Give thanks to Tully

by Gordon Waterstone

Thursday was finally “Bagel Breakfast Day” at The Red Mile — courtesy of Hunterton Farm, AKA sponsor of Backstretch With Gordon — and if it wasn’t for Chris Tully, I would have snoozed and lost.

With the Kentucky Futurity draw taking place at noon on The Deck of Dreams, I decided against arriving at The Red Mile backstretch too early. I decided to try and grab some extra sleep instead, which I needed to recover from a wonderful dinner and evening on Wednesday.

I’ll get back to Wednesday in a sec, but when I made it to The Red Mile Thursday morning, the breakfast tables were bare. Chris was there helping set up the broadcast area for the draw and he told me that he had put a bagel aside for me and it was in the “She Shed,” which is also his office. And yes, there was a bagel and some cream cheese waiting for me, and Chris came in and asked if I wanted him to have it toasted.

I couldn’t answer “no” fast enough, but not because I don’t enjoy a toasted bagel. It was because a couple hours earlier Chris tried toasting his bagel and instead set the appliance on fire. I believe TMZ was around as I saw a video and smoke began to billow out of the toaster as Chris tried frantically to shut it off. Not only did the lights start to flicker at The Red Mile, but also across all of Lexington. Thank goodness things got under control before the four fire trucks arrived.

Back to Wednesday. I was invited to dinner at the Merrick Inn as part of group that included The Hambletonian Society’s John and Paula Campbell, Gunjan Patel, and Moira Fanning, and The Red Mile’s Emily Ratcliff and her sister, Amanda Gaskin, and Chris Tully. Sometimes I get invited by people to join them at the Merrick Inn, but sometimes only because I live in that community and they don’t want me to find out they were there without joining them.

But this invite was legit as it was also what I could call one of the first informal Breeders Crown strategy meetings in advance of the championship races being hosted at The Red Mile in 2027. I guess since I helped for many years on the Breeders Crown publicity team, as well as twice having been a host of sorts myself while at Hazel Park when we hosted Crown races in 1987 (2FT won by Nan’s Catch) and 1988 (3FP won by Sweet Reflection), I was asked to try and give some small input.

Following dinner some of us joined Tom and Sue Charters and Ted Gewertz and Clair Chappell in the bar area at the Merrick Inn. And while I walked from my place to the restaurant (yes, I know that may be hard to believe but it’s just about an eight-minute hike), Gunjan and Moira gave me a ride home.

Okay, now back to Thursday. Jenna Otten and her mom, Diane, were at the She Shed so I chatted with them for a few. The USTA’s Rich Johnston and Cheyenne Christman were setting up the video equipment for the live feed of the draw, and their peer Wendy Ross was there as well. Emily Ratcliff and Bob Heyden also came upon the scene as they were going to serve as the on-air hosts.

Bob noted that this year is the 133rd renewal of the Kentucky Futurity, and then he spoke about what transpired in the 1954, 1962, and 1971 editions. With race secretary Tina Seekman and presiding judge Casey Larson handling the draw duties, the fields of the Futurity and companion Filly Futurity were held.

Drawing the trailing 11 post in the Futurity is the 2024 Dan Patch Award winner Maryland, who has raced admirably this year but has only five seconds and a third to show for it in seven starts. Drawing the outside 10 is the highly-regarded Emoticon Legacy, while likely race favorite Super Chapter will line up in post 4. And let’s not overlook Go Dog Go (post 7) who, with hopples for the first-time last time out in a Bluegrass split last Saturday at The Red Mile, won in 1:49.3, the fastest by a sophomore trotter in 2025.

There were about 30 people at the draw, including Nancy Takter, Jim Campbell, Marcus Johansson and Bernie Noren. I asked Bernie if it was any coincidence that he always makes the trip from his home in Sweden about the same time the NHL is getting ready to start its season. Bernie is a big hockey fan and we’ve talked NHL many times over the years.

Since it was in the low 80s and nary a cloud in the sky, it was hot so I decided to duck back into the shed to get cool for a few minutes. Ernie Martinez came in to say hello and he told me a few stories, mostly about the good old days with Bill
Perretti.

Both trotting classics drew 11, which is the limit as per the conditions for the richest horses in 2025 being eligible. Also on Sunday’s card, is the Allerage finals, including the event for older pacing mares.

There were rumors around that only Twin B Joe Fresh and Sylvia Hanover, the top two far and away in the division, were entered. I had heard also that there may or may not have been a third entry, which led to a discussion of whether or not the track would then just go with a match race?

I see that indeed that third horse was entered and the three mares will hit the track for Race 3 on Sunday night. No disrespect to the Jimmy Watson-trained Yankee B Something, who drew post 1, but it’ll be a tough task against Twin B Joe Fresh (post 2) and Sylvia Hanover (post 3), who combined have won more than $5 million.

Also on Sunday’s card are a pair of Tattersalls divisions for 3-year-old male pacers. Recent Little Brown Jug champ Louprint, the top-ranked horse in North America, will be on the track in the second $220,000 division (race 10), with that field also including Prince Hal Hanover. That race is the appetizer before the finale race 11, the traditional spot for the Kentucky Futurity.

Tonight, is the final session of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. Going into Thursday’s fourth session, my sponsors, Steve and Cindy Stewart’s Hunterton Sales Agency, still lead the way with 84 sold for $10,770,000 (an average of $128,214). Applause has to go to Ake Svanstedt and Andrew Harris, both of whom have made purchases totaling more than $2 million.

Let me insert here that applause has to also go to my hometown Tigers, who found a way to beat the Guardians and advance in the playoffs. Now it’s on to Seattle.

If you are planning on heading out to the sale tonight, remember that an Eric Church concert at Rupp Arena gets underway at 7:30 p.m., so traffic will be heavy if you travel through downtown. Although the UK football team plays at Georgia at noon (UK is a three-TD underdog), things will be busy around town as Keeneland opens its thoroughbred meet today. Mike Vandeheede invited me earlier in the week to join him for a few races as he was gifted a box, but duties call for me to be at The Red Mile.

If you’re planning on eating in the dining room at Fasig-Tipton tonight, I can tell you that the main entrees on the buffet are Glazed Ham and Beef Bourguignon. But if you are hungry much earlier and attending today’s races (post time 1 p.m.) at The Red Mile, Winbak Farm is sponsoring an appreciation lunch on the backstretch beginning at noon.

I’ll be back with you Saturday morning. And before closing, I can tell everybody that gas prices have dropped again in the Lexington area. After jumping from $2.59 to $2.99 and staying there for a day, I saw a huge decrease Thursday down a penny to $2.98.