Run for the Roses

Well, so much for blogging my way through Kentucky. We got so busy (and so exhausted by the end of the night), I just didn't have time to keep the blog updated. That, and Mom got tired of me hijacking her laptop for hours every evening.
I guess I can fill in a little more about the trip later...here are the highlights from the rest of the week:

• Thursday (dressage day at Rolex) - got some great photos of Courageous Comet and Becky Holder in the warm-up ring, fed Cigar a peppermint and gave him a pat on the neck.
• Friday (closing day at Keeneland) - ate lunch in the super-nice dining room overlooking the paddock and walking ring, watched the races trackside, got autographs from Cory Nakatani, Julien Leparoux, Calving Borel, Garret Gomez and Donna Barton Brothers.
• Saturday (cross-country day at Rolex) - walked the entire course, from one end of the park to the other, saw some amazing athletes do some incredible things, tripped in a gopher hole near the starting box and thus gave other spectators something to laugh at.
• Sunday (show jumping day at Rolex) - joined in with 60,000 other fans to watch William Fox-Pitt win his first Rolex, my favorites Courageous Comet and Becky Holder came in third, just escaped the downpour and took a scenic drive to Paris (Claiborne Farm) and back through the local roads.

The big news today is the Derby. Churchill Downs is a mud-hole today and that, along with the scratching of heavy favorite Eskendereya last week, has really thrown the race open. Given that I saw a few of the Derby contenders work out during our time at Churchill, I would LOVE to see one of them win. If Lookin At Lucky, Ice Box, Paddy O'Prado or Dublin can bring home the roses I will be a happy girl. HOWEVER my loyalty lies with a trainer, even more than a horse. Mr. Todd Pletcher is arguably the best trainer in the business but in 9 Derbies and 24 entries, he has never found his way to the winner's circle. Eskendereya looked like the horse that would get him there, but with his withdrawl, Pletcher entered his filly Devil May Care. She is the one I'd like to see bring it home. And I think the "Derby Gods" are on her side. If you want a sign (by the way, the following information was brought to my attention by the Blood-Horse daily online magazine):

• Todd Pletcher used to work for a certain D. Wayne Lukas who also had some trouble winning the Run for the Roses. MR. Lukas' first Derby win came with a filly named Winning Colors.
• Pletcher's first win in a Triple Crown race came in the 2007 Belmont when the tremendous Rags to Riches edged eventual Horse of the Year Curlin.
• Pletcher actually wanted to run Devil May Care in the Derby all along, but he said she wouldn't go unless jockey John Velasquez could pilot her. Johnny V originally had the mount on Eskendereya. If you ask me, it was meant to be.

To sum up, it's Derby Day. The mud may throw a kink in any Triple Crown plans but that's okay. It would be nice. It's been over 30 years since Affirmed won the Triple Crown and since then, so many horses have gotten close. But I have to say that three well-run races by spectacular horses is just as well. 2007 was incredible - Street Sense's Derby, Curlin's Preakness and Rags to Riches' Belmont were absolutely outstanding. That being said, I have my own favorites when it comes to the Triple Crown.

Kentucky Derby: 2006, Barbaro and Edgar Prado

Preakness Stakes: a tie between 2009, Rachel Alexandra and Calvin Borel and 2005 Afleet Alex and Jeremy Rose

Belmont Stakes: (obviously) 2007, Rags to Riches and (who else) John Velasquez.

I hope everyone gets away safely today and that we see the group who deserves it the most finally wearing the roses on the first Saturday in May.

Day 2 - more race horses

What a day - up at 5:30, out the door at 6:30, made it to Churchill before 8. We were immediately hustled out to a waiting van by Becky, our guide for the morning. She had us hurry because the Derby contenders were stepping out on the track for their morning workouts. Sure enough, we made it in time to see Eskenderya, Lookin At Lucky, Paddy O'Prado, Ice Box and Dublin - all of whom are on Steve Haskin's Derby Dozen in this week's Bloodhorse. We saw many other horses work out this morning - including most of the fillies who will run in the Kentcuky Oaks - but knowing that one of those horses could end up wearing the roses on May 1st...it's exciting!

Back behind the track, we drove around looking at the shedrows - watching the horses get their baths, trainers and exercise riders talking about that morning's moves...it's its own little world back there. I could go on and on about that experience - how we were thisclose to top trainer Todd Pletcher, how we drove right by the shedrow where 2009 Preakness winner and 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra was stabled, how Becky put her hand on my arm and told me - seriously - that I should have a job out here...

But I digress. After Churchill, we drove to Three Chimneys farm for a tour. This was my third time visiting the Three Chimneys guys and it was just about better than ever. We saw Big Brown and Smarty Jones (Kentucky Derby winners), Exchange Rate, Point Given, Sky Mesa, Rahy...we even (brace yourself) got to see a live cover of a mare. Can't Catch My Cat was brought into the breeding shed to be covered by Flower Alley and we got to stay and watch. Kinda like biology class all over again! If the foal is a filly, I have a great name already planned, haha.

Off to Rolex tomorrow for day one of dressage - and we'll pay a visit to my favorite racehorse of all time, Cigar. I can't wait!

Day 1 in Horse Country

Since our hotel offers us free high speed internet, I thought I'd blog daily about the Angle-Shaw KentuckyFest 2010 trip!

We flew in yesterday and spent the late afternoon and early evening exploring Cincinnati. I fell in love with it instantly - a medium sized river town with great food, two pro sports stadiums within skipping distance and a wonderful blend of old and new architecture? I'd be crazy NOT to love it! We ate at the famous Montgomery Inn Boathouse on the Ohio River (Nathan is eating his leftovers as we speak) and I left wondering how I'm ever going to eat "regular" food again!

We were up early this morning and out to door to Louisville. I thought it would be a great way to get Nathan into the Bluegrass state of mind to take a scenic route past all the farms and historic old towns. We drove past Keeneland - there will be a whole day devoted to this gorgeous old track on Friday - and through Versailles and Midway, two of my absolute favorite places in the world.

We spent a good chunk of time at Churchill Downs this afternoon - touring the Kentucky Derby Museum, walking around the grounds of the track and paying our respects to 2006 Derby winner Barbaro. I can't believe I hadn't known about the devastating effects last August's flood had on the track and the museum. They had been closed until Sunday! A restoration prject that should have taken about 18 months crammed into only 6...there are still some museum exhibits that are unfinished but the ones that have been restored are AWESOME. It's a lot more interactive than I remember it - Nathan and I did this awesome racing simulation where we chose a running style for our "horses" (yes, there were fake horses to sit on - I chose the gray one, big surprise) and had buttons to move left or right and a certain number of "crops" to use to move our horse forward. My pretend Keenan and I stalked the early leaders, found a hole on the rail and won by about a length and a half!

We were pretty satisfied with our day there, but it was about to get better. On our way back to the car, we walked by Angie (our walking tour guide) as she was leaving for the day. We waved and thanked her again and she asked if we'd had a chance to take the backside tour. We said we hadn't, as there had only been two spots left, and she told us to call as soon as possible and reserve spots for early the next morning. If we got there in time for the 8:30 am tour, we'd get to see the morning workouts on the track - and there was a strong possibility that some of those would be Derby horses. So over a late lunch/early dinner, we made the call and worked a morning at Churchill into our day. Tomorrow, we'll be up before dawn and on our way to Louisville. We'll watch some morning workouts, have a late breakfast and head back to Three Chimneys Farm to tour the stallion division. I can't wait to see Point Given, Smarty Jones, Dynaformer, Rahy and Big Brown! In 2007 when my mom and I toured Three Chimneys, we got to see an actual mating take place - I think that would be pretty rad. Imagine if that foal were to go on to greatness!

Well, off to bed here in Lexington - 5:30 will come EARLY. More to come tomorrow!

less than 2 weeks!

The thought of this:

is about all that's keeping me going right now. Come ON vacation!

46 days

I know, I know, how many posts am I going to write about our upcoming Kentucky trip? I can't help it, I'm excited! Three years is too long to go without visiting your favorite place in the world. I found myself watching that movie Dreamer last night just for the scenes at Keeneland and Ashford Stud. Sometimes I wonder if the magic would wear off if I were to live and work there full time...somehow, I don't think so.

Here are a few things I'm most looking forward to...

Rolex is going to be phenomenal, no question about it, but for me, going to the Kentucky Horse Park, visiting my old friend Cigar, watching the races at Keeneland and driving the old roads through the bluegrass is like coming home.

less than 2 months now!

I cannot WAIT until our Kentucky trip in April! Seriously, I am getting so antsy waiting. I don't even have anything left to plan so it feels like time is dragging even more slowly. Here's what we have planned so far:

Mon. 4/19 - fly into Cincinnati and have dinner at Montgomery Inn, a great place for ribs, overlooking the Ohio River. From there it's about an hour and a half drive to Lexington.

Tues. 4/20 - drive to Louisville and tour Churchill Downs, the racetrack where the Kentucky Derby is held. We'll take our time coming back and check out some State Parks - maybe the My Old Kentucky Home State Park, which is located where Stephen Foster penned Kentucky's state song.

Wed. 4/21 - tour Thoroughbred breeding farm Three Chimneys where horses like Point Given, Smarty Jones and Big Brown stand at stud. I've visited the farm twice before and I think it's a great place for a "semi"-horse husband to learn a little more about the business.

Thurs. 4/22 - day 1 of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, dressage. I know Nathan will probably get bored of dressage fairly quickly, so we'll go see the rest of the Kentucky Horse Park - visit Cigar, look through the Breed's Barn, etc.

Fri. 4/23 - closing day of the Keeneland spring meet. We get to dress up for lunch in the clubhouse, overlooking the paddock where the horses get ready for their races. I want Nathan to get a feel for racing and I don't think there's any better place than this beautiful old track.

Sat. 4/24 - this is the day that I'm looking forward to the most, day 2 of the Rolex, cross country. This is what sets eventing apart from other horse disciplines. I want to walk all around the course and see as much of it as possible.

Sun. 4/25 - last day of the Rolex, show jumping, and the awards ceremony. I didn't get to see this the last time out so I'm really excited. It will also mean more to me this year, I think, because I've been jumping for the past year. Granted, four-star show jumping is a little different from pre-adult hunter, but it's closer than trotting down a trail.

Mon. 4/26 - fly home.

It's going to be so great! I've tried really hard to plan a trip that Nathan will enjoy. Since the first time I visited Kentucky, back in 1997, I've felt a very close connection with it. I just felt like I fit in - I instinctively knew my way around, the people that I met wanted to talk horses with me at length, and the rolling hills we drove past seemed to soothe me. I want Nathan to connect with it, too, so that we might be able to live there someday.

Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event

Mom, Nathan and I are planning a trip to Kentucky at the end of April to watch the Rolex. Mom and I have been before, but this is the first time we've taken Nathan on a trip that didn't primarily revolve around lounging around on some beach. He's been so supportive of my riding and showing - and he seems interested in learning a few things, too.

I wanted to share some of my photos from Rolex 2007 - it's never too early to get excited for a vacation like this!