The purpose of an academic sabbatical is to promote professional development. As someone who does research on horse racing, I circled the Keeneland September sale on my calendar long ago as something I needed to investigate. So I packed my car and hit the road on Monday at noon for three full days at the sale plus visits to the Keeneland library, some horse farms, and Kentucky Horse Park.

The drive from Memphis to Lexington is slightly longer than 400 miles, so Monday was pretty much devoted to driving. A cold front moved through which resulted in a rain-soaked drive. After crossing the Kentucky-Tennessee boarder just north of Nashville, I remembered that Kentucky Downs had a full Monday card so I made a quick stop in Franklin to catch some live turf racing. Kentucky Downs is just off I-65 and has free parking and free admission, so everything was perfect for an hour pit stop – except the rain. What was a light drizzle became a downpour once I was safely under the roof of the open-air betting facility near the finish line. The outdoor crowd was jammed together there and under a tent nearby. I could have watched the races from the simulcast facility halfway up the homestretch, but I was here for the live racing experience. KD runs races over a handful of fall dates and cards only turf racing run over their huge, undulating course. The grass was tall and was relatively unkept (some weeds). I arrived a few minutes before the sixth race (allowance) and, braving the rain, stood alone near the finish line. It was almost eerie how quiet it was. The high grass muffled the hoof beats and the sound of the rain complemented the cracking of the whips. The horses ran down the homestretch for what seemed like an eternity, over what must be the longest stretch drive in America. After the race I loitered about the betting facility watching races on the TVs and listening in on handicapping conversations. Most of the crowd were reading the program and, like me, seemed relatively uninformed. I did not handicap, knowing that all of the unknowns (weather, unique grass course, all shippers) would have doomed me. It was enough to take in the atmosphere, which is usually how I approach live racing. I was too cheap to even buy a program ($3.50), which would have given me little more than the pedigrees of the unraced 2yos running in the seventh. I headed out back into the rain to watch the saddling of the horses and saw that Jeff Lifson of TVG and West Point Thoroughbreds had a crowd to watch Felonious Monk (West Acre - Skip Bail by Skip Trail). Lifson’s group was with the assistant trainer as the colt was saddled and instructions were given to the rider. After the race the group held a pow-wow in the downpour to discuss their horse's uneventful fifth place finish. I guess this kind of attention is what you get when you let someone else spend your money on horses.

I got back on the road after the juvenile maiden race, but did not change out of my soaked clothes leaving me uncomfortable for the rest of my drive. I checked into the Quality Inn on Newtown Pike about 8pm and started looking at pedigrees. The hotel was a complete dump but the price was right and it was close to the Griffin Gate, where others I would meet were staying. To whatever end, I felt it was important to study before I hit the sale, and after a few hours I had sorted out about 25 horses I wanted to look at closely. Lots of pointless work considering I had no intention of spending a dime on horses.

Tuesday morning, after skipping a bug-infested continental breakfast, I hit the road for Keeneland. The first thing I noticed about the sale was how accessible the horses were, in contrast to the impersonal sales pavilion I had seen on the internet feed. Behind the pavilion, owners and trainers moved amongst the horses as they walked in circles in different parts of the show ring. I tried to feign knowledge as I watched the horses on parade, but they all looked beautiful and athletic to me. The few racing celebrities I saw (Gary Stevens, Steve Asmussen, Dale Romans, and Patrick Biancone) worked the sale like everyone else and were never stopped or gawked at. As for picking horses, it became clear to me that knowledge of pedigree is just a small factor in the decision-making process. This was most noticeably demonstrated when hip 3655, a Dynaformer colt out of a full sister to Kingmambo, went for $45,000. This million dollar pedigree had long sloping pasterns making him look as if he were on skis. Aside from the most obvious conformation faults, though, I was clueless. One thing that did stand out was that most greys aren’t much to look at.

Tuesday I meet up with Bob Losey, a finance professor at American University and a horse breeder. Bob had two horses cataloged for the sale, a Street Cry filly (2500) and an E Dubai filly (2833). After lunch with Richard Thalheimer (Equine Business Professor at Louisville), Bob and I wandered back through the barn area to where Bob's horses were stabled. Losey keeps part of his broodmare band at Stony Point (Laura McKinney). The McKinney sisters operate a small farm with 20 or so broodmares and oversee Losey's foals from birth until their eventual sale. I spent the next few hours talking horses, breeding, and conformation with Laura, Ouisha, Bob, and others. They were unbelievably friendly and helpful.

Tuesday evening I caught up with Bill Ziemba (Dr. Z) and his trainer Greg Vartanian. Bill owns part of a few 2yos with Greg at Bay Meadows and both were hoping to add a few more their stable. Bill and Greg met at last year's sale and bought one horse together, stakes placed Youandiatdelmar, for $2,700. Bill and Greg would buy five horses over the course of the next three days, each well-bred but undervalued (or at least they hope the horses were undervalued). They spent a total of $57,000 on horses by Aptitude, Stormy Atlantic, Yankee Victor, Dixie Union, and Sky Mesa. Each evening I had lively dinner conversation with Dr. Z, Greg and trainer John Dolan. Greg and John were kind enough to answer all of my questions no matter how stupid or naïve.

Hip 3126 colt  Sky Mesa-Better as a Memory by Gone West ($19,000)


Before each day of the sale Bill and I toured a stallion operation. Wednesday morning we went to Gainesway and saw 26yo Cozzene who looks terrific and still covers 50+ mares a season. Outside of the old grey miler, the farm was devoid of established talent. Cozzene, Smoke Glacken, and Luhuk are the only carryovers from the 2002 roster - heavy hitters Broad Brush and Mt. Livermore have been pensioned, while others have been sent to the minor leagues. Predicting the success of a stallion is tricky and Gainesway is banking on their youngsters - Afleet Alex, Ten Most Wanted, Cuvee, Birdstone, Sunday Break, Whywhywhy, and Tapit. Officer and Orientate are off to a solid start, but it is still early. It will be interesting to see who makes it from this select group. At Gainesway we did a walking tour with a stablehand. At both Lane's End and Three Chimneys we had a breeders' showing, where the stallions were led out of their stalls to stand and pose before us. Bill used his connections here, but it felt strange – they treated us like buyers/breeders and I guess if you looked on the surface the stud fees paid for the horses Bill bought were fairly high (Sky Mesa $30,000, Dixie Union $40,000, Stormy Atlantic and Aptitude $20,000). Top class sires were brought out for our inspection: Kingmambo (15.3 hands), Pleasantly Perfect (17), Rock Hard Ten (17), Mineshaft (16.1), A.P. Indy (16) at Lane’s End; Sky Mesa (16.2), Smarty Jones (15.3), Point Given (16.3), and Dynaformer (17).

Breeders' Cup Mile winner Cozzene ($40,000 Stud Fee). Stands at Gainesway.

A couple things stood out from looking at these stallions. Both Pleasantly Perfect and Rock Hard Ten were very big and physically impressive. I was aware of Rock Hard Ten's size, but Pleasantly Perfect caught me by surprise both by his size and his physical attractiveness (I had heard that Pleasant Colonys were homely). It will be interesting to see whether either horse will make it as a stallion. Pleasantly Perfect ($40,000) did not race at two and had only one (losing) start at three. Rock Hard Ten ($50,000) was winless at two and really did not take off until his abbreviated 4yo season. Neither Pleasant Colony nor Kris S. has proven to be a sire of sires and both sirelines have been less successful. Pleasant Colony’s sons have been downright atrocious at stud (an exception being Pleasant Tap) and it appears that the St. Simon line, the most prominent sireline of the first half of the nineteenth century, is a few generations from extinction. Kris S.’s sons have fared almost as poorly, with Arch being the sole success. However the Royal Charger/Turn-To/Hail to Reason line has been resilient with the success of the sons of Halo. The Roberto branch of this line has not been as productive due to the failure of the sons of Kris S. and Dynaformer. I hope PP and RHT both make it but would bet against them. As for the others - Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex are both small. Afleet Alex almost seemed scrawny, though it is easy to forget he is only a 4yo. Point Given isn’t as physically imposing as he was on the track. Apparently Dynaformer (Lane’s End) and Silver Ghost (Three Chimneys) are the resident rogues, the latter being so vicious that he is only brought out to breed. Pensioned stallion Capote has lost an eye due to infection but otherwise looked fine.

2003 Belmont Futurity winner Cuvee ($10,000 Stud Fee). Stands at Gainesway.

On Thursday, I took a break from the sale to go to Kentucky Horse Park to see John Henry. The 31yo legend from the same crop as Affirmed and Alydar looked tired and haggard. He was in his stall with his forehead right up against the wall near his feed bucket and hardly moved while I was there. Hard to believe that I am only two year older than John Henry. My first recollection of horse racing was his Horse of the Year campaign in 1984. I don’t remember watching the inaugural Breeders’ Cup but I do remember his victory as a 9yo in the Million. There are others in the Hall of Champions at Kentucky Horse Park – Cigar, Da Hoss, and a few standardbreds and quaterhorses. Cigar grazed in his paddock and looked up when I interrupted him with a whistle only to settle back down to the hole he was nibbling around. On my way out I wandered by the exhibit of breeds and saw that Affirmed Success was the resident thoroughbred. I imagine my kids will like this place but I was underwhelmed (though the statue of Man o’War is impressive). If I had known about it I would’ve gone to Old Friends to see some of the other heroes of my youth - Precisionist, Ogygian, Sunshine Forever, and Ruhlmann.

Overall it was a great trip and it leaves me with the strong desire to be more involved in the horse industry. I imagine the next step would be to buy a few yearlings to either race or pinhook. Hopefully I am financially sound enough to do this in the next few years. Betting on horses involves much less risk than the gambles that owners take.