Kentucky Derby April 30 and May 1

In November 2011 we signed up for the Kentucky Derby Rally Caravan and the time is finally here. This was a gift to ourselves for our 50th anniversary .We arrived at the Louisville Metro KOA in Clarksville, IN a day before the Rally started.  The schedule for the next week is unbelievable, packed with things to do. A meeting the first day to get acquainted and to receive our name tags, wind breakers, itinerary, hats, etc.
 Day two started with the bus loading at 6:45am to spend the day in Lexington visiting horse training center, farms, parks, all celebrating the horse. On the way to Lexington on the bus we had a guide who informed us of the different points of interest along the way such as Shelbyville is the center of the Saddlebred Horse county. 
Our first stop outside of Lexington is the Thoroughbred Training Center where the first Keeneland sales arena was. The arena is no longer used for the sale but is quite the show place. Just imagine horses walking on this stage and the seats filled with buyers from all over the world bidding on colts they hope might be in the Derby in a year or two.

The Training Center is vast and has acres of barns and training areas.

Next we stood at the fence rail of the track and watched the two and three year olds work out and learned that if a workout rider has his stirrups lengthen means he is riding a young unpredictable colt or filly. The inside of the tract was for horses running fast and the closer they are to the outside fence the slower the workout.

While standing at the fence I turned around and saw a trainer cooling his horse off using a hose and spraying water. I walked over and he told me it was a filly and she was two years old and had just completed her workout. Two and three years old have workouts for 15 to 20 minutes a day to condition them to race. I asked if she was fast and he only said time would tell. The filly enjoyed being petted so I felt very lucky to pet her. At one end of the track was a three horse starting gate. All horses must pass the starting gate test in order to break from the gate and race.  We continued to the barns where a trainer answered questions like "How do you make them run?" answer "you can't, they have to want to run". "Who do you like in the Derby?", "Don't know". We found out that was the standard answer to the Derby question. 
Our next stop was at Keeneland Race Track.

Beautiful horse farms line the roads in all directions with painted barns in white and red. The fences snake in fields meant for horses to run. These three panel fences cost $18,000 per mile with another $7,000 to $8,000 to paint. There are no corners in these fields because they want the horse to run free without having to stop for the corners. Some times we see double fences and these are to keep stallions enclosed. The land is gently rolling hills.

Keeneland Race track is the next place to visit. It is truly a beautiful area with parking in shady area and everything so green.

The tract is beautifully groomed and sparkly clean.

The track is a composite of rubber, plastic telephone coating and is about 18 inches deep. Never have to worry about a muddy track since it drains completely. Horses run on these artificial tracks or turf or dirt. A horse may run on all three types to find out which one is the best for it and will run on that surface forever. Not all tracks have a choice of surfaces.
Because Keeneland has not changed much since the 30s several motion pictures have been filmed here most notable was Seabiscut.

I learned that each racing rack has only certain horseshoes that can be ran on its tract and that they are posted somewhere in the walkway to the track.

Keeneland Race Track has these jockeys painted to reflect horses that have won in the major races this year. The colors are changed spring and fall. Some of the Derby horses were listed.

This is the new sales center for Keeneland. Keeneland uses its profits from the sales to fund the tract and a breeding program. In 2008 over $400,000,000 in sales was produced. The horses sold are from all over the world and rated to sell at different sales. The sale lasts over many days and is twice a year. The sale prices have dropped to half of the 2008 total.

 

We next went to lunch at Natasha's in down town Lexington. Lexington has a pretty down town with some interesting sculptures. This one is at a bank.

Our next attraction is the Kentucky Horse Park dedicated to all things to do with horses. One could wonder the park for hours and see everything about horses.

 Without Secretariat no horse park would be complete. This is the greatest horse in my time.

The flowers were blooming.

 The Arabian is one of the prettiest horse with its beautiful dished face.

Man-O-War was one of the greatest horse ever to have lived. He raced 22 times and lost once due to jockey error.

 We watched Parade of Breeds show that showcased the Morgan, the Arabian and the English Gypsy Vanner.

Gypsy Vanner

The strangest horse I saw was this Kathiawar horse from India. His ears almost fold together at the top of his head.

We hopped back on the bus and headed to Frankfort with a drive by the Capitol and Governor's Mansion. It was raining so we did not stop to take pictures. This picture is of the floral clock that our tour guide's father created.

 

We had left at 7:00am and returned at 6:00pm tired but happy about the things we had seen. Good memories.