Once In a Lifetime Experience: My First Derby

Heading to Churchill Downs on Thursday for my first Kentucky Derby week was met with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
Like many horsey kids, I watched the Kentucky Derby throughout my childhood and have seriously been paying attention to the race since 2001. I’ve covered the last four Kentucky Derbys and have been to Churchill Downs many times, but I had never actually been to a Kentucky Derby, so getting to finally check the race off my bucket list was exciting.
Before I even made it to the track, I ran into trainer "Jinx" Fires ponying one of his horses back from the track. Fires was the trainer of 2011 Arkansas Derby winner and Kentucky Derby runner Archarcharch, so I probably should have taken seeing him as an omen since American Pharoah won this year’s Arkansas Derby. 

The lovely Penelope Miller knows that without my morning tea I’m not fully awake, so she steered me to the backside media center and made sure I had tea in my hand before the exercise time allotted for Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks contenders. 
By about 8 a.m., we were on the rail to make sure we got a spot for the 8:30 training session (the media center rail fills up quickly with those trying to grab spots to see the horses) and it was perfect. Before I knew it, Dortmund was in front of me. Soon after, Derby and Oaks contenders were coming from both gaps by my spot, and I felt like I was in a tennis match trying to catch everyone.

For about 20 minutes, the track was filled with Kentucky Derby and Oaks contenders galloping, jogging, or even just standing around. My camera was on overdrive.

Soon, the session was over and I was about to give up my spot when I caught a glimpse of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern. It’s not every day you get to see the Classic winner train, so I stuck around for a few minutes longer. 

 
Before I knew it, it was time to head to the front side so I could get to work on some things I had to do. But pre-Derby weekend activities don’t end after training hours and, thanks to a list handed out in the press box, I was able to catch a few of the Derby and Oaks horses schooling in the paddock.
Among the horses I saw was Upstart, who has a cool collection of white dots on his body. His trainer and handlers spent a lot of time rubbing on him and making him feel as comfortable as possible in the saddling stall and around the paddock.

One horse who I was really impressed with during the schooling sessions was Far Right. He took everything going on around the paddock in stride and even cooler was that his trainer, Ron Moquett, took a very hands-on approach, taking the shank and doing most of the schooling himself.

Finally came the horse that I really wanted to get a good look at. I wrote a story about Mubtaahij earlier in the week and had seen the horse in the morning, but I wanted to see how he handled everything in the afternoon. He played with his handlers but never seemed to be too fazed about the action going on. It wasn’t too surprising to see him so calm since he had run at the Dubai World Cup Carnival, which is a pretty busy atmosphere as well, but it was reassuring to see that he didn’t blink an eye at everything going on around him.

Thursday night was a lot like Christmas Eve, where it’s so hard to sleep because of the excitement of getting presents, and I woke up before my 7:15 a.m. alarm. After a meeting, I got my photographer vest and a few friends took me up to the roof to show me a different angle to shoot races from. The roof is normally locked, so this was definitely a treat that didn’t disappoint. Posing next to the top of the Twin Spires was amazing.

Photo courtesy of Penelope P. Miller
We stayed up there for a race and shooting from this new angle was worth the climb we had up the stairs. 

When I learned that I had some spare time until the first graded stakes race of the day started, I decided that I better take advantage of the good weather and the atmosphere on Oaks day while waiting for horses to make their way over to the track. I ventured into the crowd and enjoyed seeing some of the outfits people were wearing. But they weren’t the only ones dressed up, even the ponies got into the spirit.

 
Soon, it was time for the first graded stakes on the card (for all the stakes action, check out this blog) and I was excited to see Lady Zuzu. I was lucky enough to meet her the day she arrived at Three Chimneys Farm after being bought for $1,225,000 as a yearling but hadn’t had a chance to see her in person since then, so she was a really good start to the day.

She didn’t disgrace herself in the Edgewood Stakes, finishing third to two really nice fillies. Unfortunately for everyone who didn’t want a mini-heart attack, when she came back to be unsaddled she nearly ran off with her jockey and was making a beeline for the line of photographers before he got her pulled up. Just to be on the safe side, she was ponied back to her connections so she didn’t decide to try and play chicken with anyone else.

A few races later, the older males got hearts racing in the Alysheba Stakes. I spent a lot of time watching Protonico when he was based at Keeneland this spring, and he has a personality back at the barn that is sassy but just funny enough to make you really like him. I’m actually surprised that I remembered to snap the finish of the Alysheba because I was so enthralled with the battle going on between him and Noble Bird coming down to the finish line. 

The cool thing about horse racing is that the sport attracts celebrities as owners. While Wes Welker is in the spotlight most of the year, his horse Undrafted took his time in the limelight on Oaks day. Undrafted closed like a freight train but ran out of turf, finishing second for Welker. I was bummed that Welker’s horse didn’t win the race because I was hoping he’d hand money out again and make some lucky fans’ day again!

After a few other activities on the track, including a parade, it was finally time for the Kentucky Oaks! I grabbed a good spot to watch all the fillies for their walkover, taking a good look at all of them before they walked into the paddock. The atmosphere was electric and I was impressed at how loud the crowd got just for the walkover and how calmly most of the fillies handled it.
In the middle of the walkover I spotted a familiar Kentucky Oaks face, trainer Larry Jones, who was looking for his third Kentucky Oaks win in eight years. For having two highly regarded fillies, he looked much more relaxed than I expected.

Right after Larry came probably the “best dressed” filly in the field. Sarah Sis’s team went all out on making their filly look her best for the big race, even including a pink bow in her forelock and pink bands holding her braids.

A few minutes later, the field broke from the gate in front of the grandstand. The roar from the crowd as the fillies raced by us for the first time topped anything I’d heard from the track that day.

I didn’t have time to truly take in the experience before the fillies were back in front of us with Larry Jones’ Lovely Maria crossing the finish line with her ears pricked.

From there, it was organized chaos with photographers running their own race to get a good spot in the winner’s circle. My big goal was to capture some of the emotion in the winner’s circle and get a shot of Lovely Maria with her lilies. I feel safe saying that I accomplished both goals.

Before I left the track that night, I was told that my Oaks day experience was a good warm up for Derby day, but it still didn’t prepare me for the next day. I’ve been to Breeders’ Cup and other events at Churchill Downs (in fact, the first big racing event I covered in person was the 2011 Breeders’ Cup at the track) but nothing could prepare me for the record crowd.
I arrived fairly early on Saturday and there was already a big crowd of people milling around the track, dressed in their finest clothing and in some cases, most attention-grabbing hats. 

I swear someone must have hit fast-forward on my morning because when I next looked at the clock, it was time to head to the track for the first graded stakes race, the Pat Day Mile. By the time Competitive Edge crossed the finish line first in the race, the word “Preakness” was thrown around for the colt. Competitive Edge has never gone farther than a mile, but with how he handled this race he could be one to watch in the Preakness, if he likes the added distance. 

Next up was a race that I’ve been looking forward to since I found out I was going to the Kentucky Derby. As a big fan of turf racing, the American Turf is a race I enjoy every year when watching the Derby undercard. This year it was even better because two 3-year-olds I really like, A Lot and Divisidero, were running in the race.

I wasn’t smart enough to bet the race and that came back and bit me when the boys finished first and second. For Groupie Doll fans, Divisidero is a horse to add to your Virtual Stable as he is trained by Groupie Doll’s former trainer Buff Bradley.

The cool thing about the Kentucky Derby card is that race after race is packed with high-profile horses, and the Humana Distaff was no exception. My favorite mare racing right now is Judy the Beauty and, lucky for me, she was entered here. An endearing thing about “Judy”  is that her tongue is seems to always be sticking out and Saturday was no exception.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying the day and there were some animated conversations happening on the rail as the Humana Distaff field made its way into the paddock.

I’m not sure if the discussions were actually about the race but after the three-way photo finish, I’m sure they all talked about it ... if they weren’t left speechless like I was.

Possibly the biggest undercard race in terms of a notable horse was the Churchill Downs Stakes, which had 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern making his long awaited 4-year-old debut. Fans showed complete faith in Bayern’s ability to win the race, making him the 4-to-5 favorite. His handlers also seemed to be happy to have him back on the track, patting him multiple times as they walked over before his race.

Bayern had some trouble during the race and finished last but the popular Private Zone won the race and was greeted by some very happy connections when he came back to the winner’s circle.

But the sweetest greeting of the day for a winner had to be from the connections of Finnegans Wake, who won his first Grade 1 in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic. The horse received many pats, hugs, and kisses and seemed to love all the attention.

After Finnegan and his happy connections headed home, the whirlwind of the two hours before the Kentucky Derby started. The time between the Woodford Reserve and the Kentucky Derby usually drag on when I’m covering the race from off track, but that definitely was not the case while at Churchill. It seemed like only a few minutes after the Woodford Reserve (really, it was about 20), it was time for the National Anthem.
Before Josh Groban came out the flags were presented, fittingly on horseback.

Groban then came out of the Bugler’s Stand in the winner’s circle and gave a strong rendition of the National Anthem. 

On my way back for a quick stop in the press box, I ran into one of the most desirable blankets in horse racing, the blanket of Kentucky Derby roses. Let me tell you, seeing it this close is as amazing as you would imagine.

When I returned to the track to get a good spot for the walkover, I saw a familiar head of hair headed over to meet his horses. Bob Baffert and his group were headed to the backstretch gap and funnily enough, his stable pony was headed toward us to take up duty as Donna Barton Brothers’ mount for post-Derby interviews.

Only a few minutes later, we saw the first Kentucky Derby contender appear on the stretch with Mubtaahij leading the charge.

His arrival at the paddock seemed to open the faucet and for the next 10 minutes, cameras snapped away as all of the photographers tried to take photos of as many Kentucky Derby horses as possible.

Each horse had a large entourage coming with them so the tunnel to the paddock got crowded as the groups tried to make their way into the paddock. Some of the horses in the field seemed to be fine with a small, stopping point before entering the tunnel, but others were ready to get into the paddock so they could get the show on the road.

During the post parade, the horses came as close as possible to the outside rail so those front and center could get a good look at them. While a few of the horses were a little jumpy about the roar of the crowd, most of them acted like complete professionals.

After the horses broke from the starting gate, I could kind of follow their movement down the stretch for the first time just by the cheering. While the whole grandstand was loud, it seemed like the cheers got louder as the horses came closer to my position by the finish line.

As soon as the horses went around the first turn, my attention turned to the big screen Churchill Downs has opposite of the grandstand. When I saw American Pharoah start to roll on the far turn, I thought he’d fly by the other two, but Firing Line put up more of a fight against the winner than I ever would have imagined.
Time almost seemed to stop as I waited for the horses to run down the stretch and come into my line of sight but when they did, I was proud to see Firing Line still working to stay with American Pharoah as he was one of the horses I touted all winter. However, a few strides from the finish line, it was obvious that American Pharoah was about to win and give jockey Victor Espinoza his second consecutive Kentucky Derby win. 

The celebration by American Pharoah’s connections started almost as soon as the field crossed the finish line and continued on as the second- and third-place finishers were unsaddled in front of the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle and Firing Line’s jockey, Gary Stevens, was interviewed by a large group of media members.

As most of the horses started returning to the backside, American Pharoah came back to the stretch. He was stopped as Espinoza shared some hugs with people near the winner’s circle gap, but before going onto the turf he had the outrider and his pony lead American Pharoah all the way to the top of the stretch so everyone could see the newest Derby winner. 

Finally, the pair appeared on the turf so American Pharoah could get his blanket of roses. As he walked in front of me, the reality of being at my first Derby finally hit me and it was a very surreal feeling to see him with the blanket of roses just a few feet from me.

I wasn’t able to see the presentation going on in the winner’s circle due to my vantage point, but within a few minutes, American Pharoah came out and headed home.

After I wrapped up the press conference with the winning connections, I headed out to enjoy “quiet” Churchill Downs. Other than a party going on in the box of one of the Derby connections, everyone had left and it was hard to believe that just a few hours earlier more than 170,000 people had been there.

Sitting next to the track was a good time to reflect on my Kentucky Derby experience, which would be pretty much drawing to a close as soon as I loaded all of my stuff onto the shuttle back to the parking lot. I finally tore myself from my seat and took the long way back to the press box so I could walk through the paddock tunnel one last time before leaving Churchill.

(I did go to the backside the next morning to check in on American Pharoah and a few other runners from Saturday’s graded stakes races. You can see a few of those photos below.)