A Story by Melissa Farlow

Kentucky Horse | High Stakes in the Bluegrass, National Geographic

The Kentucky Derby is the most famous two minutes in horse racing. Generations of hot-blooded thoroughbreds from a few elite bloodlines have been bred for speed.

Thoroughbred racing is celebrated as the “sport of kings.” Behind the glamorous scene, however, is a billion dollar business that supports not only wealthy horse owners, but also a huge industry dependant on horse racing. Breeders, veterinarians, and jockeys are just a few of the people whose lives revolve around thoroughbred horses.

Central Kentucky is the picturesque backdrop. Stone barns, white fences, and lush Bluegrass pastures look designed to movie set perfection.

What makes Kentucky special, however, is the geology favored for horses. Millions of years ago when Kentucky’s climate was like Bermuda’s is today, tons of …

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Thoroughbreds thunder down the dirt track into the first turn in front of the infamous twin spires of Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky. The Kentucky Derby, first held in 1875, is the most famous two minutes in horse racing. Also called The Run for the Roses, the winner of the Derby often advances to compete for the Triple Crown.
Photograph made with remote camera place under the rail on the first turn of the track. It was the lead picture featured in a story published on Bluegrass Country in National Geographic magazine.

Stylish, extravagant hats are a long-standing tradition at the Kentucky Derby. Competition for best dressed is nearly as fierce as the race outside, says a Churchill Downs track official. Women parade in their costumed finery in front of jockey portraits in the Turf Club.

A mud-splattered face alludes to the hardships of a jockey’s life. Smeared goggles tossed aside from being in the back of the pack, Rene Douglas had just completed a race at Lexington’s Keeneland Race Course on a rainy race day. A jockeys life is not easy—this elite club of professional athletes maintain a near inhuman weight restriction that most Americans would never even attempt.
Jockeys face unpredicted dangers riding a 1,000-pound animal at high speeds competing for a win. Racing injuries often mean costly and uninsured medical expenses, the end of a career, or worse. Still, horse racing lures die-hard talent. “I’ve got three herniated discs in the neck,” says Rene Douglas. “I love the sport because I ride good horses and I’m good at it.” Douglas endured injuries to his spinal cord from an unfortunate accident in a race that his mount did not survive. He is paralyzed from the waist down.

Waiting in the paddock before a race is Pat Day, who during his career, won over 8,000 races. A jockey’s life is not easy—this elite club of professional athletes maintain a near inhuman weight restriction that most Americans would never even attempt. Day, surrounded by the young sons of a horse trainer, waits for a race at Keeneland Race Course.

The Bluegrass Region is rich with lore and traditions like the lawn jockey, a small statue prominently positioned on every farm with a lantern or hitching ring in one outstretched hand. Local legend says it memorializes Jocko Graves, who stood guard over horses for George Washington and froze to death holding a lantern in his hand. He was known as the faithful guardsman.
Modern day watchman and farm owner Dr. Smiser West walks out his office door toward the lawn jockey painted with the colors of Waterford Farm.

Prized stud and 1995 Derby winner, Thunder Gulch, lives a better life than most humans. His barn is part of Irish-owned Ashford Stud where a retired racing stallion may bring stud fees as high as $125,000 per mating. International deep pockets pervade horse country, vying for top equine bloodlines although the market rises and falls.
Stone barns and bridges were built in recent years on the farm creating the charm of another era with some barns featuring chandeliers in the cupolas.

A private training track is positioned on Stone Farm in Kentucky in a picturesque setting. The farm is owned by Arthur Hancock III who grew up knowing horses as he spent time working on his family farm, Claiborne, a respected and successful breeding farm for generations.
In 1970, his father, Bull Hancock sent young Arthur III to run a 100-acre tract known as Stone Farm. It was a farm in microcosm, involving all details of administration and business as well as horsemanship. Like his father, Arthur succeeded. Stone Farm has produced Derby winners and other prestigious bloodlines of thoroughbreds on the rambling, rolling 2,000-acre property.

Flowering crab apple and blossoms from cherry trees burst with spring colors along the white fences on Manchester Farm, making an idyllic setting on the bluegrass horse farm near Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. A lone thoroughbred stallion stands at the edge of the pasture viewing other horses in nearby pastures. The allure of the Bluegrass Region is partly because of it’s picturesque backdrop–almost designed to perfection like a movie set.

Race fans picnic on the lawn under flowering trees during the spring meet at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. Keeneland was founded in 1935 and takes pride in maintaining racing traditions. It was the last track in North America to broadcast race calls over a public-address system, not doing so until 1997. Most of the racing scenes of the 2003 movie Seabiscuit were shot at Keeneland, because its appearance has changed relatively little in the last several decades. The track was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986.

A rare gene produces all white horses on Patchen Wilkes Farm. Patchen Beauty foaled the first white colt in the family, The White Fox. The young foal plays while his mother grazes. He is the 16th non-albino white thoroughbred to be registered with the studbook of the Jockey Club in the more than 1.7 million horses registered.
The mare and foal descend from the first non-albino white thoroughbred horse registered in 1963—White Beauty—a filly that belonged to Herman Goodpaster. White Beauty produced several alabaster white horses including Patchen Beauty who won two races before becoming a broodmare.
Photograph was the last picture of the layout in a National Geographic magazine article on Kentucky Horse Country.

A pregnant mare rolls in the mud with a plastic bucket over her mouth as a muzzle to keep her from being inadvertently eating caterpillars, thus limiting her exposure to toxins.
In 2001, approximately 25% of all pregnant mares in Kentucky aborted their foals within several weeks (over 3,000 mares lost pregnancies), and abortion rates exceeded 60% on some farms because of Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome (MRLS). The mysterious disease caused mares to spontaneously abort at an early term as well fully developed foals—the babies that survived had heart and eye problems. Those that didn’t die or were put down had brain injuries and are often referred to as “dummy foals.” University of Kentucky estimates 1400 foals were aborted costing the state 336 million dollars.
What was known was that mares were being exposed to something in the fields—a fungus or mycotoxin that seemed to be related to the Eastern tent caterpillar that was found in cherry trees. Farms tried to limit their risk and exposure to the grass by putting plastic buckets over their mouths.

A 1,000-pound patient is moved into a mat after receiving surgery at famed Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital. The facility is respected throughout the world for innovative and skilled treatment for horses including surgery, internal medicine, advanced diagnostic imaging, a specialized Podiatry Center and specialized Reproductive Center. Thoroughbred horses are like high-powered human athletes and sustain repairable injuries that can keep them racing.

Thoroughbred foals are fitted with a halter and put into a paddock with their mothers on the first day they are born. Mares and foals typically stand in close proximity to each other during the first days and weeks of life. They spend time with other mares and foals learning to socialize while grazing on dandelions, sweet clover and the bluegrass of Kentucky.
Photograph of thoroughbred horses was published in National Geographic magazine’s feature article on Kentucky Horse Country.

April and May are foaling season in Kentucky, and most foals are born between 10 pm and 4 am under the cover of darkness. A night watchman called Dr. Smiser West, who at age 93, still jumped out of bed and came to the barn to wait for the blessed event on Waterford Farm. Small farm owners are the backbone of the horse industry in the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky, where concerned managers and owners that go the extra mile caring for the highly valued thoroughbreds.
Photograph was published in National Geographic magazine article on Kentucky Horse Country.

Dreams are built on the hope of having a young spirited foal that might grow up to win the Derby. Generations of horses from a few elite bloodlines are bred for speed. One of this year’s young hopefuls, a foal romps through a paddock on Claiborne Farm when turned out early, one frosty morning.
Some of the world’s fastest Thoroughbreds like Seabiscuit and Secretariat have lived at Claiborne, one of the oldest and largest horse farms in the Bluegrass Region.

Kentucky Horse | High Stakes in the Bluegrass, National Geographic

Kentucky Horse | High Stakes in the Bluegrass, National Geographic

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