Cigar Mile Day 2009: The Three F’s

For many, Thanksgiving means the Three F’s: food, family, and football. To this, I add Fotography. And Fillies. And many Furlongs of graded stakes action.

Cigar Mile Day is generally the last hurrah of the season for New York racing fans. This time of year, the weather gets chilly, racing at Aqueduct moves to the inner dirt course, and the holidays approach.

I brought my friend Lisa to the track and she did a great job as my assistant. She also learned quite a bit about the light at the track and how to get the proper exposure for bright sun and the shade of the grandstand.

Before you know it, Derby Fever will be upon us. This Saturday gave racing fans a little more information about their favorite two-year-olds.

Launch N Relaunch broke his maiden with ease.

Buddy’s Saint (center) won the Remsen handily.

Although they did not take a trip to the winner’s circle, there were many other nice colts at the Big A that day, including Imaging:

Highveldt Storm:

Lentenor, full brother of Barbaro. Barbaro’s Kentucky Derby was one of my favorite races of the decade, but I never got to see the great colt in person so it was a treat to see his younger brother carrying on the legacy.

But the day was not all about the colts. Stardom Bound had an eventful return from her layoff. Peach Brew stumbled out of the gate at the start of the Gazelle- if you view the video (below), you can see that it happened in the blink of an eye, but the photo shows how much it can affect a horse’s game.

The marquee race of the day was the Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile Handicap. Kodiak Kowboy won the race and a real shot at this year’s Eclipse Award for Champion Sprinter.

Furlongs and Furlongs of Fun for this Fotographer. Hope you had a good weekend as well.

Aqueduct November 2008: Highs and Lows

Smile your on remote camera, originally uploaded by budmeister 26.2.

Pictured: Photo from Budmeister’s Flickr photostream of me and Jessie modeling for the remote camera. Note the focused expression on my face. It’s a tough job standing on a track pressing a button, you know.

Happy trainer, happy horse. The convincing winner of the Remsen is on the Derby Trail. Exciting news for the connections of Old Fashioned, a colt by Unbridled’s Song. Trained by Larry Jones and owned by Fox Hill Farm. What a thrill this must be for this horse and his fans. Brings me back to my childhood and the Derby Fever I felt for my favorite racehorse, Sunday Silence. I remember carefully cutting photos of Sunday Silence out of our local newspaper and taping them on my bedroom walls. He was magical in my young mind.

But the news was overshadowed by injuries in the other two marquee races at Aqueduct. Springside, winner of the Grade 2 Demoiselle, took a bad step after the wire and fractured her pastern. She was vanned off, stabilized, and is at New Bolton receiving the best of care. I join the rest of racing fans in hoping for a speedy and safe recovery.

Later that afternoon, Wanderin Boy broke down on the turn in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile. My little group of colleagues stood on the photographers’ platform in the inner rail watching the race unfold on the monitor. When the horses hit the turn and we saw what happened, it was painful to be trapped there, shooting a hollow victory. I felt a glimmer of hope when I saw the horse ambulance load him. He was vanned off for treatment but his injuries were inoperable and he was euthanized. I extend my sincere condolences to the connections of this game and resilient horse- it must be devastating to lose a horse like him. Steve Haskin of the Blood-Horse wrote an insightful, strangely prophetic piece about Wanderin Boy’s career and health issues in October and had to end the chapter with a thought-provoking memorial yesterday.

As a horse owner who recently lost a very special horse, I think that my current mental condition makes me a little more vulnerable to reacting emotionally to the breakdown of a horse like Wanderin Boy. These stories also bring me back to my childhood. I was in grade school when Go For Wand suffered a catastrophic breakdown in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, but it had a profound impact on me. I felt like I could not be a horse lover and also be a racing fan. I lost enthusiasm for the sport; while I was still a casual fan, it was several years before I put my heart into racing again.

As a horse lover and a fan of a variety of equine disciplines, there is a conflict within me whenever I hear news of a breakdown. Can changes in breeding, racing surfaces, and training ever truly prevent deaths caused by racing? How do racing-related deaths measure up to fatal injuries caused by other equine sports? Is racing humane? Are my other favorite equine sports humane?

I read everything I can about equine health and science in order to educate myself about our sports. I educate through my photos and share everything I can about racing with people who are not familiar with the sport. When I see a good trainer who cares for his horses and who properly conditions them, I do see happy horses. I see horses who are exercised daily, fed the best feeds, and are maintained like the athletes that they are. I am a fan of these trainers and these trainers are the ones who keep me coming to the track, camera in hand, to capture the next Sunday Silence.