- Kentucky Derby Post Time: Saturday, May 5 @ 6:04 p.m. ET
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Yup, made it to Derbyland. Been on the run ever since.
Caught a big, ol’ jet airoliner Thursday morning out of San Diego. Through Dallas and into Louisville. Hooked up with a few old buds for some din-din, then back to the hotel for an attempt to overcome the jet lag, which never seems to work too well going west to east.
Up and out to Churchill the next morning to see if the backstretch was still there (check), pick up some credentials (check) and then do some touching of bases with old cronies and some of the new hands who come on board with new energy for the Derby (check, check).
I come each year to work on the Derby Notes Team, a collection of racetrackers and/or media types who prowl the backstretch and barn areas each morning ferreting out the jewels that get passed on to the media in general (and therefore, hopefully, to the world in general – and racing fans in particular). Churchill Downs will issue more than 2,000 media credentials to folks from all over the country who come to town to send the word back home. Can you imagine how trainer Carl Nafzger would welcome 2,000 folks traipsing by his Barn 26 each morning this week to ask how he and his horse were doing? Right, not a good idea. So, instead, they have the Derby Notes Team, which gets the straight scoop, passes it on quickly and allows other media types to run with it, or use it as a basis for other stories, or know who they do or don’t want to see, and so on and so forth. And Carl Nafzger says ‘thank you.’
Anyway, Friday afternoon – along with three of my Notes Team cohorts – I head over to the lovely, classy and always friendly Keeneland in Lexington, roughly 75 miles to the east. Get to see old pal Jim Williams, who runs the Media show for the track and has for many years. Jim is as good as they get in this game and he offers a friendly welcome. Unfortunately, he can’t offer a friendly winner or two, and the four of us get skunked for the day, but it’s still fun. Keeneland always is.
Now I’ve got a real tout for you: On the way home from the track we stop in the town of Simpsonville at a nice old house that has been converted into a restaurant named the Old Stone Inn. The food is first rate, indeed. And the fried chicken is as good as they offer here in Colonel Sanders country. But, of course, that would have to be true when the executive chef is named (this is not a fib) Mac McBride. He’s no relation, but he’s a helluva cook.
Anyway, under this Notes Team arrangement, we divide up the Derby and Oaks horse with everyone getting anywhere from four to 10 runners (about three trainers worth), depending on circumstances. I’ve got an Oaks filly (Bob Baffert’s Tough Tiz’s Sis), a Derby horse (John Shirreff’s Tiago) and Todd Pletcher’s whole crew (five Derby horses and three Oaks fillies). Pletcher, as you know, is training this year over at Keeneland, so your faithful scout has gotten to roll out at 4 a.m. the last two mornings (Saturday and Sunday) to beat it over to the home of Polytrack and keep an eye on the triple Eclipse Award winner’s leg stretchings for his crackerjack crew.
It is amazing to see how Pletcher runs his stable. Like the proverbial well-oiled machine. He’d have made an outstanding Marine gunnery sergeant with the order, discipline and perfect rhythm he brings to his business. Yet unlike Marine gunnys, the word is that Pletcher never raises his voice. I know in the years I’ve been watching him do it up close here for Derby or at the Breeders’ Cup, I’ve never seen or heard him do it. He obviously runs a tight ship, but he doesn’t need to be a screamer to do it.
He exercises his horses in sets – somewhere between five to seven Thoroughbreds at a time. They go out at 6 a.m; then 6:30; then 7:15; then 8:00, and so forth until the horses in need of track time in his 40-horse Keeneland string get exactly what will make them happy – and race ready. And his horses look great. Not good, great. Coats sparkling; dapples all over the place; tight bellies; no ribs sticking out anywhere. They get the good care and the good groceries.
Typed instructions to all the help are posted on the wall in the middle of the barn. And they are exact instructions. When he shows up to eyeball the first set, they are tacked up, standing in a line outside the barn with a handler and ready to be mounted by a nearby exercise rider. He runs his hands down all their front legs, he has them jogged away from him to watch their gaits and then he offers each rider a specific set of instructions on what he or she is to do with that animal when they head up to the track.
His daddy was a trainer – and a good one I hear – and his son grew up with it and obviously listened and watched very well. Then Todd apprenticed himself to Mr. Organization – D. Wayne Lukas – when that Hall of Famer was going great guns and winning races and stakes and Classics by the handful. And he obviously listened and watched well there, too. And now here he is combining good instincts with good organization – as well as a willingness to work long, hard hours – and coming up with that well-oiled machine we spoke of --- one that churns out winners and stakes winners and – soon, you can be sure – many Classic winners, too.
Anyway, the Pletcher Platoon put in their final major works this morning (whoa! did the Florida Derby winner Scat Daddy look good ripping off a :59.40 with Angel Cordero, Jr. pulling harder against him then he would in a tug-o-war contest) and now I don’t need to make that Lexington run for the rest of the week. I simply commute about 10 minutes to Churchill and get to have my fun under the Twin Spires.
Hope you’re enjoying the run-up to the Derby. Hope you are getting to do it here in Louisville. If not, try to put it on your travel roster for 2008. Derby is a trip --- a real trip.
May 3, 2007 - 3:32pm #
Wilson --
You're due for a comeback to KY. Try for next year. That'll be a winner.
Meanwhile, root 'em home this year. Hope you tab the right one(s). Good luck!
May 3, 2007 - 3:15pm #
Mike --
Get that Derby trip on your list for next year. You'll love it and be able to tell the stories for years after.
Like your take on Scat Daddy. Think he's going to run huge. Good luck to him and you.
Safe trips for all, indeed.
May 3, 2007 - 2:46pm #
Hey Mac I hope you're enjoying the Derby Week festivities and I wish I were there, I haven't been there since watching Thunder Gulch win it from the tvs next to the betting windows as a broke twenty year old, losing my money on one of the favorites.
I told myself that next time I go I will do it right. The derby looks nice in HDTV though and I feel good about my picks. Curlin has No business in the winner's circle! Have a good one, it should be a great race.
May 2, 2007 - 6:56am #
We all envy you mac, sounds like you are having a great time. Hope to get to the Derby someday! I will be pulling for Scat Daddy www.scatdaddy.com and Stormello www.stormello.com . Lets hope and pray that all the horses and jockeys have safe trips.
May 1, 2007 - 3:05pm #
SoCalAl -- My man, you've got it. You understand.
Beautifully written, fully of wonderful flourishes. I even liked your sound effects.
SoCal, you're a real racing fan.
Good luck to you, in Derby 133 and otherwise.
April 30, 2007 - 4:01pm #
Good Day to you Mac & Derby Dreamers,
As I sit here reading your post and soon begin to peck on this button filled, plastic coated, circuit board, with modern times alphanumerical symbols on each one of them and I commence the slow journey of typing out a thought as slowly as a rooster pecks his way, one kernel at a time, until he is satisfied and gizzard filled. My thoughts begin to drift towards the only tracks which I have visited over the years and watched the early morning work-outs of some of the best and certainly some of the worst equestrian racers. I can’t help how one develops a love for the beast called the horse. A truly gentle giant with it’s massive cylindrical body, that is sustained by four very lanky, slinky but yet iron like legs. One who is the envy of all man kind in that one wishes we had the muscle definition and the sheer speed and the agility to travel at speeds of up to 46mph. Handling turns better than BMW, accelerating with the elegance of a Mercedez Benz, an honest hardworking, four wheel driivng Land Cruiser that will get the job done in any kind of weather, obedient unto death. The horse, all breeds, Thoroughbred or Quarter, Arabian or Appaloosa and yes even Mules will fight to the end if need be just to cross the finish line first or not. I don’t know and can speak for the ladies and I don’t know that I can speak for all the men who ever stepped foot at a race track such as Church Hill Downs or Santa Anita or Woodbine or Long Camp or where ever. But I know I can speak for some and as I detail my sentiments I know some will agree.
There is nothing like having a cup of coffee with eggs Benedict or even a breakfast burrito or simply some toast and jelly, while braving the cool crisp air of the dawn and anticipating the warmth of the morning sun light. The smell of freshly watered cement combined with the aroma of fresh coffee and a whiff of even the horses excrement, somehow sweetens and enlightens the morning into a reality that you are witnessing these tranquil but powerful beasts at their very best. It is a team effort between trainer, handler, jockey, groom and so many others that will enable the fan, the sports commentator, the writer, the gambler and the owners of these masterful vintage gladiators called race horses, to watch in awe, in disbelief, in disarray as if you were in a dream but could yet pinch yourself and realize you are actually there. I don’t care if you are watching a 5k claimer or the next Seattle Slew when you hear the drums sounds coming around the track, prrrrrup. Prrrrrup, prrrrup and the snorting through the nose, frrrrrr, frrrrrr, frrrrrrsh and the jockey striving to become one with the animal politely kisses into the air muahhh, muahhh, muahh, tta-tta-tta-tta-tta, yeahhawww. I know many of us wonder about ourselves being the jockey on that horse. We wonder about the sheer power they represent we become enamored with the elegance and beauty of these creatures and thus come to an understanding that everything else that surrounds this great sport is just secondary. I truly believe that the day may come when wagering on horses may end as far as a form of entertainment but I know horse racing will never end because it is a genetic code that is built into man kind to become one with these animals.
Derby week, is a moment of anticipation, a moment in which we the fans, the gamblers, the owners, the trainers, the jockeys and everyone else is truly handed an equine puzzle in which the ones who pick the winner of the Kentucky Derby will feel for the rest of their life that they are somehow connected to the colt and the connections that win it. I for instance will never forget Thunder Gulch my first Derby winner just two years into studying this sport. I will never forget Grindstone and certainly not Barbaro who paid the ultimate price for what I believe was his and our pleasure. I dare say his for I a man of faith and I believe in a creator who created these masterful animals that would never grow old on us. As long as there are horses on the face of the earth, there will be those close to goodness and godliness that will love them for what they are. So I know there are those who are more interested in the meat that comes from these precious animals and yet others who simply care about the gambling aspect of this game but I guarantee you they have never witnessed the grace and the beauty of the divine connection between horse and men. But for those of us who have watched them in the early morning light and for those of us who's skin has even goose bumped as you see a thoroughbred flash by you with furocious power adn elegance to the finish line, it is truly for those of us that this 133rd Kentucky Derby is just the constant reminder, a beacon of hope, a manifestation of faith a dream come true a dream that we should never wake up from, a dream we call Derby Fever.
Just a thought,
SoCalAl
April 30, 2007 - 11:45am #
Glenn -- Greetings. Concerning Autobahn Girl: She just had a little jog at Churchill this morning and WILL run in the Oaks. Not sure I'd make that equation between Rags and Quay. Totally different circumstances -- their races, that is. She could win and he could blow. Or vice versa. Or they both could win, or both blow. Take them as separate elements.
Wishing you much good luck and a wonderful Oaks--Derby.
April 30, 2007 - 11:38am #
Mark -- Thanks for your note, and the only thing I know that's sweeter than Kentucky hospitality is Tupelo honey. It is always a treat to come back this way.
Good luck and good Derby to you.
April 30, 2007 - 11:16am #
Barb -- Glad you're enjoying the Derby doings. Sounds to me like you'd better book that flight for next spring, for sure.
April 30, 2007 - 11:15am #
Barry -- Safe trip. We'll save you some hay -- and some burgoo, juleps and bluegrass breeze. Come on down and get lucky.
April 30, 2007 - 2:01am #
Mac
good to see all of you have made it to Derbyland to be our "eyes on the ground"....i am glad to see the horses you will be covering in the upcoming week as i have settled on Any Given Saturday as my pick....also liking Cowtown a little also.....glad to see your Oaks post and i see you and Justin both like the way Cotton is looking....i am liking her Octave and Mistical Plan....also have an interest in Autobahn Girl....know her chances of getting in and running??? also do you think that if Rags get dusted in the Oaks as i am thinking would it be logical to toss Quay in the Derby??? look forward to the upcoming info back from you.....hope you have a profitable week (like you would gamble while you "work")
April 29, 2007 - 9:48pm #
I know Simpsonville, spent a little bit of time there working on the Caridnal Club development project.
I'll be on a plane moving your way in a month but I'll be stopping in Salt Lake City and heading for the Red Rock Wilderrness Area. I want to see it before I get too old to put on my backpack.
I think you get spoiled living here. The Derby is such a huge part of the culture that you tend to take a lot of things for granted. People plant their gardens based on the Derby. The first Saturday in May truly has some kind of magical significance here and I love to hear stories from residents of other parts of the country coming here and taking it all in. It helps put things back into focus.
Great read and I hope you enjoy our hospitality Mac.
April 29, 2007 - 7:06pm #
Love your article. Just an old Kentucky girl living the Road to the Roses through the internet in upstate NY. I could almost believe I was in Kentucky again especially when you talked of what fun it is at Keeneland.
April 29, 2007 - 6:53pm #
Mac, I smelling the roses and feeling the Derby Fever. West Coast on the way, via the Los Angeles United Airlines arriving on Oak Day. Save some of the hay, I am on the way.
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