I told y’all so!

by Gordon Waterstone

I told y’all so. I told y’all yesterday that I was skeptical that gas prices in Lexington would remain low. I’m just glad that I’m smarter than I look after filling my car’s gas tank Monday morning where it was $2.59 a gallon. Why? Because by Monday night the price had soared to $2.99. And that’s the price I saw at pretty much every station on my way out to Fasig-Tipton for Monday’s opening session of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.

How about that huge announcement Monday at the sale that the 2027 Breeders Crown would be hosted by The Red Mile? I’ve known that it would be happening for a while now but until it’s declared official, I didn’t want to say anything. That should be some month of racing in Lexington as the historic racetrack will have its annual two weeks of Grand Circuit racing and then a bit later the Breeders Crown finals, likely over the first weekend of November. Let’s start hoping now for good weather.

It also appears right now the Hambletonian could be looking for a new home following the 2026 renewal. Jeff Gural has told me he’s an avid reader of my Backstretch column — of which I am most appreciative — so I will put it out there that I hope when the dust settles the trotting jewel remains at The Meadowlands. One thing I do hope for is that whatever may happen that the race doesn’t end up at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Nothing personal, but the Hambletonian is “America’s Trotting Race” and belongs in the good ole USA.

Back to Monday night at the sale. I arrived around 5:30 and as I got out of my car a gentleman who had parked next to me yelled over, “Hey, it’s Backstretch With Gordon.” I hope I got his name correct as I didn’t write it down but I believe it was Mark Robinson. Once again, glad to meet somebody who is a reader.

As I made it up to the sale pavilion, Sherry Lane, a former co-worker of mine at The Horseman And Fair World who now works for the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale Co., was also walking in. As Sherry went into the sale office, Steve Head came by and he stopped to chat for a few. I haven’t seen Steve in a few years so it was nice to see him back in Lexington.

I made my way into the Kentucky Room where the opening reception was being held. Over the course of the night, I spoke to many, many, many people and I promise I won’t list them all. After all, I don’t want my column to go too long.

One of the first who greeted me Monday night was Janet Campbell, the wife of the other John Campbell. Janet said her group had driven down from Pennsylvania on Sunday and when they were driving through Cincinnati, she decided to read that day’s Backstretch column to the others to bide their time. Janet said that as she read it aloud, she thought it was a long column, and then when she realized that it took her the 75 miles from Cincinnati to Lexington to read the whole thing, that it was a bit long. But she loved the whole column.

I saw Northfield Park’s Michael Carter, who was with Winbak Farm’s Elizabeth Lewis-House. Michael asked me if I knew any gossip, and I gave him a big grin and said, “I’m looking right at the gossip.” Michael and Elizabeth both laughed and then went on their way. Speaking of Winbak, I also had a chance Monday night to say hello to farm owner Joe Thomson, also one of the owners of The Red Mile.

Adriano Sorella is in town after an absence of a few years and this was the first time I’ve seen him since he decided to embark on a daily routine of walking 100,000 steps. Adriano looks great and I told him I needed to put on my walking shoes as well. I felt that even more when DRF’s Derick Giwner came by with a bunch of shirts he was giving away but had to apologize since he didn’t have any XXLs left.

As the 7 p.m. sale time approached I walked out to the ring and was standing with ex-Boss Kathy and her brother Norm when Howie and Jessica Okusko came over. We all gave our condolences to the Okuskos on the loss of their great dog Maverick, who was also so friendly when I saw him in the barn area at The Red Mile.

Another person I need to mention that I saw was Michael Eisenberg, who I only marginally know. I saw Mike at the Round Barn party on Sunday night and we talked briefly, and we ran into each other the next night. I also have to mention from Sunday night that I had a nice conversation with The Red Mile’s CFO/COO Shannon Cobb. I still haven’t seen track president and CEO Joe Costa, who told me last year that he is an avid reader of Backstretch With Gordon as it’s his primary source of info of what’s happening.

I also saw both sale co-managers Bruce Brinkerhoff and David Reid, with the latter asking me the price of gas as he went by. Since I didn’t see the price increase until leaving the sale, I could only tell Dave that it was $2.59.

I keep forgetting to mention Swedish photographer Adam Strom, who has been in town a few days. I seem to be only able to wave hello at Adam as every time I see him, he is surrounded by a bevy of women while taking selfies. Another person I saw who I haven’t in a spell was Kim French, who resides in Louisville and wrote all the Kentucky Sires Stakes stories on behalf of The Red Mile over the summer.

How about the sale results from Monday night? Obviously, the full stories can be read elsewhere in HRU, but the sale topper was the $1 million Walner trotting filly purchase by Noel Daly on behalf of Patty Key. As for my sponsors, Steve and Cindy Stewart’s Hunterton Sales Agency, they had a big night. Hunterton sold numbers two and three on the price list, led by another Walner trotting filly at $900,000 and then a Gimpanzee trotting filly at $800,000.

Hunterton sold six of the top 14 highest-priced yearlings on Monday night. Hunterton was the leading consignor by gross, with 29 yearlings selling for $6,537,000. That was an average of $225,414, second only to Crawford Farms’ average of $232,308 from 13 yearlings sold. It was no wonder that both Steve and Cindy had big smiles on their faces when I saw them Monday night.

I made it back to Fasig-Tipton around 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday as the Breeders Crown Charity Challenge reception was starting at noon. I heard a car horn honking at me as I got out of my car and it was ex-Boss Kathy. I’m starting to think she’s following me around just for a Backstretch mention. Which I most certainly have to do considering she’s the one who came up with the whacky idea back in 2003 for me to roam the backstretch at The Mile and write what I see and hear.

Mark McKelvie was the MC at the reception and he introduced John Cambell, Bill McLinchey and Marvin Katz, who all gave short speeches. Congratulations to Marvin for all he’s done to make the Charity Challenge a success (he’s passing the torch to Joe McLead for next year’s Crown races at Scioto Downs). Congratulations also to Marvin for his recent election into the Hall of Fame in Goshen, NY.

Earlier on Tuesday, I stopped to speak to auctioneers Kurt Becker and Mike Baker, and as I was wandering around the Kentucky Room, Ed Teefey came by to talk. I saw Mary McDermott and her father, Kevin, at a table so I made my way over to speak to them for a few. I eventually found a seat with Richard Stone and Wally Mann, where I was able to enjoy my lunch (mostly fruit). I was glad I also had a chance to catch up with Jack Darling and his wife, Ann.

I didn’t want to stay too long as I wanted to get home and catch most of the Tigers vs. Guardians playoff game (the Tigers won 2-1 in a thriller), and while I was giving Judy Wilson a ride back to her Air BNB, I told her I wanted to do another lap around the arena before leaving. Judy said that worked fine for her as she was lining up Cheryl Erickson, who is here promoting the book she wrote about Greyhound, for an interview with Mark McKelvie and Michael Carter, who are hosting live Facebook broadcasts from Fasig-Tipton.

As I was finishing my lap, I ran into HRU advertising sales chief Wilma Van Vaerenbergh, and I know I can’t finish this column up without mentioning her. And I also saw Boss Dave for a few minutes. I also have to mention that I believe Murray Brown has way too much time on his hands as I learned that he went through the entire sale catalog of 930 horses and divided them up by color.That’s it for today, I’ll be back with you on Thursday. And the weather for the week still looks fantastic, with afternoon highs in the low 80s and nary a chance of rain.