In 1984, 17-year-old jockey Mike Smith was given a leg up on Loblolly Stable’s 3-year-old colt Pine Circle by future Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey.
The Churchill Downs backside comes to life a few weeks before the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve. While horses are stabled there nine months out of the year, some extra special ones call the backside their home in the weeks leading up to the Derby.
The 152nd Kentucky Derby will be charged with emotion for many fans, but none more so than 94-year-old Leverett Miller, breeder of Santa Anita Derby winner So Happy.
When it comes to the future, Jodie Vella-Gregory understands the assignment.
“If we’re not focusing on the next generation, then we’re not focusing on the industry,” said Vella-Gregory, vice president of industry relations of 1/ST RACING & GAMING. “We constantly are talking about how we need people to be involved in racing in the industry and what better way than to organically do that from the beginning?”
Some are born into the sport, spending their formative years around equine athletes, wrapping legs, mucking stalls, and continuing family legacies that might stretch back generations. Others find their way to the racetrack through a more circuitous route. Jordyn Egan is the latter.
“I was a horse nut from the age of 5, just out of nowhere. Hunter-jumper, nothing fancy at all,” she said with a laugh. “When my family couldn’t afford riding lessons, I would work in the therapeutic riding program. I always stayed connected to horses.”
