Field Trips Archives - Page 7 of 8

September 28, 2015October 1, 2015

Kentucky Chromasomes

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It is just Monday and I started the week off right with another visit to see California Chrome at Taylor Made Farm. I went to 2 of 3 Fan Days this weekend with the later including a farm tour, in addition to a meet and greet at the stallion complex. Chrome was just as adorable and exciting yesterday as he was when I first met him on Friday. Chrome is one terrific horse and it has been such a pleasure having him here in Kentucky.

His time here is almost over, for now. Yesterday, 9/27/15, Duncan Taylor, President of Taylor Made Farm made a similar presentation to the one I attended on Friday following my chance to meet, photograph and love on several of the resident stallions. I was better able to pay attention this time due to the repetition of material and that I wasn’t so completely baffled by the site of Chrome. I learned that California Chrome is expected to be fully recovered from his bruised cannon bone. Gilberto is pointing the injury out in the picture above. Chrome likely got the injury from standing in stalls too long. The remedy to heal such an injury is to spend 75 days turned out into pasture land. During Chrome’s stay he packed on 160 pounds dining on Kentucky Bluegrass and he should be cleared by his veterinarian October 1st to be shipped back to California. He will probably fly out between October 8th and 15th. His trainer, Art Sherman, wants to race him some more before he begins his stud career at Taylor Made. The rumor is he may race in Dubai. I wish him well. I hope our American Horse of the Year wins some more races and returns to Kentucky safe and sound when he retires from racing. Duncan Taylor noted Chrome may be California bred, but he has Kentucky Chromasomes, thanks to his KY sire, Lucky Pulpit. After I bid Chrome farewell I boarded the tour bus.

Pulling away from the stallion complex in the bus, Alex Payne, the farm manager for the yearlings, was the tour guide. We rode around and made a few stops to walk about the 1100 acres of the 36 year old farm. We saw the barn American Pharoah lived in as a yearling, in the distance. We made our 1st stop at Aaron and Maire Jones barn. They had fields full of mares and babies. It was nice to pet them and admire their beauty. See some of their pretty faces below.

Next we went to see some of the RNAs (reserve not attained) from the Keeneland September Yearling Sale that just finished this past Saturday. See theses precious Thoroughbreds below.

Many of these horses were still tired from their sale experience. Some had been purchased since the sale at a RNA party the farm hosted. Others may still be available. There is a good chance I met some future big time winners while at the farm. Unfortunately, at this part, I had to ditch the tour to make it to my day job. I wish i could have stayed all day. I had such a great time and I can not wait to go back. Thankfully, Taylor Made is one of the farms that is part of Horse Country Breeders’ Cup Festival Week Horse Farm Tours and they plan on touring after the BC too. Here is a link to get your own tour: Horse Country

Finally, I leave you with my other favorite animal, cats! I met two barn cats and they were a delight. Have a great week everyone and I have hundreds to thousands or more pictures too so leave me a comment if there is something more you want to see. Thank you in advance!

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September 25, 2015September 28, 2015

Freelance Friday

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TGIF! I have been one busy equestrian fan since the last post. I have never gone a week without blogging, so I am not going to miss my chance now, but it was not for lacking material this week. Since my last post I went to live racing at Churchill Downs, attended Keeneland’s September Yearling Sales again and went to the 1st of Taylor Made Farm’s California Chrome Fan Day!

Churchill Downs had just one night for Downs After Dark this September meet. I went this past Saturday, 9/19/15. I placed some of my best bets ever just going by names that I liked, mostly anything with a cat or kitten in its own name or pedigree. Starship Zeus came in 1st in the 7th race, bringing me the most money. He was sired by Bluegrass Cat. I also found Posture, who ran for Motley Crew Stables in race 2. He made me money with a nice win. I chose him because I love the rock band, Motley Crue. I enjoy night racing, the cooler summer temperatures, the sunset the lighting and the live bands make it a little extra special.

The sale at Keeneland was a good time as usual. This September Yearling sale is rather long. It began on September 14th and I went that day. It concludes tomorrow, 9/26/15. I was just there again on Wednesday, 9/23. The crowds were a lot smaller than the first day but there were still many great Thoroughbreds for sale. 280 horses were sold Wednesday, to be exact. I sat in the sales pavilion, rather stunned, as a buyer for Bridlewood Farm had bought hip #3056 for $300,000, while communicating as a person in the pavilion to a person on the other end of his cell phone. In some strange miscommunication the buyer rejected his offer of 300K which put the horse back into auction right on the spot and thus the same buyer had to pay an additional 30K for the debacle as other bidders wildly sprung into action. I must say that the auctioneer warned him. This $330,000 bay filly by Blame and 1/2 sister to Nyquist was the top seller of the day.

Today, I made it to Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky for California Chrome Fan Day! I met and petted several horses including; Graydar, Old Fashioned, Eskendereya, Astrology, Northern Afleet and California Chrome. Chrome got a little more than a petting, I gave him a quick smooch! Duncan Taylor, president, did most of the talking. I was impressed with the stories he told of hard work, a tight knit family, Christian values and a love of people and horses that he accredited to Taylor Made’s success. I was pleased when he recited the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. He is the patron saint of animals and it comforted me to know that the farm’s animals here are loved by their owners. I thought that Pope Francis would have liked to have experienced this moment if traveling to the Horse Capital of the World was part of his United States visit. I would have be thrilled to have seen the Pope this week. I am going back to see Chrome again this Sunday and I will give you a full Fan Day story following that. Have a great weekend and enjoy a few Chrome photos!

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September 15, 2015September 15, 2015

Yesterday’s Yearlings!

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Yesterday was day 1 of the September Yearling Sale at Keeneland which takes place through September 26, 2015. It was a beautiful day with striking horses everywhere I turned. I met up with some old friends and made some new ones. I can not wait to go back and I will today!

Day 1 featured hips 1 thru 241 and 150 yearlings were sold. Several bids were RNA, reserve not attained, meaning the bid did not meet the owner’s minimal sale price. The big money makers were fillies by War Front. Hip #99 sold for $1 million and #116 sold for $1.45 million! Overall the sale grossed more than $44.6 million. This was an increase of over 34.6% versus last year’s Yearling Sale at Keeneland. More horses were sold this year and the average and mean price increase was up over 7 and 8% respectively.

I encountered several new Thoroughbreds but also some new people. It was a pleasure to meet David Clay of D & D Drennon Creek Farm in Eminence, KY. He told me about his wife, Debbie, and their military careers and dreams to have a Thoroughbred Farm. They went about it in the best way possible. Staying true to their strong Christian values and desire to adopt and rescue horses, they have been caring for rescued Thoroughbreds and breeding new generations of racers. Their mare Highest Ground raced and bred prior to her rescue. She foaled both I’am Toorific and Cactus Kris. Both of her foals have nice racing careers. They currently have several babies at the farm. One is a half sister to Cactus Kris, Blue Moon Diamond (Baby Egg), sired by Tale of Ekati. Tale of Ekati had a great racing career. He participated in graded stakes such as the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont stakes, the Travers Stakes, the Jim Dandy stakes and more.

I took so many pictures I want to share some with all of you. Above are a few pavilion and entry shots. It is a good chance to see the horses without having to peer thru the stall door screens.

Additionally, I like to walk around the barns to spot horses but also to see how the barns advertise and decorate. Some are rather plain while others bring their own flowers and more. Above is some of the signage.

Finally, if you get a chance to follow today’s sale, be on the lookout for hip #261. He has American Pharoah connections in the family. I went to his barn to get a peek but all I could see here is some tail and ankles. Better luck on catching a peak at him today!

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September 14, 2015

Dancing With The Stars

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Good morning! It is a very busy day for this blogger. I am up early and about to head to Keeneland for a full day of sales. First, I wanted to make sure everyone was ready to root for Victor Espinoza off the track and onto the dance floor!

Dancing With The Stars is the name of a television series that covers different groups of dancers in competition in various versions in several countries. In the United States, season 21 airs beginning tonight, 9/14/15. ABC launched the American version in 2005. Professional dancers are paired with celebrities and then ranked by a panel of judges and at home viewers to determine eliminations. The final couple, at the season’s end, wins and is presented with The Mirror Ball Trophy. My parents and my favorite restaurant owner love the show. I do not watch a lot of television myself but this season of DWTS, I am going to have a big reason to tune in. This is the first time ever, in America, that one of the celebrities is a jockey. This extra special jockey is Victor Espinoza. Victor has been paired with professional dancer, Karina Smirnoff. Karina won in season 13. They are one of 13 couples who will dance this season.

Espinoza has a multitude of awards and trophies. He has won over three thousand races. He has the ESPY Award for Best Jockey in 2002, 2014 and 2015. He won the Kentucky Derby, and the Preakness Stakes riding War Emblem in 2002 and California Chrome in 2014. This year he won those two races and the Belmont stakes riding American Pharoah to win the Triple Crown. He also was the jockey for Take Charge Brandi when she got honored with the title, American Champion Two Year Old Filly, in 2014. Victor is 43 years old and he is quite charitable. He donates a lot of money to City of Hope, an organization that tackles pediatric cancer.

Be sure to watch Espinoza dance live tonight at 8 P.M. EST for the two hour season premier. There are no eliminations week one but this season Victor will need your votes so have your phone or internet handy. Until it’s TV time I am off to the Keeneland September Sale starting at 11 A.M. EST today. I will have photos and information to share with you following my trip. I hope you have a great week and that you have some horse time in your schedule too!

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September 10, 2015September 10, 2015

Old Friends

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Old Friends, a retirement home for Thoroughbreds, was founded by Michael Blowen, former movie critic and current Thoroughbred racing fan, in 2003. These farms operate at Dream Chase Farm in Georgetown, KY, Old Friends at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, KY and Cabin Creek Farm in Greenfield Center, NY. I was fortunate to tour the largest of the 3 farms, Dream Chase, yesterday afternoon, 9/9/15.

I first met Blowen at the Noor lecture I attended and blogged about earlier this year. www.thoroughbredu.com/a-night-for-noor The work he does is amazing. After the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner, Ferdinand, was slaughtered in Japan in 2002, Blowen wanted to prevent further tragedies. He began to rescue Thoroughbreds who were no longer racing and breeding and brought them to his farm. His is the only farm who rescues stallions and he has many mares too. Currently, over 100 horses live on the 3 properties. 103 alone are at Dream Chase. They are currently raising funds to bring home 2002 KY Derby and Preakness winner, War Emblem. They hope to get Charismatic one day as well.

At the farm, I first met Lisa, my tour guide and she promptly took the group to see Gulch. He is the oldest horse they have. He is 31 years old and he takes his carrots, shredded. He is the oldest living horse to have participated in all 3 legs of the Triple Crown. Sired by the great, Mr. Prospector, Gulch had an excellent racing career. He won the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and also received the American Champion Sprint Horse award that same year. He had an outstanding stud career at Lane’s End Farm in KY. His progeny have earned over $90 million. His son Wallenda lives at Old Friends too.

Then I met Sarava, he likes to bite but he missed out today. I didn’t give him any carrots but fortunately Lisa did, he has bit her before. Sarava spoiled War Emblem’s chance of winning the 2002 Triple Crown when he beat him in the last leg of the series, the Belmont Stakes.

Across the dirt path lives Game On Dude and Starspangled Heat. Game On Dude, born in 2007, had 34 career starts. He won 16 of those and he placed and showed in 8 more of his races. He earned nearly $6.5 million racing and he is the only horse to ever win the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap 3 times. Starspangled Heat is new to the farm, having just participated in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf. He was born in 2008 and had 39 career starts. The orange tag on StarSpangled Heat is helpful to ward off flies. Lisa said that Game On Dude has the least trouble with flies.

Next up, I met Rail Trip. He is a real sweetie. I fed him a lot of carrots and got my picture taken with him. He won the Grade I Hollywood Gold Cup in 2009 and many other graded stakes races. He was second in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in 2011.

The tour proceeded on to see, Catlaunch. That is a name I would have surely bet on. I love all the cat and kitten named horses. He is the tallest horse at the farm. At 14 years old now, he has had an amazing 108 career starts. He was still racing and winning at 12 years old. He is a big winner, and in 2006 he was the 17th best ranked horse in the nation.

One field further, I met Rapid Redux and Amazombie. Rapid Redux is seen unmasked in the photo above. The horses at Old Friends take turns rotating who wears the fly masks. Rapid Redux has beaten both Zenyatta, Citation and Pepper’s Pride records of 19 wins with an amazing 22 consecutive wins. In 2011 he was honored with The Secretariat Vox Populi Award and the Eclipse Special Award. Penny Chenery first created the Vox Populi award in 2010 as the peoples choice award for race horses. Amazombie won an Eclipse Award in 2011 as well. He has won many graded stakes races. He won the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and in 2012 that same sprint was his final race.

Then, the sky opened up and it began to pour rain. Some horses loved it and they soaked it up or rolled in the mud. Other horses tucked into their shelters. The tour group headed into a barn. There I could barely see, behind the screens, Afternoon Deelites, Mixed Pleasure and Wallenda. Afternoon Deelites was owned by Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickinson. He had several graded stakes wins in 12 starts and then he went to stud and he sired some great horses including Popcorn Deelites. Mixed Pleasure has Seabiscuit in his pedigree. He had 22 career starts with some graded stakes winning success and he sired some winners as well. Wallenda loved his carrots and he was fed them by Michael Blowen himself. He is named for the high wire celebrity family, the Flying Wallendas, who have been to see him at the farm. He had a nice racing career, earning over $1 million in 33 starts with many graded stakes wins. He has very delicate hooves and special shoes.

It was still raining when Popcorn Deelites and his buddy hid from us. Popcorn Deelites is best known for playing Seabiscuit in the movie by that same name. I would have liked to had a better look at these two.

Fortunately, Silver Charm loved the rain. He was content to stand there throughout the brief downpour. He won both the 1997 KY Derby and Preakness. In 1998 he won the Dubai World Cup. He doesn’t like his meals to be late.

Finally, the rain stopped as we went on to see Genuine Reward and Star Plus. Genuine Reward is a foal of KY Derby winner Genuine Risk. Genuine Reward had a good stud career and in addition to race horses he sired polo horses too. Star Plus raced in graded stakes in Argentina and the United States. He was still racing at 8 years old. He was a winner at my favorite track, Keeneland.

Once a horse comes to Old Friends, they will stay there until it is time to cross the Rainbow Bridge. Other great horses, like Noor, come here after death as a final resting place. There are numerous memorials and grave markers for the mostly cremated deceased horses on the property.

The farm is simply gorgeous, right down to the barn quilt, pendants of the quilt are for sale at the gift shop. If you can make it to Georgetown you should take the tour. My Grandmother would have loved the long paths. I loved the well fed kitties and of course, the horses. I greatly appreciate what Old Friends has been able to accomplish for so many great horses. Thank you Old Friends! To donate or tour visit the website: Old Friends

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August 28, 2015August 30, 2015

Phollowing Pharoah

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I have not had the opportunity to make any recent trips but my mom went up to New Jersey for a week recently. She was kind enough to do a little drive by photography of Monmouth Park during her travels. This was the site of American Pharoah’s last race.

American Pharoah won the 48th William Hill Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey on August 2, 2015. There was a huge crowd of 60,983 fans in the stands that day. There was a large crowd there in 2007, as well, when Monmouth hosted the Breeders’ Cup. When my mother was on the property, this past Saturday, she said there was a good crowd, despite the negatively slanted media’s opinion. The fans were there to watch a full race card and the Grade III Monmouth Oaks. This race first took place in 1871 and is the oldest active Oaks race in America. This year the race was 1 and 1/16 miles long for 3 year olds with purse money of $100,000. Paco Lopez won riding Delightful Joy. She is a Tapit filly and this was her first graded stakes win. She beat out Eskenformoney who ran in the Kentucky Oaks and the Mother Goose Stakes, which I have previous stories about each of those races on my website. White Clover owned by Calumet Farms showed 3rd in that race.

Having Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah participate in the Haskell was great for the track and the community. Ahmed Zayat, American Pharoah’s owner lives in New Jersey. The NJ State Senate was so pleased with the excellence in which Monmouth Park handled the Haskell that they honored the track for its success in doing so. The track has been managed out of three buildings since 1870 with occasional closures. It is my hope that this track has many years to go and to host some wonderful races.

Mom quickly spotted her home city posted on a truck at Monmouth Park. The Horse Capital of the World, Lexington, KY is the headquarters for Sallee Horse Vans. They have a hub at Monmouth Park. It is estimated that over 50,000 horses this year will travel by Sallee. They have over 200 routes that cover over 4 million miles. This family owned business has been in place since 1963. In Lexington they even have a nice 16 stall barn.

Monmouth Park was where American Pharoah’s last raced and I have been waiting all this time to see his next race. Tomorrow, August 29th he will finally run again. This race is the Travers Stakes, to take place in Pharoahtoga… well Saratoga, NY. I had a nice story earlier in the month about Saratoga race track. Check it out on my website. Secretariat also chose to race at Saratoga following his Triple Crown win. He ran in the Whitney Stakes. The Travers, named for William R. Travers, one of the tracks founders, began in 1864. Some call it Saratoga’s Midsummer Derby. It is the most popular day of Saratoga’s summer race meet. The race is Grade I for 3 years olds with a purse of $1,600,000. The distance is 1 and 1/4 miles on the dirt. Post time is 5:46 p.m. EST. It will be covered live on NBC. Should American Pharoah win he will be awarded the Man O’ War Cup by Tiffany and Co. and he will be blanketed with carnations.

The post positions are:

Upstart
American Pharoah
Mid Ocean
Texas Red
Frammento
Frosted
Keen Ice
Tale of Verve
King of New York
Smart Transition

As good as American Pharoah is, this is still a tough race. Any of these horses could win. Frosted and Texas Red have the next best current odds. American Pharoah was able to bring his favorite traveling partner along with him to this race, despite a minor injury prior. Smokey The Pony will not only be there but Donna Brothers, former jockey and current Thoroughbred racehorse reporter, will ride him while doing race coverage for NBC. Smokey flew with American Pharoah to Lexington,KY where they picked up Funny Cide and then flew on to Albany. I wish the airport had a fan lot like they sometimes do for the University of Kentucky Basketball team. I really wanted to see the 3 equines. I just spent time with Funny Cide at the Kentucky Horse Park recently. I posted that story to my website the last day of July. Funny Cide is a Saratoga bred horse who raced there twice and has won both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. He was on view in Saratoga’s paddock on August 27th.

Keep on following American Pharoah, where I hope he wins the Travers and then the Breeders’ Cup. I wish everyone a safe and lucky weekend! Don’t forget, we can watch American Pharoah’s jockey, Victor Espinoza, on the new season of Dancing With the Stars starting 9/14/15. To see more stories and those I mentioned during this post, follow my page on Facebook or Twitter and you can always go straight to my website, as well.

Thoroughbred U on Facebook

Thoroughbred U on Twitter

Thoroughbred U on the web

Update: Frosted was third, American Pharaoh was second and congratulations to Keen Ice, the winner of the 2015 Travers! I am so happy that no jockey or horse was inured during the race and I look forward to all the participants exciting futures.

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August 22, 2015August 23, 2015

Thoroughbred Tour Time

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It was a perfect morning here in The Horse Capital of the World, Lexington Kentucky! The weather is beautiful and I got to be in the 1st group ever to participate in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Tour at Keeneland. We assembled at the South Grandstand entrance of Keeneland right after we turned in our sold out tickets at the ticket window. The tour began promptly at 8:30 a.m. on 8/22/15.

Rick, our skilled tour guide, walked us thru Keeneland’s entry and took us under the grandstand where we watched a short video. The film went over Keeneland’s creation in 1936 and Lexingtonian, John Gaines’, plan to develop the Breeders’ Cup, which was held 1st in 1984. Horses sold at Keeneland have won in 19 Kentucky Derbys, 21 Preakness Stakes, 18 Belmont Stakes and 83 Breeders’ Cup races. That is why having the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland for this 1st time ever, is like a home coming for the sales graduates and the founder. The Breeders’ Cup races will be held on October 30th and 31st this year.

After the movie, Rick took us to the rail to watch the morning workout for some of the horses living at the track. They have 57 barns that house about 2 thousand horses. I was hoping to get a glimpse of Wise Dan but he didn’t make it to the track today. Wise Dan lives at Keeneland and he won the Breeders’ Cup Mile in 2012 and 2013. Those same 2 years he also won, each year, American Horse of the Year, American Champion Older Male Horse, and American Champion Male Turf Horse. He has earned 3 consecutive Eclipse Awards as well. Secretariat sired Askmysecretary, who is the dam to Lisa Danielle. Lisa Danielle is Wise Dan’s dam.

Rick also pointed out the trainers watching and clocking the horses up in the stands. He talked about the tons of construction taking place to prepare for the enormous crowd that the Breeders’ Cup races will bring. They are putting in roughly 10 thousand more seats to hold a crowd of about 50 thousand people. Despite the track bringing in all the visitors and business, Rick said Keeneland makes most of its money on the 3 annual horse sales. The next sale is the Yearling sale to be held at Keeneland September 14th thru 26th of this year. I will attend several days and follow up with all of you.

Our next stop was in the Winners Circle. Keeneland usually presents winners with a Tiffany and Co. sterling silver Julep Cup. The Breeders’ Cup has a special trophy. In the circle we got to pose holding the trophy. Those aren’t my hands, I am a little camera shy but I got one to show to my friends and family anyhow. This trophy is a mini replica of the larger ecorche horse. We went thru the tunnel to see the full size version in the Paddock area, where they are putting down new concrete and sod.

My hour long tour ended there. For participating I received a wealth of knowledge, a sticker, a lapel pin and 15% off in the gift shop. The tour is the best $8 I’ve spent. Go to the website to sign up to take this tour yourself. Kids under 12 are free. The tours are select Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from now and until October 28, 2015. The maximum group size is 30 so don’t wait until it sells out.

Breeders’ Cup Tours

The tour does not take you to the barns but I had an equestrian friend visiting one, so I went to see more horses. It was bath time, which is fun to watch. I also took advantage of petting a chatty barn cat. During the Breeders’ Cup I won’t have access to the barns on Rice Road at all. The National Guard will be there to protect racing’s finest horses.

I hope all of you enjoyed my summary. Have a great weekend!

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July 31, 2015August 4, 2015

Horse Park Happenings

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Time flies! I can’t believe it has almost been a week since I spent a day at the world famous Kentucky Horse Park. On July 25th the park hosted Hats Off Day to salute Kentucky’s Horse Industry and to benefit the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation and the Kentucky Equine Humane Center. Both are fantastic charities.

The KY Horse Park was built in Lexington, KY in 1978. The park is both a horse farm and an educational facility. Many competitions take place here as well. I arrived at lunch and had a nice picnic taking in the views of the last of the white fences. I have fond childhood memories of visiting and even camping at the park. It has always had endless looking acres of white fences with lush green grass and horses everywhere. About 18,000 horses visit the park annually and some live here permanently. Very recently the decision was made to start painting the fences black as the white paint is too expensive to maintain. I could see some of the new fence work in place. It seems a little sad.

After lunch, I began photographing the beautiful statues and plaques in place to honor some of the most famous Thoroughbreds. I also toured some barns and the museum. I could write all year about the things I saw here but a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some Secretariat pics.

Also, some nice Man O’ War photos.

I got some Alysheba and John Henry pics too.

Then, I saw my favorite part of the day! My parents said it was like taking me to Disneyland. We saw the Hall of Champions featuring Funny Cide, Go For Gin and Da Hoss. The KY Horse Park is the only home of 2 live Kentucky Derby winners. Funny Cide won both the 2003 KY Derby and Preakness as well as an Eclipse Award that same year. Go For Gin won the KY Derby in 1994 and ran 2nd in both other parts of the Triple Crown in 1994 too. He is the oldest living KY Derby winner. Da Hoss won the 1996 and 1998 Breeders’ Cup Mile. I got to see each of theses beauties in the barn and the show presentation.

I had such a great trip last weekend. There was some great racing going on this weekend. Saratoga, in New York, featured several graded stakes including the Grade 1 Diana and Grade 1 Coaching Club of American Oaks. Go For Gin showed 3rd at Saratoga in the Forego in 1994. Forego lived in Funny Cide’s stall until he passed away in 1997. Forego won 8 Eclipse Awards. Funny Cide has a Saratoga race named for him that will take place August 28, 2015. Da Hoss finished 1st place in the Fourstardave Stakes at Saratoga in 1996. The race I am most excited about is this Sunday, 8/2/15, at Monmouth Park, in New Jersey. It is the first time our Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah will race since he won the Belmont Stakes. The race he will be in is the $1.75 Million William Hill Haskell Invitational. Funny Cide showed 3rd in this same race back in 2003. For sure there will be great Thoroughbreds making history this weekend that will someday be memorialized or perhaps even come to live at The Kentucky Horse Park!

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July 25, 2015July 25, 2015

Heaven’s Horsemen

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I would have loved to have made it to Saratoga for opening day yesterday but instead I took advantage of one of the gems in my lovely home state. I took a self guided walking tour through The Lexington Cemetery founded in 1849. With a little Google search and the help of a map and data base at the cemetery office I was able to locate several of the industry’s great horsemen’s final resting place.

First, I visited the grave of Benjamin Gratz Bruce. He passed away in 1891. He and his brother were responsible for the journal “Turf, Field and Farm”. Bruce made the first two volumes on the “American Stud Book” and he created “The Livestock Record” in Lexington. He was an expert on Thoroughbred bloodlines and racing and he was an officer for many racing organizations.

Dr. Elisha Warfield, Jr. was buried here as well after his death in 1859. He owned The Meadows, a stud farm where he bred the great U.S. Hall of Famer, Lexington. Lexington was the leading sire in North America 16 times, making him one of the greatest sires of all time. Warfield also contributed to the creation of this cemetery.

I also located the site where Barak G. Thomas was laid to rest in 1906. He owned Dixiana Farm. He bred Himyar who placed in the Kentucky Derby in 1878 and Domino, a Champion 2 Year Old and American Horse of the Year. Dixiana is still a great and active Thoroughbred farm and training facility today.

Byron McClelland died in in 1897. He is buried here too. He owned the MCClelland Stable where he owned and/or trained many great horses including Sallie, Bermuda, Henry of Navarre and Margrave. McClelland had wins in all 3 of the legs that eventually became the Triple Crown.

John R. Gaines was buried here in 2005. He founded the Breeders Cup and owned the famous Gainesway Farm. Gainesway is still an active and successful Thoroughbred farm. Gaines also founded the National Thoroughbred Association.

There are over 71,000 people buried in this cemetery and many more, than I found yesterday, that have great Thoroughbred history connections. I plan to go back and enjoy the serenity again. Share in the comments if you know of a great horseman that is buried here, in The Lexington Cemetery. Have a nice weekend!

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July 10, 2015July 10, 2015

Super Summer Sale

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Yesterday, 7/9/15, I took some time off to catch Fasig-Tipton’s “The July Sale” which was followed by the “Summer Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale” live at their Lexington, KY location. It was a great time and I am looking forward to watching the future of these Thoroughbreds play out on the race tracks!

Fasig-Tipton is a premier Thoroughbred auction company with its Lexington location being established in 1972. The July Sale is the first United States Yearling sale of 2015. Hips 1 through 332 and 401 through 524 were featured in the barns, walking ring and sales pavilion. I came 2 hours early to walk the barns. It was a beautiful, cooler summer morning and fortunately dry to start, though we did get some sprinkles throughout the day. The horses were gorgeous and the grass appeared to be a real treat. Yum, fresh Kentucky Bluegrass! I watched as the horses were brushed and shown to some eager perspective buyers. Then I made a hasty dash to a bar stool, within the entrance to the sales pavilion. I was seated right off the walking ring, to see the sale that started at 10 am. I stayed there until nearly 3 pm watching the horses and people as I enjoyed a nice salad. I am fortunate to have made many great connections and I encountered several of these wonderful horse enthusiast throughout the day.

One of my first such connections of the day stopped by to ask me if I watched the show, “Mad Men”. I do not but I was curious as to why he would ask and he told me that Hip 6 had an interesting back story. His dam is Her Smile. She is a graded stakes winner and showed in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in 2011. The more interesting fact is that while she is now owned by Frank Stronach, breeder and owner of horses and of prominent racetracks and Adena Springs Farms, Her Smile has been owned by both Bobby Flay, celebrity chef and horse owner, and Bill Backer, ad executive and creator of the Coca-Cola ad jingle, “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” used in a 1971 commercial and as the finale of television show “Mad Men” that ended in May 2015. Her hip #6 colt sold for $280,000 to De Meric Stables.

The rest of my day was full of more exciting stories and people but don’t forget, the focus was those magnificent horses. I was still there to see hip #152, a colt of Scat Daddy, sell for $385,000. Scat Daddy had sired 4 horses listed in the auction. One of those fillies, #220, was marked out but his other filly, #281, sold for $300,000 and his other colt, #105, sold for $110,000. #152 has Starbourne for his mare. Scat Daddy, who stands at Ashford Stud, currently has sired 10 stakes winners including El Kabeir winner of 2014 and 2015 multiple graded stakes.

In all The July Sale ended late but was a success. 205 yearlings were sold for a total of $20,005,000. The sale had 7 yearlings go for $300,000 or more each. 18 others sold for $200,000 or better. The average price was over $97,000 and the median was over $77,000, with both of those figures being up from the previous year, while the buy back rate went down, at 29%. #317 brought in the biggest price at $500,000. She is a filly by sire, Tapit and French Dip, her mare. Bred at Gainesway Farm, she sold to agent Steven Young. Tapit currently stands at Gainesway. He is the leading 2014 and 2015 sire. This filly was the only Tapit yearling at auction. His other offspring include 12 stakes winners. One of these is Frosted, 4th in this year’s Kentucky Derby and 2nd in the 2015 Belmont Stakes.

Before, I had to rush back to work I made a trip out with a friend to see one of the Taylor Made Sales Agency barns. I Saw some nice horses for the later sale there. #421 Mizzen Moon went on to sell for $57,000 and # 503 Seely Rose brought in $40,000.

I was long gone by the time the “Summer Sale Horses of Racing Age Sale” began. Somewhere around 9 pm, the last horse to go through the auction brought in the biggest money. The victor was #524, Temper Mint Patty, for $350,000. In this sale 65 horse sold for $3,996,000. The average price was $61,477 and the median was $48,000. Last year 109 horses were sold with a superior average but a lesser median.

The next Fasig-Tipton Sale is “The Saratoga Sale” in August. I won’t be able to make the trip to New York so please, share with me if you attend. Our 2015 and 12th Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah, was offered as hip #85 in the 2013 Saratoga Sale. You could buy the next winner or at least take a chance. Happy shopping!

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