Spiral Diaries: Turfway's Biggest Day

Dubai Sky poses after winning the Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park. (Photos by Melissa Bauer-Herzog)
A little over an hour from Lexington, Ky., Turfway Park is one of my favorite tracks to visit because it reminds me of the track in Oregon that got me started in horse racing. So when I got the chance to go up to the track for my second Spiral Stakes, I jumped on it.
One of the first things I saw when arriving were a few booths run by Thoroughbred aftercare organizations educating fans about racehorses moving on to second careers after leaving the track. I always love when tracks give these organizations a chance to connect with the racing audience as aftercare is an important part of the racing industry.

The Spiral and Bourbonette Oaks trophies and blankets were set up at the edge of the winners’ circle so fans could stop by and see them. In addition to the trophies, the table they were set on also held horse shoes painted with the silks of each of the Spiral contenders. The blankets of flowers weren’t yet out yet but that didn’t stop people from checking out what the winners would receive.

After settling my stuff into the press box and catching up with some people who I hadn’t seen all winter, I headed down to shoot the races. I picked the right race to start with, it was a maiden special weight and Woodland Walk used the biggest day of the year at Turfway to break his maiden. The colt won by 4 ¾ lengths after being geared down by his jockey.

One of my favorite things to see in a winning horse is pricked ears as he crosses the finish line. Mygalsal (who has a very misleading and feminine name, he is a gelding) obliged when he came home in front, ahead of the race favorite, Lucky Kitten.

After Mygalsal’s race, the blanket of Spiral roses arrived to join the other Spiral winner spoils. As Chris Baker, chief operating officer of Three Chimneys Farm who owns part of Spiral winner Dubai sky said ““Roses in March, why not in May?”

Before we knew it, it was time for the horses in the next race to leave the paddock. The pony didn’t look too impressed that the field wasn’t ready to leave when he was.

It was a beautiful day out so when the horses did emerge from the paddock, they were greeted by a nice crowd who were all about the horses.

Of course, no Kentucky Derby prep is complete without fashionable racegoers. As the first Kentucky Derby prep of the season in Kentucky, it was a good time for everyone to pull out their best for the race.

Soon, we arrived at Race 9, an allowance that runs right before the two graded stakes races on the card. The race attracted a nice field when I attended my first Spiral Stakes day last year and this was no different.
Derby Kitten won the 2011 Lexington Stakes and competed in that year’s Kentucky Derby. He’s been on the racing scene for years now and was making his first start of 2015 here. Each racehorse in the paddock has to get their tattoo checked, and after Derby Kitten was tacked up, he went through the process.

Wise Dan may be taking some time off but his half-brother Casino Dan made an appearance at Turfway for the race. Casino Dan has the same connections as Wise Dan and was making his third straight start at the track in this race.

Poker Player, who won the 2013 Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland and ran in the 2014 Spiral was also in the field. It was his first start of 2015 and second since last spring.

But the winner of the race turned out to be Sultry Cat, a gelding making his eighth start, who won by a ¾ length margin over Derby Kitten.

A few minutes after Sultry Cat headed back to the barn, the first of our Bourbonette Oaks horses walked into the paddock. Uncontrolled had been the last one to get into the race because she had been an also eligible horse at the draw, but she was determined not to be the last one to come to the paddock, leading the charge.

The full field of 12 horses meant that quite a few fillies followed Uncontrolled into the paddock. Fittingly, Don’t Leave Me was the second one to arrive and looked happy to have her tattoo checked.

One filly that I was personally looking forward to in this field is named Back Flip. She became an internet sensation when she was only a few minutes old because of this video. As you can see, it also led to her name.
BACK FLIP'S CLAIM TO FAME

Video courtesy of WinStar Farm
I’d been a fan of hers since seeing that video, so I was excited to see her in person.

For one final pre-race task, the photographers lined up Mike Maker and his three jockeys for a group picture. The trainer was running three fillies in the race, including two for clients Ken and Sarah Ramsey.

Before too long, the field was loaded into the gate and there was a few seconds of silence before the field was off with a mostly uneventful start.

Don’t Leave Me was another one of those ears-pricked winners, crossing the wire ¾ of a length ahead of Sweet Success and Sharla Rae. It was a big win for breeder-owner Pin Oak Stud, who had also won the Azeri Stakes the weekend before with Gold Medal Dancer.

Trainer Malcom Pierce didn’t have much time to celebrate as he had to rush off to the airport but he did look pretty thrilled to be in the winner’s circle with the filly. As soon as the winner presentation was done, he rushed off to catch his flight with a group of journalists chasing after him to get some quotes.

Next up was the Spiral Stakes, the big race everyone had been waiting for. Conquest Typhoon, a runner in from California, was the first horse in the paddock by a good two minutes.

But the horse who really caught my attention was Royal Son. He’d won the local prep for this race and is a very nice looking horse. He’d been talked about a lot but I hadn’t understood the hype until I saw him in person.

Before long, it was time for the call to post as the horses started making their way out of the paddock. The post parade gave fans a chance to see a prospective Kentucky Derby runner as whoever won this race would earn 50 points towards the big race on the first Saturday in May.

Since the race is a mile and an eighth, the field goes by the winning post twice. I’m sure Mr. Ramsey was hoping they could just end the race there with his horse Watchyourownbobber in the lead.

But when the field came back around the first, and only, thing I saw in my viewfinder was Dubai Sky in the lead.

There was a lot of celebration when Dubai Sky came back to the winner’s circle. The colt wasn’t nominated to the Triple Crown before the race but the day after the race it was reported that he will be nominated and is going to train at Churchill Downs over the coming weeks.

The test run of seeing how Dubai Sky looks in roses went well, don’t you think?

The next Kentucky Derby prep in the Bluegrass state is at Keeneland in two weeks in the Blue Grass Stakes. America’s Best Racing will have all the coverage you want as we get closer to the event!