2007 Trainee Views
Lexington, Kentucky - April 2008
March and April are fairly well known for the crazy weather we get here in Kentucky. We have had severe thunderstorms, so bad in fact that James and Mick crawled into bed together to “weather” out the storm. We also had a freak snow storm hit. Then the weather started to get nice and we had torrential rain! One particular morning highway 60 was completely covered in water, nearly 3 feet deep. At 5:30am, as we headed to Gainsborough it was not always easy to see the water, and on contact with it Mick and Cathal screamed louder and higher pitched than Jordyn!
Now though, the grass is green and birds are singing. Spring is in the air and the change in temperature has given everyone Derby fever. The past few weeks have been busy. We are in the home stretch of our rotations and we have finished our law assignment, a task that is nearly as long as copying the Bible, although we did learn so much. We met a great man, William “Buddy” Bishop, who has since sadly passed away. We were very lucky to have heard some great words of wisdom from a very wise man.
We have had a great few weeks with lectures from Dr. Hunt. He gave us some insight into angular limb deformities and common race injuries, and on so much more than vet work. We also got a glimpse of what it is like to be an owner, and how it takes a different kind of owner to be successful in the game today. We had a visit to Ashford stud with Aisling Duignan and Charlie O’Connor where they were kind enough to let us see their stallions and invite us to ask them some very tough questions. They were very open to us and it was a very beneficial trip. At the farm managers club meeting we got to listen to Dr. Allday and his stance on racing medications.
We even managed to make it to the two year old in training sale breeze show at Keeneland where we saw a world record 1/8 equalled. Many of us had never attended a two year old in training sale and it is a completely different scene than other sales at Keeneland. This past weekend Barry Weisbord had a great dinner at Dudley’s where we discussed many current problems of racing today with the students from the University of Louisville. It was interesting for much of our group to hear about the issues facing American racing, such as popularity of the sport, handle, track attendance and ways that technology is affecting our game.
Keeneland has also been in full swing in the past few weeks and many of us made it out there every day. Keeneland attracts a very different demographic than the Curragh or even many tracks in North America. Pretty girls helped to make the losses somehow ok!
As we come into the final stretch in America we are all looking forward to our placements in the many facets of the industry: everything from the race track and the breeding farm, to administration and even Darley Japan. It should be a very exciting couple of months.
Leif Aaron
Kyle, Leif and Cathal in Kentucky
The boys in Ashford
The group at Ashford
2007 group with Giant's Causeway
Mick and Leif at Keeneland