Horse Racing in the Blood

 

I think my Great Grandpa Neelly would have fit right in during our day at the Keeneland Race Track at Lexington, Ky.

Charley Neelly had a fondness for horses and made money by trading them. He also liked good driving horses and owned 11 race horses during his lifetime. A little of that love of racing must have filtered into my mom's blood and then into mine. She's always liked watching horse racing. On Saturday afternoons in the spring, I remember gathering around the TV in the family room to watch the three races of the Triple Crown. That's still a favorite spring Saturday afternoon viewing choice.  

We had been to Keeneland once before in the dead of winter. Brent was working at Morehead (KY) State University's athletic department at the time, but we only had time to visit in the fall and winter. By chance, an employee there saw us looking around the grounds in January 2013 and gave us an impromptu tour. But Randy wanted to go back to Kentucky to see horse racing. The timing of this Kentucky trip was centered around the race schedule there. Keeneland hosts spring races in April and has a fall session through the month of October.

Even though Randy ordered the tickets shortly after sales opened, we were only able to get general admission. 

We weren't sure how much room there would be, so we arrived as the gates opened. We chose one of the scattered benches provided in general admission and took turns exploring. People in the know brought their own lawn chairs for seating, too.

I had taken a photo of the jockeys when we were there in January 2013. (For that blog post, click HERE.) I repeated that photo in 2023.  

I could have bought a hat there.

But I had brought my Walmart hat, which sufficed.

It may not have been as fancy, but it was more in my price range, and it still kept my face from getting sunburned.

There were certainly plenty of betting windows.

And, of course, there were plenty of concession stands. (The admission price of $7 each ended up being the least expensive part of the day.)

Grooms brought some of the horses into a central courtyard. 

Without their numbers and racing colors, I have no idea what their names were. Some seemed more spirited than others. The one below needed two grooms to keep him in line.

We didn't hear the bugle for the first race, but we did for the other nine races. We definitely had beginner's luck. The first horse we chose - PH Factor - was the winner! 

We were pretty excited! For the second race, we chose Rush Center, because of the town of the same name in Kansas. And he won in a photo finish ... or so we thought. 

Because he bumped another horse as they were turning for home, he got downgraded to second place.

Just like at a football game at K-State when the action is on the other end of the field, I ended up watching the big screen. Plus, lots of people that had been crowding around a bar or the betting windows, crowded around the rails during the races.  

There were statistics about prior races in the program. There were "Betologists" at kiosks to give people their two cents' worth of advice ... for a price greater than two cents, of course. But my strategy continued to be choosing the name I liked the best. That strategy paid off again in Race 7, when we chose Magical Lute. There was "magic" for Randy and "music" for me. He was the victor! In the photo below, he was cooling down after his win on the way to the winner's circle.

I thought this photo was cool - Magical Lute and jockey going by the big screen while their photo was flashed there!

 And below, he's in the winner's circle.

Here, he's being led away from the winner's circle for his victory meal, I suppose.

 In Race 8, we also chose the winner, Viareggio.

After watching the weather report, we also had "bet" that it was going to rain. It did. But we brought our K-State ponchos, which usually get pulled from the car trunk at wet football games. As is usual when we wear our purple as we travel, it generates conversation. Most of it was good. Several Cincinnati fans are anxious to be part of the new Big 12. However, one man's comment cannot be repeated on a family blog. I think he was still a little bitter about the University of Kentucky men basketball team's loss to K-State in the Big Dance.

We sat there in the rain to avoid losing our bench and to keep it dry. Plus, when you're in a drought at home, you just enjoy the rain - no matter the setting. Just like at football games, we lasted until the very end. There were a lot fewer people crowding the rails during the rain.

We actually came out ahead with our novice betting, even when you count the $4 bottles of water and the pricey hot dog Randy ate.

Keeneland was our favorite activity of the trip. 

***

Our favorite Lexington eatery was OBC - Old Bourbon County restaurant. Our server told us we were sitting at Coach John Calipari's table. At first, we thought maybe he just told us that because it was kind of tucked into a corner. But it actually had a metal nameplate on it. We texted Tye, who took over our farm ground. He's a big KU fan. Kentucky and KU aren't the best buddies on the basketball court, so we K-Staters had to give him a hard time. 

Randy had shrimp and grits. I had chicken in country biscuits. Both were delicious. 

Shrimp and Grits - OBC photo

I should have taken pictures. I took these off their website.

Chicken in Biscuits - OBC photo

More from Lexington is coming in the next blog.

The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports

"And they're off!" 

It's Kentucky Derby weekend, and I'm probably paying more attention than usual. On a very cold day in January, we visited Churchill Downs in Louisville. It was one of our stops on the whirlwind tour of Kentucky, as we traveled to visit Brent in Morehead, KY, two hours away. We got our own private, behind-the-scenes tour of the grounds. Our tour guide took us into the suite where the Queen of England watched the Kentucky Derby. (I don't think that was a regular part of the tour, but the guide was cold, too.)

I'm going to have to DVR the Derby this year since we are host/hostess for a wedding for the daughter of friends. (Happy Wedding Day, Erica - Brent's birthday "twin.")

My Mom has always liked watching horse racing. I remember Saturday afternoons in the spring, watching the three races of the Triple Crown on the TV in our family room. I think horses must be in my Mom's blood. Her grandfather, Charley Neelly, was a farmer in Pratt County, but he made extra money by trading horses. He owned a total of 11 race horses during his lifetime. He also liked good driving horses. (Information from a family history written by my brother, Kent Moore.)

My Grandpa Shelby Neelly is the 2-year-old (far left) in this 1906 photo.

Racing in Louisville dates back to 1783 when races were held on Market Street in the downtown area. Churchill Downs was established after 26-year-old Col. M. Lewis Clark traveled in England and France in 1872-1873. After his return from Europe, Clark began development of his racetrack which would serve to showcase the Kentucky breeding industry. The track would eventually become known as "Churchill Downs."

We also toured the Derby museum, and I was especially interested in a display which featured a John Deere tractor.

A lot of people don't realize how much goes into really taking care of the track ... I live and die this. I live and die the weather.

Butch Lehr

Churchill Down track superintendent

While wagering and odds are beyond me, this Kansas farm wife can definitely understand the dependence on the weather. Another panel said this:

When the horses are running, the track must be watered, conditioned and properly graded so that animals don't trip on uneven ground. As soon as the weather gets warmer, preparations begin again for early March when the horses will return to the Downs. ... There are no artificial surfaces at Churchill Downs. As track superintendent Butch Lehr says, "We're kind of proud of our track."

We didn't see any racing. The top photo was a huge video screen in the museum.

There may be rain during the 139th Derby this year. And I've been thinking about the workers who will have to do all in their power to keep Verrazano, Hunch Bet, Revolutionary and 17 other horses and jockeys safe as they run for the roses. (I have a feeling that Randy's favorite horse this year will be Charming Kitten, despite odds of 40-1, because of his affinity for felines.)

Since our tour of Churchill Downs and of Keeneland Race Track at Lexington, Randy has been watching the racing channel as it's rained here this week, waiting for glimpses of places we saw and experienced. (Who knew we got the racing channel? Not me, but of course, my channel flipper found them!)

I'll probably DVR all the pre-race festivities, hoping to see some of the landmarks we toured earlier this year. And I'll be silently saluting the people behind the scenes, getting on their tractors and doing the job without fanfare or accolades or multi-million-dollar horses. They must be kindred spirits.

For the record, the Derby may be the "most exciting two minutes of sports." But it takes 3 hours of television to properly cover it. At least I can speed through the commercials. 

It's like being a concert pianist. You can't think about the hours of study and the tears, the disappointments, the frustrations. Otherwise, you would never do it. You can only think about the day that you are on the stage.

Carl Nafzger

Hall of Fame horse trainer