Kentucky. Her breeder was John Liviakis. Her jockey will be Jose Valdivia, Jr. He is an experienced rider with multiple graded stakes wins including the 2001 Breeders’ Cup Mile and the 2011 Belmont Stakes. Larry Rivelli has trained horses in over 4 thousand starts. More than 300 of those races took place this year. He has won multiple graded stakes too.

I am pretty excited to have a chance to preview our Breeders’ Cup contenders in the paddock today. I am blown away by the caliper of this year’s participants. There is even a Triple Crown winner for me to see live, wow! All eyes will be on that fantastic champ, American Pharoah but I’m pretty crazy about seeing my buddy, Mr. Z again too. I’m in awe of them all.

If you can’t make it, don’t worry. I will get those pictures for your eyes to feast upon!

Share This:

October 27, 2015October 27, 2015

Post Position Party

Share This:

A large crowd assembled at the Maker’s Mark Bourbon Lounge last night, 10/26/15. They were all eager to hear the last 2 of the 13 Breeders’ Cup races post positions to be drawn. 2000 tickets were available to the public. Media, staff, employees of Rood and Riddle (the event sponsor), horseman and their connections, and more attended as well. I was fortunate to snag a public ticket!

At 5:30 P.M. EST my friends and I parked on Keeneland’s grounds and made our way into the packed front end of the tent. There is more than enough room inside the Bourbon Lounge to hold a group that size but we all wanted to be in the front. We hoped to hear from Keeneland’s and Breeders’ Cup representatives plus our Lexington Mayor, Jim Gray, and University of Kentucky Men’s Basketball coach, John Calipari. Calipari was selected to draw for the post positions for the BC Distaff and Classic divisions. He began at 6 P.M. and very quickly we finally all knew where our favorite Thoroughbreds would be placed in the gate. The room erupted with applause when Triple Crown winning, American Pharoah, was selected for post 4 in the BC Classic. I have read that Bob Baffert, his trainer and Victor Espinoza, his jockey, are pleased as well. See the photo above for the full listing of these two races.

After the drawing, we were entertained by a live band and treated to hors d’oeuvors. I also appreciated the progress that was made in one day’s time to make the tent more beautiful. I had been there to train the previous day and since then there were several new touches. It should make for a nice Breeders’ Cup experience.

Finally, I enjoyed being part of the event. It is awesome to see so many people come together with such enthusiasm for the horse racing industry. I saw some old friends and met some new people as well. I also ducked outside to see what changes I could find. I found that there is now an infield screen facing the Bourbon Lounge and I could barely spot in the distance that the starting gate was now decorated for Breeders’ Cup rather than Keeneland.

Excitement is mounting. The Breeders’ Cup is sure to be a historical moment that we won’t soon forget. Do you think American Pharoah will get the grand slam?

Share This:

October 25, 2015October 25, 2015

Work It!

Share This:

Breeders’ Cup week is upon us! There are tons of activities taking place each and every day. See the Keeneland website for details: Breeders’ Cup Events Today, my event was training. I am so thrilled that I am volunteering Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Keeneland.

I will be working in the Chalet Village at Keeneland for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. This is the 1st time the BC will be held at Keeneland and everyone is so excited for this “Homecoming” experience. Lexington is the Horse Capital of the World. Many of the Thoroughbreds worldwide are bred, born, race, sold, stud and retire here so it is fitting they should hold the World Championships here as well. The Chalet Village consists of several temporary but fine structures right off of the track. The photo above depicts these structures.

My training began in the sales pavilion, shown above. We saw a beautiful video about Keeneland’s passion for the Breeders’ Cup and had several heartfelt and emotional speakers associated with Keeneland and the BC. I was issued an attractive vest for my uniform and my credentials on a lovely lanyard. I am so excited that I can be part of this experience and that I can help others enjoy it as well.

Training wrapped up for me inside the Maker’s Mark Bourbon Lounge. I have several friends that will be seated there for the Championships. I was excited to tell my comrades that they will have access to a patio and be allowed an awesome track view from the turn which is a new experience for them all. I will be attending the post-postion draw for the BC World Championships at 5:30 P.M. EST tomorrow night, 10/26/15, in this room. They will have it all swanked out by then. University of Kentucky’s Mens Basketball Coach, John Calipari, will draw for the BC Distaff and the BC Classic races. We love our Thoroughbreds and our basketball here in Kentucky, also known as, Big Blue Nation!

Additionally, I will be volunteering this Thursday for the Prelude to the Cup. The Prelude will feature a full day of racing as well beginning at 12:30 P.M. EST. I do not know my task yet for this event. Please, enjoy my pictures from today and follow along this week as I share my Breeders’ Cup experiences and other important and interesting information and photos.

Share This:

October 22, 2015October 22, 2015

Last Look for Luck

Share This:

This is it folks! Alas, this is the final day of the Keeneland Fall meet for me. This live racing meet officially ends there October 24th. I am sad that it is coming to an end but it couldn’t be a more gorgeous Fall day here in Lexington, KY. It is dry, sunny and in the upper 70s. In addition to horse photos today I want to get some tree pics too. All the leaves are changing colors and it is so beautiful, until I have to rake. For now, it is breathtaking.

While I am enjoying this glorious day I am excited to have 9 races to watch and perhaps wager on. Our handicapping friend gave us a tip for the final race. He says, “Race 9, Horse #1, Copus (is his pick.) Chris Richard (trainer) has been very successful this meet, especially with claimers. This hard knocking gelding has enough speed to get to the front and hold on in the short stretch at Keeneland’s 1 1/16th (miles) finale this Thursday.”

Race 9 will post at 5:30 P.M. EST today, October 22, 2015. The purse is $16,000 and it is a claiming race on the dirt for 3 year olds and upward. Copus is a 6 year old gelding with 39 career starts. He has shown or better in 15 of these races. He has had 7 starts this year. His trainer, Chris Richard, has won grades stakes in his over 3 thousand starts. Florent Geroux is the jockey. He has had over 5 thousand races in his career, several graded stakes wins and he won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint last year with Work All Week.

I’m going to bet Copus across the board. Have a nice week. My pre Breeders’ Cup story is coming soon!

Update: Copus took the lead from the gate then Barrister Jim and Copus traded leads mid race finally Copus finished first as Ephram S hurried past Barrister Jim to get the 2nd and 3rd place positions respectively. Great job Copus on another career win!

Share This:

October 5, 2015October 5, 2015

Wise and Winning

Share This:

For the remaining two days of Keeneland’s Fall Stars Weekend I had only two things on my mind, Wise Dan and “Win and You’re In”! My objectives were fulfilled in whole and I was not disappointed with seeing the two times Breeders’ Cup champion or the automatic Breeders’ Cup entries.

Right before and after Keeneland’s third race on Saturday, 10/3/15, Wise Dan, Breeder’s Cup Mile Champion in both 2012 and 2013 and now our retired and beloved OTTB (off the track Thoroughbred), was taken through the barns, into the paddock and walking ring and then paraded before the grandstands. I was granted barn and paddock access and then watched from the J.E. Bassett, III box as fans clapped and cheered for Wise Dan! I had been wanting to see him for so long. It was truly a dream come true.

As if I could stand any more excitement, I was treated to three “Win and You’re In” graded stakes that same day. That term means that the winner of the race is automatically selected to race in this year’s Breeders’ Cup. The Thoroughbred Club of America Grade II was won by Fioretti, seen above wearing orange #7. She will race next in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint Division at the month’s end.

Two races later, featured The Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity for entry into the Juvenile Division of the Breeders’ Cup. This race was won by #5, seen above in the green, Brody’s Cause. He had a nice break from the gate and a good ride.

The following race I watched as Grand Arch, #4, won The Shadwell Turf Mile to earn himself a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Mile Division. He was full of energy in the paddock and a strong leader on the wet turf.

Returning to Keeneland on Sunday , I witnessed two more “Win and You’re In” stakes races. The Dixiana Bourbon race allows the winner to participate in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Division. Airoforce, seen in the brown #13, won this race!

The next to last race, on Sunday, was The Juddmonte Spinster. The winner, of this race, is guaranteed a place in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff Division. #4, Got Lucky, truly got lucky or is one skilled race horse because she won! Look at her racing into position shortly before the finish line on the top photo of the above collage.

Finally, I can share with you some photos of most of the additions Keeneland has made for hosting the Breeders’ Cup. The top and middle left of the photo collection above shows the new Breakfast Marquee located between the North Grandstand and Racing Office. The top right picture and directly below it shows the Grandstand Loge Boxes. The middle row on the far left is the underside of the Loge Boxes as seen from the ground level beneath the Grandstand. The photo dead center and bottom left are views of the area where the Clubhouse Lawn Chalets and the Trackside Chalets are located. The bottom right shows the Saddling Paddock Chalet. Perhaps not pictured, is the Bourbon Lounge. It is located at the entrance of the stretch furthest to the South of the Grandstands. In the very middle picture, that last bit of white, in the right, could be a piece of that structure but I really must drive in and go left at gate 2 to get close enough to take a picture because it is too far from the general admission area to see it.

I hope I brought you all of the highlights each of you were hoping for. Racing resumes this Wednesday, 10/7/15. If there is anything you want a picture of send me a comment. You can get more up to the moment info by following me on Twitter and Facebook. Please, read my former posts as well. Like and share away my fellow race fans! Thank you in advance.

http://twitter.com/Thoroughbred_U

http://facebook.com/ThoroughbredUniversity

Share This:

October 3, 2015October 3, 2015

Falling In Love With Fall Stars Weekend

Share This:

Yesterday was cold and wet but I was still a happy lady because I was back at my favorite track, Keeneland in Lexington, KY. Friday, 10/2/15, was the 1st day of Keeneland’s Fall meet. It was also the beginning of Fall Stars weekend. This meet, Keeneland will host 16 graded stakes races between October 2 through the 24th. The total purse value is over 5 million dollars. 8 of the races allow the winner to automatically qualify for Breeders’ Cup races. These races are termed, “Win and You’re In”. I was there to see Gomo and Runhappy qualify.

Fall Stars weekend had 2 “Win and You’re In” races yesterday. Today will feature 3 more and Sunday will have 2 of these stakes as well. Race 8, yesterday, was the 163rd running of the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Grade 3 stakes race. The purse was $250,000. Runhappy won on the sloppy track by 1 and 3/4 lengths. He won a Grade 1 stakes in Saratoga in August, his last race. His jockey is E.S. Prado, he is trained by M. Borrell, and is owned by James McIngvale. We will see Runhappy again at the same track at the month’s end in the TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint!

The next race, 9, was the feature of the day. That race was the 64th running of The Darley Alcibiades. It was a Grade 1 stakes race with a purse of $400,000. Gomo won by 2 and 3/4 lengths in the mud. That is her crossing the finish line above. She is owned by J. Paul Reddam of Reddam Racing, LLC. Her trainer is Doug O’Neil. Mario Gutierrez is her jockey. Gomo was sired by Uncle Mo. She will next race in the Juvenile Fillies Division in the Breeders’ Cup.

I had hoped to share, with all of you, pictures of some of the newest additions to Keeneland in preparation for the Breeders’ Cup but the weather kept me inside. I did however come across a new menu item, The Chicago Style Reuben. I have long been a fan of Keeneland’s traditional Reuben but I enjoyed this one as well, so much so that I ate half before considering taking a photo! I took in views of the paddock changes, the trophy, and a bit of educational BC artwork too.

It is still cool and overcast today but I am hoping a little drier. I am going back to see the races including race 6, The Thoroughbred Club of America stakes (G2), race 8, The Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity stakes (G1) and race 9, The Shadwell Turf Mile stakes (G1). They are at 4pm EST, 5:10 PM and 5:45 PM respectively. The purses are $200,000, $500,000 and 1 million dollars, in this order. I love the name Heykittykittykitty in the 6th! In the 9th Bobby’s Kitten will compete against The Pizza Man. The Pizza Man’s last race was the Arlington Million Grade 1 stakes in August where he won his third race in a row!

I am mostly excited today to see the parading of Wise Dan. He is to be shown in the paddock and walking ring during the 3rd race around 2:15 PM EST and then before the grandstand after that race. He has been living at Keeneland for a while and I have always tried and failed to see him. He won the Shadwell Turf Mile last year and in 2012. He recently retired but prior to that he was American Horse of the Year twice, American Champion Older Male Horse twice and American Champion Male Turf Horse two times also.

Sunday, will have a full day of racing including the $250,000 Dixiana Bourbon stakes (G3) and the $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster stakes (G1). The Dixiana will go off about 5:10 PM EST, as race 8 of the day, immediately followed by race 9 at 5:45. In the 8th I like the name Camelot Kitten and in the 9th we see last year’s Kentucky Oaks winner Untapable battle against this year’s winner Lovely Maria!

I hope everyone has a great day and maybe makes a little bit of money. I will get those Wise Dan photos today rain or shine! Now, I must go fix my hair and bundle up.

Share This: