Talk to anyone who works in horse racing, whether they work directly with the horses or in the other many jobs this industry supports, you will find that many were fans of the sport long before they became a part of its workforce. This is the goal behind Fan Friday: to feature fans, the people who make this sport.
Veronica with Skywire, Sovereign Award finalist & Casse trainee
Veronica Gizuk is one of those people. An Ontario native, she grew up with horses so her transition to working with Thoroughbreds comes as no surprise. In addition to working with the racing side, she also has her own OTTB, a filly named Roo. From cheering on the horses she works with to caring for her own OTTBs, she exudes the joy and commitment we need to continue to grow this historic sport.
On this Fan Friday, meet Veronica!
Name: Veronica Gizuk
Role in racing: I currently work for trainer Mark Casse at Woodbine. Over the past few years I’ve done a variety of roles within racing from hot-walking, grooming, vet assistant & worked at a couple different breeding farms with broodmares/foals/weanlings and yearlings. I’m also a writer and owner of Gate To Wire, a horse racing blog dedicated to telling the stories in racing we don’t always hear and getting more fans involved in our sport.
Favorite moment at a racetrack: Watching my favorite filly Souper Sensational break her maiden first time out.
Turf or dirt: Dirt is my favorite!
Favorite piece of racing memorabilia: I like to collect hats from tracks, trainers, owners etc. I’m usually always wearing one if you’ve seen me around the track.
Person you’d like to meet: Mike Smith, I was lucky enough to interview him over the phone. Would be nice to meet him in person.
Horse you’d like to meet: Afleet Alex. He’s the sire of my favorite horse Skywire.
Favorite race: The Travers Stakes.
Finish this sentence: I wish I could travel the world and see all the biggest races.
How would you get new fans into racing? I’ve created a few new fans to racing by bringing friends to the track with me to watch races or to visit horses on the backside. Right now, I try to attract new fans through my writing on my blog (Gate To Wire). I try to tell peoples stories and how they first got involved in racing. I hope by people reading how others have become involved in our industry it will inspire them to join.
Jamie’s exploration of the Derby is a tome for sure, an in-depth exploration of the history of our most popular and best known horse race. Sure, the horses are part of the picture, but Jamie dives in deeper, discussing the people and events that go beyond Derby Day. He profiles Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr., the man who imagined an American version of the iconic Epsom Derby, but whose financial troubles led him to end his life early. From there, Jamie traces those uncertain years that followed Clark’s exit from Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby. He discusses how Matt Winn became the man who made the Derby the iconic event it is today and how the famous Twin Spires became part of our national fabric. With great patience and care, he traces the Derby’s evolution through war, social movements, and the evolution of the sport itself. If you were ever interested in just how the Derby became THE KENTUCKY DERBY, including how traditions like the blanket of roses came to be, this is the book for you.
Justify in the gate for the 2018 Kentucky Derby (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
As we look toward the 147th Kentucky Derby, a wide open field of three-year-olds presents their cases for wearing roses. While we watch the prep races and contemplate our choices, I hope you will pick up this tome and let us know what you learn from Jamie’s discussion of how the Run for the Roses went from one man’s dream to the grandest spectacle in American horse racing.
One of my very favorite souvenirs from any sporting event is a t-shirt. I have shirts from the Triple Crown races I’ve attended, the racetracks I’ve visited, and more, enough to wear over a solid couple of weeks or so. Fans everywhere like to wear their joy for their favorite teams or horses, so much so that whole stores are devoted to the perfect jersey for a NFL football fan or the coolest hat to show off their love for their favorite NBA team. For horse racing fans to find that perfect shirt, they need to look no further than one name: Old Smoke. For #MakerMonday, here’s a look at this company’s wide variety of shirts and other gear for horse racing fans everywhere.
With a Little Help from My Friends
Kurt Rossner, Adrian Szamereta, and Kurt Hoover grew up in the Saratoga Springs area, so they were exposed to the track from their earliest years. From that grew an understanding of what fans of the sport like, especially when it comes to the gear they like to wear. They parlayed their love of the horses and the sport’s accompanying pastimes (tradition and pageantry with a side of betting and bourbon) into Old Smoke Clothing Co., based in Saratoga Springs.
Since 2018, they’ve been offering shirts, hats, outerwear, and more for fans everywhere. They’ve also partnered with America’s Best Racing, the Kentucky Derby, the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, and more to offer a variety of designs, some of which give back to the charities involved. Old Smoke also offers custom options for those who would like to have a shirt or a line of clothing for their organization.
What to Wear?
I guess you can call me partial to Old Smoke: in 2019, we partnered to create a Sir Barton t-shirt in time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first Triple Crown. But, before that, I was already an Old Smoke fan, so much so that I now have a dozen of their shirts. These are well-made shirts that are soft and hold up well to washing. The colors stay vibrant and the designs are both contemporary and classic, playing off of many of the horses and places that permeate racing, like the Graveyard of Champions shirt, which is next on my list of must-haves. Horses from Secretariat to Knicks Go get their tributes as well as familiar names like Mike Smith and the Daily Racing Form.
In addition, you can find beanies and ball caps as well as hoodies and households items (coffee mugs and posters). Old Smoke has something for every racing fan, literally. My husband and I both have shirts that love wearing, and one day soon I’m going to get him a ball cap too. (This one is my favorite.)
While you’re exploring Old Smoke’s offering, consider looking for their Chari-TEE of the month. If you purchase the chosen t-shirt during that month, part of the proceeds goes to that charity. For February, the Chari-TEE is the Old Smoke logo t-shirt; buy one to benefit Racing for Home, Inc. I can’t wait to see what next month’s choice will be!
If you’re an Old Smoke fan, share your favorite shirts with us in the comments! Let us know what shirts you think they should make next. I am personally hoping for a Gallant Fox or Omaha shirt to go alongside my Sir Barton shirt. I know 2021 will bring us more fantastic designs from these fellow racing fans.
If you know of an artisan making horse racing related items, message me and let me know so I can feature them in an upcoming Maker Monday.
And, if you want to see more of what this racing fan has in her closet, here is a slideshow of all of our shirts!
For our first Fan Friday, I wanted to profile a fellow fan that I met via social media who has inspired many a conversation about the role of the fan in horse racing. Amanda Lee fell in love with racing as she watched Barbaro capture our hearts in 2006, and, in the last decade and a half, she has maintained that love through her education and transition into her career as a physical therapy assistant. Her passion for the sport and its champions has taken her all the way to Santa Anita for the Breeder’s Cup and inspired a series of gorgeous portraits of a number of champions, including this amazing portrait of Sir Barton that she did for yours truly.
Welcome Amanda to our first Fan Friday here on Foxes of Belair!
Name: Amanda Lee
Role in racing: I’m just a fan! However I’ve sort of become known on Twitter for my watercolor horse portraits, and a small handful of popular owners and trainers have paintings of mine hanging around.
Favorite moment at a racetrack: I’d dreamed of attending a race in person my whole life, but distance and being relentlessly busy with school made it difficult. I finally got to attend the 2019 Breeder’s Cup. It was a dream come true. The very first Breeder’s Cup race was the Filly and Mare Sprint, and I gotta watch Covfefe (a horse I’d fallen irrationally and completely in love with all year long) cross the wire first. It’s a moment I’ll cherish forever. I’ll also always remember the couple sitting next to me looking a bit glum as I jumped up screaming Covfefe down the final stretch. They must’ve had a losing bet.
Turf or dirt: Dirt is what I feel in love with first, so I’m definitely partial. But I love to watch a good turf battle!
Favorite piece of racing memorabilia: I’ve got a growing collection of hats that I’m quite fond of. Some I’ve purchased, some I’ve won in giveaways, and some have been sent to me by owners/trainers of my favorite horses! I’ve also got Breyer models of my top 3 favorite horses–Barbaro, Zenyatta, and Covfefe.
Person you’d like to meet: This is so hard to choose! I’ve interacted with many kind people in racing through Twitter and I’d love to meet any of them in person. My favorite horse running right now is Swiss Skydiver, so how about Kenny McPeek?
Horse you’d like to meet: Covfefe, Zenyatta, and Swiss Skydiver–I would probably cry if I met any of them in person! I’d also love to go to Coolmore or Lanes End to meet a few of my favorite stallions.
Favorite race: 2009 Breeder’s Cup Classic. Watching it always gives me the chills! The 2019 Test Stakes and 2020 Preakness also rank high up there.
Finish this sentence: I wish I could visit all of the big tracks and see some big races! I’ve got Santa Anita down, and hope to go to Del Mar next… after that, perhaps Saratoga or Belmont? Visiting more tracks is definitely on my bucket list for the next couple of years!
How would you get new fans into racing? All it takes is that one horse to fall in love with and you’re sold! Many people have “that one horse” that brought them into the game. For me it was Barbaro. I wanted to learn everything I could about him, and the books and articles that I read helped me to fall in love with the sport. A surefire way to get people invested is by sharing the stories of these individual horses and their connections, sharing the highs and lows and triumphs and challenges. That’s what horse racing is about and when you hear these stories, it’s not hard at all to fall in love.
Gallant Fox, Omaha, and the many champions of Belair Stud are products of both great training and great breeding. William Woodward spent a great deal of time working out the minutiae of breeding his mares to the sires of the day, often doing so in partnership with his good friend Arthur Hancock of Claiborne Farm. Woodward started small, but his investments during the upheaval of World War I yielded a number of his best horses.
One of this was Flambette.
Flambette with Linus McAtee up. Courtesy of and copyright the Keeneland Library’s Cook Collection.
From Gotham to Gaul
Herman Duryea, breeder and friend of Harry Payne Whitney, saw the Hart-Agnew laws as sounding the death knell for horse racing in New York and perhaps in the United States as a whole. Duryea, whose inherited wealth enabled him to spend his days at sport, had invested in properties in New York and Tennessee, but decided to move his operation to France, establishing Haras du Gazon. There, he bred two English classic winners, Durbar II, winner of the 1914 Epsom Derby, and Sweeper II, who won the Two Thousand Guineas in 1910. In addition, the mare Frizette, for whom the Frizette Stakes is named, was part of his broodmare band. When Duryea died in 1916, his widow attempted to maintain Haras du Gazon, but eventually sold much of the breeding operation and its stock to Marcel Boussac.
About the same time, Edmond Blanc’s concern about the Great War in Europe prompted him to sell a number of his broodmares, most by Ajax. William Woodward bought five of them, including La Flambee. Wartime conditions prevented the mares from coming to the United States until 1919, so, in the interim, Woodward had La Flambee covered by Durbar II. By the time those five mares arrived at Belair, they also had La Flambee’s filly La Rabelais and her yearling filly by Durbar II. Woodward named her Flambette.
A Queen on the Track and Off
Prior to 1923, Woodward’s horses were leased by his friend Philip A. Clark, his friend and fellow horseman who had also owned other good horses, like 1918 Belmont Futurity winner Dunboyne. In 1921, at age three, Flambette ran in Clark’s colors, winning the Latonia Oaks and the Coaching Club American Oaks, where she defeated stablemate and Kentucky Oaks winner Nancy Lee. An injury in the Wilton Handicap at Saratoga ended her career, which meant the start of her next career, broodmare for Belair Stud.
Though she flashed brilliance in her nine-race career, Flambette became one of Belair’s foundational broodmares, producing thirteen foals for William Woodward. Of those thirteen, seven were starters and four were winners. Her first foal was a filly by Wrack, the Claiborne stallion who had won both on the flat and over jumps. That filly was named Flambino. Flambino won the Gazelle Stakes and finished third in the 1927 Belmont Stakes and the Coaching Club American Oaks, but, as a broodmare, she gave Woodward another prize: Omaha.
Flambette also produced La France, an unraced filly by Sir Gallahad III. La France’s best foal was Johnstown, 1939 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner. Also by Sir Gallahad III was another filly, Gallette. Now, as a racehorse, Gallette was terrible both over jumps and on the flat. She started sixteen times and could not do better than second, finishing her career with a grand total of $225 in winnings. From Gallette came Gallorette, champion handicap mare in 1946.
Later, Flambette’s daughters would go on to produce more good horses. Other than Omaha, Flambino produced Fleam and Flares for Belair. Omaha also sired Flaming Top, third dam of Nijinsky II. La France is the fourth dam of Decidedly, 1962 Kentucky Derby winner, and the sixth dam of Danzig Connection, who won the 1986 Belmont Stakes. Another classic winner with Flambette in his pedigree was Sunday Silence, who has Flambette in his pedigree through his dam Wishing Well.
La Reine-de-Course de Belair
In French, une reine-de-course is a queen of the turf. Like the chefs-de-race, a reine-de-course is a foundational figure for a family of thoroughbreds, producing producers that often go on to foal champions and other important horses within the world of horse racing. Flambette is one of Belair’s, influencing generations of champions on multiple continents, her name tucked away in the pedigrees of many a great horse. She is just one of the names that made Belair Stud among the influential breeders of the 20th century and beyond.
Read more on Flambette and other reines-de-course at Ellen Parker’s site of the same name. Much gratitude to Ms. Parker and her work alongside that of Avalyn Hunter and her excellent American Classic Pedigrees.
As I continue working on Foxes of Belair, I wanted to look at both Belair champions and the contextual history of their pedigrees and their people, but I also wanted to draw on our own context. One of the great joys of my life has been these thirty-plus years of watching horse racing and falling in love with its champions over the years. With that in mind, I wanted to introduce a regular feature I’m calling #FanFriday.
The goal will be to interview a fan each week and share some thoughts on their favorite horses and moments from their time as part of this sport. This week, I wanted to kick things off with a look at the wonderful people who engaged with me early on and led to this lifetime love of horse racing.
Starting Young
Sure, my journey started with the Black Stallion books, and, according to my third-grade teacher, I was already sketching horses before I had even watched my first race on television. Growing up in the Birmingham area offered limited opportunities to interact with horses so imagine how grand a day it was when my aunt Betty took me to the racetrack for the first time! It was August 12, 1989 and this twelve-year-old fan was doing so well at the wagering game that I had some grizzled old gamblers asking my aunt who I liked in the next race. That’s where I met Missy Be Good, the filly that caught my eye and started my love for chestnuts. I’m still looking for a photo of her to have.
Writing Away
The late 1980s lacked the accessibility of tools like Twitter and Facebook and search engines like Google, so, if you want to reach out to your favorites, you had to write a letter. I cannot remember how many I wrote, but, as I had decided I wanted to be a jockey, I started writing letters. To the National Museum of Racing. To Churchill Downs. To the Kentucky Derby Museum. To Pimlico. Most of the time, I got lovely letters back, some even handwritten. I wrote a letter to Chris Antley after he won the Kentucky Derby on Strike the Gold and got that autographed photo in return. I got that photo of Pat Day. Kentucky Derby win photos from 1980-1990. Programs from the Triple Crown races. I relished checking the mail every day and still do. Now, though, with Twitter and Facebook and more, I can reach out more easily, but I will never forget how special I felt opening the mailbox and finding envelopes from these cathedrals to the sport.
Thirty years later, I had the great fortune to take that teenage love of racing into the work I do now. I love every second of it. For all of the days when racing is hard, when negatives pile up and threaten to overwhelm the positives, I remember how I felt when Sunday Silence and Easy Goer dueled down the stretch in the 1989 Preakness, when American Pharoah finally was the one, and all of the winning moments in between, and I smile, thinking of how much younger me loved it all. I am grateful to every person who answered my letters and my tweets, who took the time to share their love of the sport with this fan and many others.
Now, each week, I hope to feature other fans and talk about those same moments that brought them to racing and then keep them in the sport. If you would like to be a part of #FanFriday, let me know! I’d love to showcase fans from across the county and the world if possible.
Racing fans are like fans of any other sport: we like to wear our favorite team. From the blue and white check of Meadow Stable’s Secretariat to the gray and maroon of Sackatoga and Tiz the Law, you can find shirts, hats, and more for just about any horse that you might fancy. In Dawn Wood’s Etsy shop, Odds ‘N Hind Ends, you find a few unique items that allow you to show off the horses you fancy.
If you’re a Frosted fan, Wood has these adorable Frosted sticker and keychain set. I personally have one of these because I love Frosted and could not resist having his lovely gray visage in my office.
If you love Tiznow, dual Breeder’s Cup Classic winner, you can grab this adorable hat to show off your affection for this fantastic race horse and sire. Available in three colors to match all of your favorite outfits.
The shop features horses like Tiznow, Tiz the Law, and Curlin, whose lovely blazed face graces this pin. Celebrate this Preakness and Breeder’s Cup Classic winner by wearing him on your favorite shirt or lanyard and show off your flair for classic thoroughbreds! You can also find Curlin as a sticker along with Zenyatta, A.P. Indy, and Tiz the Law.
Do you know an artisan, photographer, or other maker that would be a great fit for #MakerMonday? Let me know on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at @foxesofbelair.
William Woodward’s two years in England had whetted his appetite for more. As a child, he had already set it in his mind that he would win the Epsom Derby one day, as Pierre Lorillard had in 1881 with his American-bred Iroquois. Woodward’s time in Britain, though, grew this idea into an obsession, the Harvard educated young man spending as much time researching pedigrees and race records as he did the law and other concerns. Back in the United States, he continued this passion, turning his Belair estate into a veritable equine heaven, but he needed the bloodstock to make his dreams a reality. To do that, he looked to a horse named Ajax.
French Connection
Edmond Blanc divided his time between politics and horses, parlaying his inheritance into a place as one of the France’s most successful breeders. He purchased English Triple Crown winner Flying Fox from the estate of the Duke of Westminster and brought the stallion to his Haras de Jardy. There, in his first crop, Flying Fox sired Ajax.
Ajax was a sensation on the racetrack, winning all five of his starts at age three, before an injury cut his career short. He retired with that perfect record to Haras de Jardy, his wins in the Prix de Jockey Club and the Grand Prix de Paris marking him as a sire to pursue. In addition to siring Teddy, who also became a champion on the racetrack and then in the breeding shed, Ajax sired a number of broodmares, including one named La Flambee. When World War I began, many breeders rushed to sell their horses, resulting in a number of importations from Europe to the United States. Blanc decided to sell several of his broodmares, news that caught the eye of William Woodward at Belair in Maryland.
American Successes
Woodward decided to buy five of those mares, all by Ajax. Woodward was still early in his breeding career, building his bloodstock holdings slowly, waiting for the right moment to break out. Through contacts, he purchased those fives mares by Ajax for a surprisingly low $3,750. One of those mares was La Flambee, who had been bred to Epsom Derby winner Durbar II while she waited to be shipped to the United States. Even though Woodward had purchased these mares in 1914, they did not arrive in America until 1919. By that time, La Flambee’s filly by Durbar II was a yearling that Woodward named La Flambette.
La Flambette won the Coaching Club American Oaks and the Latonia Oaks for Woodward, establishing herself as a leading filly of her generation before becoming a broodmare of note, producing horses like La France (dam of classic winner Johnstown), Gallette (dam of Gallorette, champion handicap mare), and Flambino, who won the Gazelle and finished third in both the Coaching Club American Oaks and the Belmont Stakes. For Woodward, Flambino would produce Fleam, Flares, and, of course, Omaha, 1935 Triple Crown winner. From that investment in five Ajax mares came many of Belair’s great runners.
Of course, Ajax had another connection to Belair. Earlier, I mentioned that he sired Teddy, who was a champion in Spain during World War I and then a notable sire for Jefferson Davis Cohn. Among the horses he sired was Sir Gallahad III, the stallion that a syndicate of breeders like Arthur Hancock and William Woodward purchased and brought to the United States in late 1925. Sir Gallahad would sire Gallant Fox, who would then sire Omaha, out of Flambino. Ajax’s blood ran deep in the Belair bloodstock, generations of horses that brought much success to their breeder and owner across the ocean from where it all began.
In his time, a horse named for a mythical hero helped establish one breeder’s fantastic success, bringing us horses that stand alongside the actual Ajax as pillars of equine greatness.
With ninety-four days to go, the Kentucky Derby looms large over the racing calendar for this year’s crop of newly minted three year olds. The inevitable bevy of top 10 lists rate the best of what we’ve seen thus far, early looks at immature horses who still have growing to do between late January and the first Saturday in May. As we consider the chances of horses like Essential Quality and Life is Good, let us harken back to the ninety-one years ago and the run-up to the Kentucky Derby for an all-time great.
The story of 1929’s two-year-olds were Harry Payne Whitney’s pair, Boojum and Whichone. Boojum had beaten his stablemate in the Hopeful after showing off his speed in earlier sprints while Whichone had taken the Champagne Stakes, the Saratoga Special, and the Futurity at Belmont. In the Winter Book for the 1930 Derby, Whichone was at the top of the list at 4-1, with Boojum second choice at 10-1 along with another juvenile standout, Gallant Fox, also at 10-1. With 112 days to go, of these three, who would come out on top?
Unfortunately, lingering injuries from 1929 would keep both Boojum and Whichone from finding out how they would all measure up. Whichone did not make his first start until May 1930, while Boojum attempted a comeback in April but his injured tendon was not ready for racing. Without those two standouts, the Kentucky Derby picture was wide open, with not one horse standing out above the rest. Instead, the weeks between January 25th and May 17th saw the standings shift between names like Gallant Knight, Tanery, and Crack Brigade. After his performance in the Preakness, one week before the Derby, one horse rose to favoritism: Gallant Fox.
The historic Twin Spires of Churchill Downs
He had won only one prep race, the Wood Memorial, prior to the Preakness. The Fox had won two of his eight races as a two-year-old, demonstrating the inconsistency of a horse with bottomless talent and a mind of his own. With Earl Sande, though, he was a different horse. Instantly, the presence of one of the era’s greatest jockeys lent him credibility. Instantly, that troubled trip around the Pimlico oval demonstrated a depth that augured for something special.
When all was said and done, the other names that had been bandied about as favorites for the 1930 Kentucky Derby became afterthoughts, discarded for the Fox of Belair. His Run for the Roses was impressive enough that he had propelled himself to the top of his division, but still he had one more hurdle to clear before he became its clear leader: Whichone. The Whitney colt may not have made it to Louisville, but his status as juvenile champion and winter book favorite meant that the Fox had one more horse to beat before he could call the year his.
In a year that has been marked by the challenges of COVID-19 and more, giving back is more important than ever. The following is a list of equine-related non-profits that benefit both horses and people, including backstretch workers, jockeys, and more. If you are looking to give this year, I hope you will visit each of these charities and help them continue their missions to help across equine industries.
