Race

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In Lexington

It's that time of the year 

When the rings set off 

The gates open 

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And they go!

Fast and around

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People cheer, waving papers in the air

Thump, thump, and thump

There they run

 

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Cheers are louder

And the scene gets wilder

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The winner is...

The one you didn't see

High Hope Steeplechase

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After living in Kentucky for a year and half, I still don't get the whole thing with horse races. Last Sunday Jake and I went to the High Hope Steeplechase at Kentucky Horse Park. I explained to Jake that steeplechase is like hurdle for horses, close enough, right?

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In Wisconsin, people tailgate for Badger games, Packer games, Brewer games, and other sporting events. But not for horse races. We showed up without a cooler filled with food or drink and no picnic spread. I found a towel for Lola that I keep in my car truck, and we used it as our picnic blanket. Very classy compared to the families dressed in neatly ironed khakis with polo shirts and cute sundresses.

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Here we go!

Did you know that steeplechase horses are different than the racing thoroughbred?
I thought horses are just horses...
We randomly picked a horse that we think will win, and of course, our horse never won.

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There is nothing cutter than watching terrier dog races. They use a fake squirrel to lure the dogs to dash for the finish line. It gets them every time. Lola would have saw right through their trick.

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Even though I was probably the only one there holding a DSLR camera without a fancy zoom lens, I am happy to see how my pictures turned out.
We were unprepared for High Hope Steeplechase, I kept thinking what I would bring for a picnic at the race track. Knowing me, I think about food constantly.

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Speaking of picnics, what will you be making for Memorial weekend?
I will be making a Wisconsin "tradition", more on that later.

Happy Memorial Weekend!

Claiborne Farm

This past weekend we had some family visiting, so we took them to Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky.

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This year the farm is celebrating its 100 years as a successful Thoroughbred breeder and caretaker.
You might know a horse named Secretariat from that Disney movie.
This was where he was conceived, raised, and lived his whole life at.

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It costs the farm over $5 million each year to take care of the horses residing there.

The annual fee for this horse Pulpit is $50,000 and his earnings throughout his career is $730K.

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This guy Arch, $30,000 annually just to take care of him.

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I am in the wrong business.
I ought to give horse breeding another thought...

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I was amazed learning how much each horse makes from races and breeding. Astonishing.
This explains all the fancy houses in my neighborhood.

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The horse "circle" here is a whole new and complicated world to me. Mares, stallions, foals, Breeder's Cup, Thoroughbreds, needless to say the horses' fancy names. But I was happy to learn that horses love peppermints, like the ones you get in restaurants.

With a $750K price tag and this horse here prefers a cheap peppermint?

Yeee Ha!

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Horses

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While I was at Keeneland last weekend for the horse race, I visited some race horses in the nearby stables.

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Aren't they gorgeous? Like muscle machines, ready to bust out the race gates.

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It's even better when you see names like "Dixie Union Tropical Punch" or "Star While It Shot".

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Each of them has an unique personality.

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Some like to nib on your hand while some enjoy the attention and pets.

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Beautiful.

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Keeneland Race Sunday

The track

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The crowd

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The gate

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The bell rings
The gate opens

Here they come!

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The crowd cheers!
There's excitement in the air!
And the winner is number 2!

I put on my fancy Sunday dress and heels on and went to Keeneland Horse Track with a few friends to watch horse racing. I knew nothing about placing bets, and needless to say the race horses. I learned that win is first place followed by place and show, second and third place, respectively.

I placed two dollars on number 5 Delago

The victory lap

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I loved the excitement and the cheers that fills the air in that short 20 seconds of racing. I watched three races today and I could do it all day.

The best part was that few seconds when the gate opens up and the horses bust through with jockeys sitting up high holding a whip...it gave me a rush of adrenaline and I jumped up and down hoping my horse would win.

But my horse did not place

All the Pretty Horses: Know Your Subjects

I finally met some beautiful horses while visiting Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill last weekend.

Except I forgot how large they are.

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Big enough to not fit into my pictures. I could have step away a little. But who could not resist petting these magnificent, grand, and calm animals?

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I named this horse "Nibbs" because all it wanted to do was to nib my fingers.

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How do you snap pictures of your subjects?

How do you capture this large beautiful creature so that it's just not a picture of a horse, but a picture that show its character and personality?

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Yeeeeee haaaaaa!

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All the pretty horses

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Thoroughbred Park: Telling A Story

Besides finding the best aperture, shutter speed, setting etc, I think the hardest part about photography is how to photograph an object. Before the fancy Nikon, I used to just point-and-shoot anything and everything that catches my eyes. Most of the time, these photos look "lifeless". How do I capture something without ruining its purpose and story?

Sunday morning I took Lola to Thoroughbred Park in downtown Lexington. It's a small park with life-size bronze horses and commemorative plaques of important people in Kentucky history. While I enjoyed the perfect sunlight and photography opportunities, Lola on the other hand did not know how to deal with these large size creatures surrounding her. She barked and barked at the motionless and scentless horses. She snarled her little canine teeth but the horses would not move. I wonder why.

Thoroughbred Park.

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Here they come.

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Yeeee-Ha!

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Giddy-up!

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I wish I had focused the horses in the back instead of the foot.

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Ponies at play.

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How do you do, Miss?

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In the end, it's all good.

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I did learn today that if I make the subject the majority of the picture (i.e. take up most of the scene), the subject seems stand out more. Sounds simple but it took me this long to figure out. I wanted to make the horses look alive like how Lola saw them. It's a work in progress. At least I finally got pictures of some horses.