NH News - "Farm Fit For A King"

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

Farm Fit For A King

Article and photos by Gary Martin

An on-farm look at the sport of kings

Thundering around the track at nearly 40 miles an hour, the Thoroughbred feels the knees of the small rider perched high on his back, then on his neck, as the rider signals for one last all-out burst of speed. The mighty horse responds. Gathering powerful hind legs under his body, he extends his forelegs and launches forward in powerful thrusts, racing down the homestretch in a lung-punishing display of muscle and will, desperately exhausting his last ounce of energy to be first across the finish line.

The Thoroughbred has just covered a distance of one mile in a minute and 30 seconds, and that with an extra 115 pounds clinging to his back. The fastest of human runners, minus the jockey on back, would not have completed half the distance in that time.

The lovely setting of Gainsborough Farm, near Lexington, Kentucky, is home to some of Thoroughbred racing’s finest stallions and mares.

For thousands of years only an arrow, and much later a musket ball, moved faster over land than a horse. Although the iron horse and the gasoline gelding eventually replaced equines as the main movers of people, fast horses never lost their popular appeal. Those who could afford the lifestyle built fabulous farms to breed and train Thoroughbreds — all others could go to the races where a mere two-dollar bet held hopes of winning a fortune if only the long shot would run the race of its life.

The Bluegrass Thoroughbred

More Thoroughbreds can be found near Lexington, Kentucky, than any other place in the world, creating a $700 million annual business in the state. They have congregated in this bluegrass country because breeding for the next generation of racing champions is easier when stallions and mares live in the same neighborhood. Mares are always transported to the stallions for breeding. It keeps the high-spirited boys in better behavior.

At Gainsborough Farm west of Lexington, nearly 100 mares and four well-known stallions quietly graze in picturesque bluegrass pastures, giving little indication of past glory on the track that has created a demand for their offspring. “An outstanding racing career for a stallion sets up a breeding career for the rest of his life,” said Dave Cordell, assistant farm manager. Horses that win the big races often run the fewest of them, some no more than four to six races in their entire career. Most run at least 15 to 20 times during a brief racing career that starts at age two and is usually over when the horse is five or six. It’s important that horses retire at the top of their careers, Cordell said.

Gainsborough Farm is new by Kentucky standards. A carefully planned and meticulously maintained estate of 1,800 acres, it was created just 20 years ago out of three former cattle farms and exists solely to produce fast horses, most of which will be run on the famous turf tracks of Europe.

Beauty for the Beast

The farm could easily be mistaken for a sprawling botanical garden that just happens to include horses for added beauty. A network of roads leads through landscaped parkland and waterways to pastures outlined in miles of black wood rail fencing. Elaborate barns, an office, and a mansion for the owners are found in individual settings throughout the farm. A guard house equipped with TV monitors controls the entrance to the farm.

In spite of the tight security required due to its high-priced residents, Gainsborough Farm has always been involved in the community and welcomes school and civic community groups to see the horses and enjoy the park-like serenity of the estate.

A Farm-City

Dave Cordell describes the farm as a small, self-sufficient city on 1,800 acres of high-end real estate. The farm employs 120 people full-time, including carpenters, welders, horticulturists, veterinarians, and, of course, horse managers. Every horse on the farm is groomed every day, more for health reasons than beauty.

Nearly 70 foals are born on the farm each year between January and June. They remain by the mother’s side for six months. As yearlings, the foals are moved to another farm to be trained for racing.

In Thoroughbred racing, all horses are considered two-year-olds on January 1 at the beginning of their second year, even if they were born later in the year. When the racing season starts, this age difference can give an advantage to those born earliest in the year.

There are 90 Thoroughbred races taking place every day of the year somewhere in the world. Thoroughbreds race on every continent except Antarctica. Some Thoroughbreds, including those from Gainsborough, are quite familiar with air travel and have raced on six continents.

Exhaustion of the Race

A horse does not race every day or even every week, as followers of other sports might expect. “A race is absolutely exhausting to a horse,” Cordell explained. “They give a total physical effort in a race, and it takes some time to recover and be trained again for the next race. Their preparation is very much like a human athlete getting ready for the Olympics.”

Training for a race involves close attention to the overall health and physical abilities of the horse. There is daily jogging on a track, and the training gradually advances to “breezing,” a faster pace that may be held for five-eights of a mile. Sometimes other horses run with the one being trained so it gets used to close competition on the day of the race. But never does the training include an all-out run of a mile or more such as the horse will run in the actual race.

A few days before the race, trainers ease off the horse’s physical activity. By race day, the properly prepared horse will be in peak form both physically and mentally, with a finely honed sense of competition that will bring out his best when another horse moves up on him in the homestretch.

Dave Cordell, Assistant Farm Manager at Gainsborough Farm, visits with one of the farm’s top Thoroughbred stallions.

Racing Worldwide

Gainsborough Farm has produced a growing line of champions in its brief history. The Farm’s Lammtarra became only the second horse in history to win Europe’s Triple Crown equivalent, which includes the King George Derby and the Queen Elizabeth Derby in England, plus the Arch de Triomphe in Paris.

Fantastic Light was the champion turf horse in the world and raced on six continents in places such as Australia, Japan, and Dubai. Quiet American, one of the farm’s current stallions, earned over $754,000 in the 12 races of his career. He has since sired a Kentucky Derby winner (Real Quiet) and commands a $35,000 breeding fee. Another stallion still in use, Labeeb, won eight of his 19 races and earned his owners nearly $1.5 million during his racing career.

The sheer beauty and fierce physical exertion of the horses themselves is a big part of Thoroughbred racing excitement. That excitement is only increased by the equally fierce betting that takes place up until the very second the starting bell rings, the gates are opened, the horses break from the gate, and the announcer calls out the familiar, “They’re off.”

Betting on a Long Shot

Mike Boyatt Photo

Miles of fencing roam over Gainsborough Farm, as do dozens of foals, any one of which could be Thoroughbred racing’s next big winner.

As pre-race bets are taken, the amount of money placed on each horse is instantly calculated in relation to the total amount bet on all horses in that race. This betting ratio, known as odds, is displayed on an electronic board that changes with every bet placed. Some betters watch the boards closely so they can place a bet at the last minute and increase their potential winnings on a long shot, a horse with the least amount of betting money.

Bets can be made for a horse to win, place (second), or show (third). A win ticket pays off only if that horse comes in first, but a place ticket pays if the horse comes in first or second, and a show ticket pays if the horse finishes first, second, or third.

Logic would suggest that after careful selection for breeding, the winners should then produce winning offspring, and sometimes they do. But Gainsborough’s Dave Cordell has also seen Thoroughbred winners that have defied all the rules of proper breeding and physical conformation. “Sometimes you just have a horse with all the wrong characteristics, and it wins. That’s what helps make this sport intriguing. You do the very best you can to produce a winner, but you never really know what is going to happen out there on the track ... until the horses run.”

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