Ben Linfoot reports back from his third day at Keeneland as preparations for the Breeders' Cup go up another notch on a busy morning at the track.
Keeneland training track, 7.15 a.m. It’s pitch black, the clocks don’t go back here until Saturday, and as I walk by the rail I can hear the pounding of hooves coming.
“He’s a doggy, alright!” is the excited shout from the work rider, who I can’t make out in the pale floodlights. I’ve no idea who the horse is, either, and I’m also not sure if being "a doggy" is a good or a bad thing for a racehorse being put through his paces in the dark.
Then silence. Hush. It all feels a bit like going to see Seabiscuit bell training ahead of his match with War Admiral. All it needed was Tom Smith to emerge from the shadows with a fire bell under his arm.
Back in reality the next horse to emerge from the quarantine barns was a familiar face. Highfield Princess, unmistakable with her white crest on her head, trotted out and did a few gentle circuits, a mere leg stretch, under Jason Hart.
“She’s nice and alert,” he said, after jumping off John Quinn’s star mare. “Just what you want to see after all that travel. It was light exercise this morning and we’re going on the grass tomorrow. The boss says she’s eating and drinking really well, too, which is a good sign."
If that’s a barometer for good well-being, I must be in great shape. Within hours of touching down I was in ‘Nic & Norman’s’ in downtown Lexington, devouring a bison burger and 7.2% IPA. Norman is Norman Reedus – AKA Daryl in The Walking Dead – a fine actor, he can kill a zombie convincingly, but he’s never been in his own restaurant, which disappointed me.
When Highfield Princess was trotting back to her barn, Nashwa and Mishriff turned out on the training track. No sign of the Gosden crew yet, but these two look in fine form, particularly the daughter of Frankel who cantered around with a certain poise.
She was joined by Dreamloper of Ed Walker’s – “I was very pleased with how she looks, she doesn’t look tucked up, she’s moving great,“ and then Ralph Beckett’s Kinross – “I’m very happy with the way he’s settled in and the way he’s training, it’s the draw [stall 13] we have to worry about.”
By 8.15 the darkness had turned to a still, grey, morning. It’s fresh, about 8 degrees, and I breathe in that beautiful concoction of Kentucky air, dirt and horse shit. There’s a short walk from the training track up a grassy bank to the main course and I follow the Ballydoyle contingent.
Stone Age, Order Of Australia, Meditate, Tuesday, Toy and Victoria Road go in convoy onto the dirt. A few lights are on in the top of the grandstand on the far side. James Given, former trainer James Given, is a veterinarian at the Breeders’ Cup now. He looks Bob Baffert up and down.
Photographers snap away watching work on the rail. Todd Pletcher walks by. There’s Joseph O’Brien’s Above The Curve and Basil Martini. Is that Joseph on one? I think it is. Persian Force and Go Bears Go also stretch their legs.
It’s a good way to pass an hour. I watch Golden Pal spin round, his work rider wearing cowboy tassles on his trousers. I want to take on Golden Pal in the Turf Sprint, I really do, I think he’s vulnerable to stronger finishers and the Euros have a strong hand, but he looks in good health. He looks confident. He’s got a swagger about him as he heads back home, to the barn where he grew up, a stone’s throw away.
Here come The Platinum Queen and Midnight Mile. Oisin Orr can’t do the weight on The Platinum Queen in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, but he’s out in Keeneland putting her through her paces on a morning. She’s in a red hood and she’s up for it.
“She’s in great form,” he says. “We went on the grass today which was something different for her. The first time I ever sat on her she was very highly strung, but the hood has made a big difference to her riding out, it just keeps her more settled. She’s learning and she has a great chance.”
Dramatised and Pogo have runs out on the turf, as well. Then along come the Godolphin battalion. Blue jackets for the riders and white socks for the horses, you can’t miss them. Rebel’s Romance, Modern Games, Creative Force, Mischief Magic, Nations Pride, Naval Crown and Silver Knott all get a taste of the Keeneland Turf track, in between the orange cones.
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Charlie Appleby goes through his team for us in the video above, but it’s his infectious enthusiasm for Nations Pride in the Turf that stands out. When I ask him to choose between Nations Pride and Rebel’s Romance I expect a fence-sitting answer, but get the opposite.
“Nations Pride has the experience of American racing," he says. "He’s a slicker model, he’s more of a natural mile and a quarter horse than a mile and a half horse. He’s the horse, he’s the three-year-old, he’s the one you’d like to see. I think William is on the right one and he’d be our number one pick.”
Noted.
Emaraaty Ana tags on to the Godolphin crew. He looks more settled after another day here. Alice Haynes is all smiles as she rides out and then back in on her own Lady Hollywood.
Work morning done, 10.15 a.m, it’s back to the main course. Flightline has apparently just walked around the paddock. I missed him, but Freida didn’t. “Where y’all from?” she says, picking out my Yorkshire accent a mile off.
“Well, welcome to Kentucky on a beautiful fall day,” she says. Indeed it is, Freida. Indeed it is.
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- Breeders' Cup Diary: Nov 2 'Golden Morning'
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