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.

     

The Derby Trail Starts Here

all photos, Bob Mayberger (Eclipse Sportswire)

  

     Take it or leave it, Gulfstream Park will be one of the best places to see the best thoroughbreds in the country run throughout the Spring.  With the Florida Derby considered by many as the top prep race for the Kentucky Derby and with other top-level graded stakes competition, the redesigned 1 1/8-mile track in Hallandale Beach in South Florida will be a destination for many fans.
     There were those who decried the new layout when Magna Entertainment retooled everything about the track in 2004 to make way for slot machines.  They thought the emphasis had been misplaced on gaming machines, racing had been forgotten and the whole complex had been turned into a racino. Some of those murmurs still exist. To those who visit, the track which turns 71-years-old tomorrow, is picturesque and a great place to watch and wager on the best horses.

     Next Saturday, Gulfstream will feature three graded stakes races on Saturday, including the Grade 1 Donn Handicap. The following Saturday will showcase four graded stakes races, including the Fountain of Youth, a major Kentucky Derby prep race.
     So, as ice and snow and sleet pummel the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, maybe Gulfstream Park isn't such a bad idea. With a current temperature of 74-degrees and a 10-day forecast that contains daytime highs in the mid 70s and no overnight lows that creep below 60-degrees, Hallandale Beach seems downright inviting.

All Dialed In

     The last-to-first, stakes-record setting performance by Dialed In marked him as a horse to be reckoned with on the Kentucky Derby trail in 2011 after a win in the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The three-year-old colt by Mineshaft, a $475,000 Saratoga Select yearling sale, has a Dosage of 3.62 and a Center Distribution of 0.82.

     Owner Robert LaPenta and Trainer Nick Zito are no strangers to the Triple Crown scene, having brought War Pass into the 2008 season as reigning Horse of the Year and the early Derby favorite. They ended up on the sidelines due to an injury, but returned with Da' Tara in the Belmont Stakes in a race that derailed Big Brown's Crown hopes.


     Favorite Mucho Macho Man set the early fractions (23.96, 46.24, 1:10.33) and fought for the lead until giving way at the eighth-pole. Dialed In swung to the outside and kept advancing for 1 1/2-length win to move to a perfect two-for-two on his short, but now black-type laden resume.


     Bred by W.S. Farish, Madeleine Pickens and Skara Glen Stables in Kentucky, Dialed In will most likely make his next start in the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream. With $240,000 in graded stakes earnings from this win, LaPenta and Zito have the option of taking Dialed In on a less aggressive path to Churchill Downs.


     Racing fans are still awaiting the 2011 debuts of Uncle Mo, Boys At Toscanova and To Honor and Serve. Horse of the Year Uncle Mo logged his first workout last week with a leisurely 3f leg-stretcher at Palm Meadows in Florida.

Is it time yet? Derby time?

     As we look forward to the Kentucky Derby Trail for 2011, the favorites are already known to us. It is assumed we are going to see Uncle Mo, To Honor And Serve and Boys At Toscanova well into the Spring.  But, who are the unknowns?  Who will be there to shock us and to catch our hearts.

     One of the fan favorites from last year disappeared after an injury, but he was back in action today during the Sunshine Millions at Santa Anita.  It looks like Caracortado, with Joe Talamo this time, is back and ready to roll. He outran The Usual Q.T. in the Sunshine Turf and looked sharp ripping through the 1 1/8 miles in 1:46.3.

     The 3-year-old season unofficially started last weekend at The Fair Ground with the Lecomte, but the first solid prep of this season is the Holy Bull tomorrow.  The morning line favorite is Kathy Ritvo's Mucho Macho Man (pictured before the Remsen).  The Grade 3 race will be contested at 1 mile.