JC / Railbird

Profiles

Summer Beauty

The August issue of Vogue is now on newsstands and the magazine includes, as expected, a breezy feature on super filly Rachel Alexandra. The article offers little new information to racing fans (although I did enjoy reading this tidbit about the Preakness: “When Mike Smith, the jockey on Mine That Bird, rode up after the race to congratulate Borel, the highly competitive filly instinctively took off again”), but the accompanying photo is absolutely stunning. And possibly digitally altered? There’s no halter on her fine head:

Posted in Media on July 23, 2009 / Tagged Distaffers, Great Horses, Photography, Portraits, Posing, Profiles, Rachel Alexandra, Vogue

While Waiting for the Draw …

Enjoy this T.D. Thornton profile of Dr. Mick Peterson:

This week Peterson is in Louisville to experience his first Kentucky Derby. He’s the solitary figure on the track between the cacophony of morning training and the excitement of the afternoon races, taking his measurements during the break in the action. He’s looking forward to watching the Derby not from one of the cushy luxury suites, but from an obscure hideaway on the far turn known as “The Hill,” where the maintenance crew parks its heavy equipment.

Or this one of DRF clocker Mike Welsch by Joe Drape:

So, Welsch will study how the Derby horses gallop over the next couple of days before deciding where his, and his followers’, $2 bets will go. He will discern who looks fresh and who is sore. He will listen, too, until one of them clears its throat and says, “Bet me.”

Think about what might happen in racing after the Derby:

Wiggins said that if things go well Friday he’d like to see her run in the Belmont. But Lauffer sounded less sure about running Rachel Alexandra against the boys, saying she’ll probably get a break after the Oaks and might return in August for the fillies-only Alabama Stakes at Saratoga.

And, of course, there’s Belmont to distract, opening today for its spring meet.

Posted in Racing on April 29, 2009 / Tagged Belmont Park, Mick Peterson, Mike Welsch, Profiles