Preakness Day Proper 2013

Preakness day dawned cloudy and chilly and while I hoped against hope and logic that the sun would do a repeat of its glorious path through the sky on Black Eyed Susan Day, it was not to be. At one point it full-on rained, driving those of us with seats not protected by the overhang of the upper grandstand back. The race track doesn't have much in the way of indoor seating on any given day, but especially not on a day where all seats were spoken for...so that left a great many of us standing around in odd places or sitting in others' seats just to be dislodged once the rightful owners returned. It also predicated layers that covered up the ladies' outfits. But L. and Fat T. still looked pretty slick.

This is when the rain was really coming down in earnest.

D. looking on and ignoring the rain. B. was also able to attend, and it was good to see her. I also made additional sandwiches of the roast beef, asiago cheese and horse radish variety.

Three cousins in a row.

Two friends in a row.

One fat headed friend and two less so (in this instance the fat headed person is me, not Fat T.) in a row.

The crowd.

While everyone and their mother expected great things from Orb, it was Oxbow who ended up winning the big race.

Dude with giant, but seemingly not all that recent camera getting a view of the main stretch.

Black Eyed Susan Day At Pimlico Racetrack, In Reverse

This year's immediate group of Preakness attendees included me, my father, D an B, V and M (first cousins of my father) and L., M.'s friend and fellow horse enthusiast. These are photographs I took on Black Eyed Susan Day, in reverse because Blogger is being funny. 

I got a pretty big kick out of this.

My father did quite well for himself the first day at the track and his knowing smile is a reflection of that.

We were in the lower grandstand with assigned seats. Front row, just a smidge away from the finish line, significantly closer than we were last year. The sun was pretty powerful for the first few hours of our day, but once the upper grandstand's shadow crept to us, the seats and weather were pretty ideal.

This looks like a race to the finish, but these horses actually started a scant distance from the finish line and then would wrap all the way back around. I doubt that this 4 horse lasted the whole way through.

But it looks good at the moment.

 Another view of our seats. We were seven, with six seats that you can see right here and an additional seat within the same area but farther back. B. spent a fair amount of time in that odd seat out, getting to know the older gentleman next to her who had come all the way from Texas. 

Me and a hat and lipstick.

On non-special crazy event race days, I would make it down the the paddock to take a look at the horses far more often than I do on the Preakness weekend. First off, Pimlico's paddock isn't the best as far as viewing options, and factor in the larger crowds and it can become a nightmare...this is, I imagine, one big reason they saddle the actual Preakness horses on the grass outside. That and the pageantry of it. But I did make it to the paddock for one race, thinking that would help my betting. It didn't. I'm a terrible bettor. I simply go by look and name and have never quite been able to take in and process the additional information that a race program can give me. In any case, look a this horse's ears, all perked up and interested in what's going on outside. 

The track, stripped away of some of its momentary glamor.

The view from another direction.

Totally out of order. I found this horse particularly beautiful, but I'm pretty sure it didn't win, place or show.

Legend lady jockey. Each year they have one race where women jockeys - most of whom are retired - come out and race. I think this woman may have come in second or third. Or maybe she's just smiling because it's good to gallop?

Pretty sure this is the winner.

B. was kind enough to make us all sandwiches.

Yup, this is the winning lady legend horse.

This woman was particularly pleased about it.

Afternoon at Merryland Farm

Back in the day, when I was but a youthful young one and my family still lived in Maryland, my father became interested in Country Life Farm. I believe this was probably in part because of the book that one of the Pons brothers wrote.As a result of this interest my father invested in a portion of a race horse. Probably the hoof. I'm not sure how successful that particular investment was, but it did allow us the opportunity to visit  Country Life Farm on at least one occasion (I vaguely recall going, but I was a bit sullen and the only thing that really stands out is the beauty of the farm and the crab soup we were served). It's been nearly 10 years since my parents uprooted from Maryland and moved down south, but I guess in the last few months my father's interest in a small share of a race horse reared its head again. So he went ahead and bought half a share of Moon Meeting Too. This recent choice and our temporary residency in Maryland because of the Preakness allowed us the opportunity to go out to Merryland Farm, where Moon Meeting Too is being trained.So the Thursday before the race weekend, I made my way down 95 and then off into the horse country of Bel Air and other nearby towns. It was a beautiful day and I was quite pleased with the scenery as I drove along. This sense of pleasure was doubled upon my arrival at Merryland Farm. Nestled at the base of a sloping hill, green as all get-out, this place has a little sense of magic to it, and history to boot.

This pup was hanging out where I parked, happy to say hey and then move on to the next new arrival. Dad and our cousin V. were already there, sitting on a bench in the shade.

We were there to see Moon Meeting Too work out, but we also were given a tour of the restored farm house, which serves as a guest house for slightly higher rollers than ourselves. I really want to live there. I want to be the caretaker. I want to cook in this kitchen, which back in the 1950s/60s was where exercise riders/jockeys would come after they were done with all their mounts, and the then-owner of the farm would cook them up breakfast. I make a killer breakfast! Of course, if they're jockeys, they probably wouldn't really want to eat what I gave them.

Seriously. I need to find a way to live on a horse farm and be part of its rhythms. Or just a farm. Though the addition of horses is nice, given my own stint with riding.

The view of the practice track at the base of the hill.

Where most of the horses seem to reside. Moon Meeting Too wasn't the only horse getting an opportunity to go around the track. I think there were four jockeys, and they'd go out in pairs, getting their horses familiar with riding next to another horse. Sometimes they'd go out to the dummy starting gate to give the horses a sense of that aspect of racing, sometimes they would simply run at a good clip, other times the focus was more on getting them accustomed to listening to the bit. Each horse was in its own specific part of the training process that takes a young foal towards a potential racing career.

If I lost about 100 pounds I could be an exercise rider.

Gorgeous.

This grey horse was adjusting to a few things. Still by the barn, it reared a few times, which is always a dramatic sight to behold. Though if you're at all familiar with the potential consequences of a rear, then it's both dramatic and straight-up worrisome. Its rider, clearly a seasoned pro, just kept talking to it as it pranced and sidestepped its way to the track. Seemed liked it settled a bit but  had work to do as far as listening to the reins.

Hoof print.

I'm pretty sure the horse on the right is Moon Meeting Too.

And again.

The house from another angle.

There were a few other folks on the farm to take a look around, three women from Boston/Cape Cod, one woman from Florida, and a guy from I'm not sure where. The three women and I perked up when we heard that we could go up to another barn and see the foals. It took us a while to actually find the babies. One woman said they were in the barn, but another contradicted her and said they were in the fields. So we first walked towards the fields. All we found, however, was this horse and its companion - a pony that wouldn't leave the shade of the shed.

Terrible photo of me, but still: here I am with a horse.

We then went to the barn, where a good number of the stalls contained mama horses and baby horses.

Foals are just the most gangly, awkward creatures. But with a sweetness and newness to them that is hard to get over. Unless, I'm sure, you're a proper horse person and deal with them every day?

So it was me, my father and our cousin V. V. and my father are cousins, and grew up together in Sewanee. She has lived in Baltimore for nearly 40 years, and was our hostess for the weekend. You'll note my father is properly hatted with an Orioles cap.

So much beauty in even the necessities of farm life. I know it's hard to actually be in the business, but with an outside view, I can't say I'm not without envy. Work must be hard, but you can look up soak in the green and space.