Goodbye summer, hello fall

by Gordon Waterstone

The six days of Grand Circuit racing at The Red Mile got underway on Thursday afternoon (Oct. 1), and it was a Chamber of Commerce day in Lexington as the sun shined brightly and the temperature topped out at 87 degrees. But alas, things will be changing as a front is expected to come through overnight, bringing fall-like temperatures and rain.

So, first and foremost, before we get to the racing, let’s discuss the weather. Today’s (Oct. 2) high is predicted at 75, with afternoon-long rain expected to start around noon. Or in race terms, about an hour before post time. I saw Trackman Dan for a second during the Thursday races and he’s getting his work face on as he knows his expertise will be needed to keep the track surface in race-ready condition.

If we get through today unscathed, up next is Saturday’s Kentucky Futurity Day card. They say the rain will stop before the sun comes up, with a predicted high of just 60 degrees. As for the rest of these two weeks, daily highs will be right around 70, with lows dipping into the 40s. After a hot summer in the Bluegrass, all I can say is one word: Brrrrrr!

Speaking of the Futurity, I attended the post-position draw at noon in The Red Mile clubhouse, with Emily Ratcliff and Bob Heyden overseeing things. Both the male and female races are dominated by Marcus Melander-trained entries, as he has six in the Futurity and three in the Filly Futurity. The race for the gals changed a bit as a horse was accidentally left out of the field of 11 (the richest of 2026 earn a spot behind the starting gate), but everything is all settled now after a redraw.

I sat at a table with Bill Bigler, who left Lexington last week after being here awhile but returned from his Florida home for the races and yearling sale. There was much anticipation for the Futurity draw which is being billed as the rematch between Apex and Big Ranger, respectively the one-two finishers (by a nose) in the Hambletonian.

Apex, who was co-bred and is co-owned by my column sponsor Steve Stewart (as Hunterton Farm/Hunterton Sales Agency), drew post 7. Meanwhile, Big Ranger landed post 9. The owners Madison Global had to ante up a $75,000 supplemental payment for Big Ranger, which bumped the final purse to $575,000.

I found it ironic that Greg Wright, Jr. came in and sat next to me at the draw. Why? It was the Wright-trained Jujubee who won the 2021 Kentucky Futurity as a $75,000 supplemental entry by owner Jon Erdner. It was great to chat with Greg, who I’ve known, along with his father Greg, Sr., for many, many years back to my Michigan days at Hazel Park Raceway.

The USTA’s COO T.C. Lane was on hand for the draw, as well as most of the members of the publicity/media team. That included Mark Hall, Rich Johnston, Kyle Creditt, and Cheyenne Christman. Missing, and sorely missed by me and everybody, was Wendy Ross. Of course, Wendy has good reason to be MIA as she recently added the title of mother to her stellar resume and she is needed at home to look after young Remy Paul (my middle name is also Paul so I thank Wendy for thinking of me).

Also, a reminder that as a bonus Saturday the Kentucky Futurity will be shown live during the America’s Day at the Races on FS2. Emily told me post time is 5:45 p.m. for the Futurity.

One other person at the draw I need to mention is Sal DiMario, the now-retired, former longtime executive director of the Delaware Standardbred Owners Association. Sal is here not only for the races but also for the judges’ school (the proper name is too long to mention) for both thoroughbreds and standardbreds.

Speaking of thoroughbreds, Keeneland opens its fall meet on today so they are also keeping an eye on the weather over there. Tonight, is Big Blue Madness at Rupp Arena, which is the introduction of the men’s and women’s basketball teams. It’s sold out (tickets are free and were gone in about 20 minutes when made available) so expect heavier traffic if you’re downtown today.

Before I get to Thursday’s races, don’t forget Sunday night is the annual Stable of Memories Round Barn fundraiser at the historic museum on the grounds of The Red Mile. Tickets are $70 and still available at stableofmemories.square.site. Dinner and music begin at 6 p.m. and runs through 9 p.m.

Ok, now to Thursday, where it was definitely shorts weather. After I grabbed a program in the main office with Bessie (it’s great to see her back after breaking a heel in a fall a few weeks ago), I took a walk down to the paddock. As I was heading there, I bumped into a person who asked me not to divulge their identity as of now. While I was talking to that person under the witness protection program, Kyle Creditt from the USTA came up to say hello. Actually, he didn’t say hello; he told me all he wanted was to get a mention in the column.

I saw Tim Tetrick so I congratulated him on recently driving his 15,000th career winner. I asked Tim — who is just the sixth driver to reach 15,000 wins — if he missed the days when he racked up more than 1,000 wins in a single year, and he quickly answered “no!”

Jimmy and Christina Takter were nearby so I said hello to them. PJ Fraley came over and we discussed — lamented about might be a better words — the Detroit Lions. The horses were getting ready to head to the track for the first race and Yannick Gingras stopped for a second to shake my hand and say hello. What Yannick didn’t tell me was the Andrew McCarthy, who was driving the number 1 horse, was about to run me over. I got out of the way quickly and Andy said hi as he went by.

I watched the first race in the paddock, which was won by the Todd McCarthy-driven, Brett Pelling-trained and Diamond Creek Racing-owned Halo. I later saw Diamond Creek’s Shaun Laungani in the Diamond Creek Winner’s Lounge, and after he offered me a beverage, I told him I thought it was interesting that a Diamond Creek winner was the first celebrated this year in the Diamond Creek Lounge.

As I walked back to the track from the paddock, I was joined by Kentuckiana Farms’ Ken Jackson. We went our separate ways when we reached the grandstand. I stopped for a minute to talk to Sally Bolon, otherwise known as the sister of ex-Boss Kathy. Sally is here participating in the judges’ school so as much as I wanted to ask her why, I didn’t. The USTA’s Michele Kopiec was with Sally, and it was nice to see her. And not to forget, the USTA’s executive VP Mike Tanner was here last week for the Breeders Crown luncheon. Suffice to say, the USTA is definitely in the house.

I saw Swedish photographer Adam Strom, who had just arrived after the long overseas flight, and then I headed upstairs to find a box to sit in. It was there that Andrew Cohen called me over to say hello, and he was joined by Bill Elliott. John Fodera also called me over for a second and he was there with Bill Bigler, Joe Sbrocco, and Joe Bongiorno.

Joe was getting ready to head to the paddock as he had two drives on the card, but he and I talked about his star older pacer Best Chip, who is currently ranked 10th on the weekly Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll. Best Chip is scheduled to race Saturday night in the $250,000 Dayton Pacing Derby at Hollywood Gaming Dayton Raceway, leaving from the outside post 9. I wished Joe good luck and hoped that Best Chip continues his success as right now I consider him to be arguably the favorite for Dan Patch Older Male Pacer of the Year.

I didn’t want to leave the racetrack since it was so nice out, but deadlines need to be met. The day was so glorious that I received a text from Bryan Owen, telling me he was jealous of the great weather and that “mom” would have loved it too.

There’s a little good news in gas prices as regular dropped a few cents to $4.16 that I saw. Diesel also dropped 20 cents to $6.49.

Thanks again to Steve and Cindy Stewart’s Hunterton Farm/Hunterton Sales Agency for being the sponsor of Backstretch. My next column will appear on Tuesday (Oct. 6), and then I’ll be around all week, reporting things from the backstretch and the Lexington Select Yearling Sale that gets underway Monday night at 7 p.m.