At Home With The Winningest Jockey

     If there were any jockey to help Silver Medallion break through and make his presence felt on the Derby Trail, why not the world's winningest jockey in the likes of Russell Baze. He has 27 riding titles at the track by the Golden Gate Bridge, he now has three straight El Camino Real Derbies and he has a bonafide Derby contender in his charge.  
     Baze was Silver Medallion's fifth jockey, at his fifth track mind you, in only six starts for the Kentucky Derby hopeful. The TYB Stables son of Badge of Silver wasn't highly regarded either. The connections for 1-2 post-time favorite Comma To The Top considered the El Camino at Golden Gate Fields the easier of the  prep races on Saturday.
    When Comma To The Top decided to surge to the front and burn himself out running rank, Silver Medallion and Baze capitalized on the opportunity. Ridden by Corey Nakatani, Comma faded to sixth place and off the board, causing some pretty plump show prices. For Silver Medallion though, having a local expert, and hero, in the irons proved advantageous. Baze slid Silver Medallion into the 4-path and the 6-1 shot cruised to a 1 1/4-length win in 1:50 2/5 for the 1 1/8-miles, just 4 ticks of the track record.  The performance earned him the highest Beyer Speed Figure for all of the Derby preps over the weekend.
     With a first-leg qualifier for the Preakness 5.5 under his belt, and $120,000 graded stakes earnings, the Santa Anita Derby is the likely to be Silver Medallion's next start.

     The El Camino Real Derby is a big race for Golden Gates Fields. It is one of the few graded stakes races the track hosts and, with the inception of the Preakness 5.5, the El Camino gained added significance.  To document the big day, Eclipse Sportswire photographer Bob Mayberger ventured west.  His photographs of some of the sights and scenes around Golden Gate Fields are in the slideshow below.


Scenes From Golden Gate Fields from Stride LIVE on Vimeo.
Eclipse Sportswire photographer Bob Mayberger ventured to Golden Gate Fields this past weekend. As many focused on Santa Anita and Tampa Bay, the three-year-old prep race whose winner scored the highest Beyer Speed Figure was the El Camino Real Derby, and Mayberger was there to document the day.

Kentucky Derby Contender Photos

Uncle Mo, To Honor And Serve and more - in pictures

***CLICK HERE***

     Please check out the photo pages for top Kentucky Derby contenders at the site hosted by our editorial partner Horse Racing Nation.  They have a fantastic Kentucky Derby Contender Poll and list at this web address. Also, we have photo profile pages for many of the top horses and individual photos of others. We will continually update and add to the pages as we go along to you can see the best photographs of your favorite horses.  Here is the spot - KENTUCKY DERBY CONTENDER PHOTO PAGE

Hot Jazz and Hot Horses In The Big Easy

     Check out the trailer for this lovely documentary by Jonathan Bachman, who regularly shoots for Eclipse Sportswire. As the racing season heats up and Kentucky Derby Trail gets rolling, one of the many destinations to take in a prep race is The Fair Grounds in New Orleans. So if the Risen Star or Louisiana Derby are on your schedule, check out some of Bachman's hot documentary on smoldering jazz in NOLA. It will get you in the mood and maybe it will give you some ideas for what to do when you arrive in The Big Easy.

Brass Roots Teaser Trailer from Come See About Me on Vimeo.

From The Trailer:
     ""Brass Roots" chronicles the history, people and culture that has encompassed modern New Orleans Brass Band Music.
     Compiled from hundreds of hours of footage from interviews, concerts and New Orleans second lines, this documentary brings an unprecedented look into the lives of the musicians that create and preserve New Orleans' signature sound.
     Featured bands, artists and experts include: Rebirth, the Dirty Dozen, Treme, the Soul Rebels, Hot 8, Free Agents, To Be Continued, L'il Stooges, Glen David Andrews, Frenchy, Lolis Eric Elie and many, many more.
     The history of the music and artists involved will be told within the context of New Orleans' complex, and often troubled, history as an urban center in the American South. New Orleans has been plagued with corruption and violence, but throughout it all, brass band music and second line culture has persevered.
     We aim to look at how brass band music serves as a cipher for passing down hundred-year-old traditions to younger generations, keeping the artistry, culture and character of New Orleans alive through music.


     We asked the artist behind this documentary about their inspiration and this is what they had to say:
     “Brass Roots” was begun by Alejandro de los Rios and Jonathan Bachman, a writer and photographer living in New Orleans covering the Saints and the Hornets, while spending many nights rocking out to Rebirth, Soul Rebels, the Hot 8 or any other of the city’s hottest brass bands.
     With little to do in the summer months when the NBA and NFL aren’t playing games, Alejandro and Jonathan were anxious to do something other than sweat out the New Orleans heat. With a shared love for brass bands, the idea to film a documentary was made.
     Through friends, Alejandro and Jonathan met Michael Seaman, an audio engineer with experience in feature films, live recording and New Orleans music, and “Brass Roots” was born. Our aim is to chronicle the history, people and culture that has encompassed modern New Orleans Brass Band Music.

For more about the movie visit - www.brassrootsmovie.com

STAY TUNED FOR MORE FROM THE BIG EASY AT Stride LIVE

Racing, Eventing and Stallions In Lexington

(all photos Eclipse Sportswire)

   The Royal Wedding at Westminster Abbey might have top billing for many around the world during the last week in April, but in the horse world, all eyes will be on Lexington, Kentucky.

     The week before the Kentucky Derby holds a special place for Lexingtonians and for the thousands who invade to watch the races at Keeneland Race Course, to tour the many breeding farms and to attend the Rolex Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park. The area is a veritable triple threat for the equestrian in anyone.

     The Rolex 3-Day Event is the only 4-Star competition in the United States, and its home is the Kentucky Horse Park.  For the uninitiated, Eventing is three or four day horse trial where competitors take a single horse through three equestrian disciplines - Dressage, Cross Country and Stadium Jumping.  It is ranked in increasing degrees of difficulty with 4-Star being the highest and on par with the Olympics.

     The 2011 revival of Rolex at the Horse Park, will be the 34^th time the event is held and the 13^th time it is being held as a 4-Star. Senior eventer and former Olympian Bruce Davidson has won the competition six times.

     Tickets for Rolex can be purchased at http://www.rk3de.org/ for $60 for a four-day pass, with reserved seating for Dressage and Stadium jumping only an additional $15-20 premium.

     The entire event is tremendous, but the Cross Country discipline on Saturday is worth the price of admission.  Visitors are allowed to wander the rolling countryside that makes up the Kentucky Horse Park and get close enough to feel the ground shake as these great horses and riders go through the paces.  A popular viewing location is the Rolex water obstacle, where many rush to stake their claim as soon at the gates open.

     But eventing isn’t the only equine draw in Lexington in the Spring. The Keeneland Spring Meet features 16 stakes races, totaling more than $3.4 million in purses. “The racing world converges on Keeneland in the spring because they know this is where the best jockeys, trainers and horses will be, and they want to compete at the highest level,” according to Keeneland Director of Racing W.B. Rogers Beasley in a press release.

     Included in those race days, which average more than $600,000 in purses, will be the $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, a major Kentucky Derby prep. There are also three other Grade 1 races during the 15-day meet.  Whether it is for morning workouts, the two-year-olds in training sale or a regular day of racing, the Keeneland facility is picturesque and a must-visit.  Keeneland, founded in 1935, was named as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.

     In addition to the competition, there are more than 150 farms in the Central Kentucky Horse Region to tour. Among the favorites, both for their scenery and for outstanding stallions are Three Chimneys, Darley at Jonabell, Claiborne, WinStar, Darby Dan, Lanes End, Calumet, Coolmore, Gainesway and, of course, the home for many retired greats Old Friends.  Many of these will allow you to book at tour to see your favorite horses. Here are some of them and the farms where they stand:

Darley at Jonabell - Medaglia D’Oro, Street Cry, Hard Spun, Bernardini

Three Chimneys - Big Brown, Dynaformer, Point Given

Claiborne - Arch. Blame, Pulpit

WinStar - Distorted Humor, Speightsown, Tiznow

Lanes End - A.P. Indy, Candy Ride, Curlin, Smart Strike

Coolmore -Giant’s Causeway, Lookin At Lucky

Gainesway - Tapit, Birdstone, Afleet Alex

     And don’t forget to visit the retired thoroughbreds at Old Friends Equine, including the gorgeous Bull in the Heather, the speedy Ogygian and the pensioned stallion Sunshine Forever.

     Beyond the horses, the Lexington area offers so much more. For visitors, a good starting point is visiting http://www.visitlex.com.  Included in their suggestions are distillery tours for such famous Kentucky Bourbon producers as Woodford Reserve, Buffalo Trace, Four Roses and Wild Turkey.

      And the bonus, depending how you plan your visit, could be finishing up your visit in Lexington by driving an hour to the west to Louisville and attending Kentucky Derby Festival activities.  All this culminating in the Run for the Roses on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs.

Golden Gate Kicks Off Preakness 5.5 For Some

     The road to the Kentucky Derby, and possibly a $5.5 million bonus in the Preakness, leads through Golden Gate Fields for CashCall Futurity winner Comma To The Top.  Thanks to a program started this year by MI Developments that included several tracks they operate, one path to the bonus starts with the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby. To be clear, you can win the Kentucky Derby, but that has nothing to do with the $5.5 million.(To read more about Preakness 5.5 click here - http://www.preakness.com/race-info/preakness-55 )

     As much of the country is socked in from up to three feet of snow and Derby Fever is percolating in many race fans, a trip to the February 12^th race could be an opportunity to escape the snow and see some great racing.

    While associated with San Francisco because of the iconic bridge that bears its name, Golden Gate Fields is actually in Berkeley, CA and is only 10 miles from the airport in Oakland. It is 26 miles from the airport in San Francisco.

     Situated along the shoreline of San Franscisco Bay, Golden Gate has a one-mile synthetic track main oval.  Opened in 1941, it has hosted the likes of legendary Lost In The Fog, who is now buried in the infield along with another racing great, Silky Sullivan.  John Henry still holds the track record on the 9/10-mile turf course at the distance of 1 3/8-miles.

     Golden Gate also has several eating venues including the Turf Club which looks out onto the track.  If you visit, keep in mind the dress code, where visitors are reminded – “We strongly discourage:  sweat pants/suits, T-shirts, baseball hats and thong style shoes.  Guests who arrive in shorts of any style, tank tops (sleeveless shirts), or clothing with offensive logos will be denied access into the Turf Club.”

     Once you leave the track, you are only minutes from the epicenter of early ‘70s Hippie-dom. So maybe you don’t have to stop at the tie-dye stand at the corner of Telegraph and Bancroft, but there are plenty of unique shops in Berkeley and great local-flavor restaurants like Cheeseboard Pizza.

    Now, lets get you to the track. Most airlines still require at least seven days prior booking to get a reasonable airfare. So, if this is something journey you want to undertake, act fast. Checks of flights via Southwest and other major airlines from several cities in the Midwest and Northeast reveal flights can still be had for around $300.  If you visit Priceline, you can probably bid on an even cheaper rate.

     Checks of hotels in the Berkeley area reveal numerous above average to excellent hotels ranging in price from $70-$100 a night. The Clarion Hotel Downtown Oakland is an option that can be had for $79 a night. 

       Bottom line, if you have cabin fever or it has just been too long since you saw races run live, in person, Golden Gate Fields is an unexpected option and most likely a delightful surprise.