One of the best 2-year-old fillies racing in Kentucky this year is named in honor of one of the best places to congregate at Kentucky’s two signature racetracks, and the gentleman who worked there for decades.

Percy’s Bar is headed to the NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Oct. 31 at Del Mar after winning two of her four career races and coming in second in two Grade 1 stakes. The filly owned by Gatewood Bell’s Hat Creek Racing is named for a particular station at the Mezzanine Bar at Keeneland Race Course that was manned by Percy Pool, a bartender both at the Lexington track and at Churchill Downs.

Pool retired in 2015 after 47 years working at Churchill and almost as long tending bar at Keeneland, and he passed away in February 2024 at age 86. The Louisville resident was a beloved member of the Kentucky horse racing community known for his skill, professionalism, and friendly demeanor as he served imbibing patrons at his station at Keeneland and also at a bar on Churchill Downs’ second floor, adjacent to and overlooking the old paddock.

Percy serves his final patrons on retirement day at Churchill. (Courtesy of Nichelle Pool)

“Churchill Downs and the people there were just like family to him,” Percy’s daughter Nichelle said. “He loved it — he lived for working there. I recall as a kid, and even as an adult when I’d go to the track, he’d have a long line of people there waiting to be served by him.”

For casual fans, Percy was someone to look forward to seeing again and again, year after year, when Keeneland’s and Churchill’s meets started in the spring and fall. And for horse racing insiders, Percy’s Bar — or rather, bars — were places where wins were celebrated, handshake business deals were made, and lasting friendships were formed.  

“Myself and a whole lot of other horse people — jockeys’ agents, assistant trainers, exercise riders, patrons — all seemed to congregate there during the races, and then after the last race,” said Gatewood Bell, a third-generation horseman who is vice president of racing at Keeneland. “We just referred to it as Percy’s Bar. … He was a mainstay, just a great guy.”

“He’s a legend, that’s just the best way you can say it,” said Geno Leach, a Churchill patron and friend of Pool’s. “I’m 69, I’ve been going to the track since I was 6 years old, and every time I stepped on the ground at Keeneland and Churchill Downs I saw Mr. Pool.”

“Percy was just a very humble, quiet gentleman,” said Britt Clancy, like Leach a Churchill regular and horse owner in partnerships. “He was always willing to listen and give you a smile, there’s not many guys like that anymore.”

In addition to Churchill Downs’ and Keeneland’s live racing meets, Pool tended bar during the Keeneland horse sales for an international clientele and also worked at Ellis Park in western Kentucky for a time.

Celebrating 82nd birthday with family and friends. (Courtesy of Nichelle Pool)

While his stations at Keeneland and Churchill were day-in, day-out hubs of activity for local fans, Pool was also very popular with out-of-towners, his friends said. Leach recalled that Pool had his own following on Kentucky Derby and Oaks days among fans who would fly into Louisville for the main events and make visiting Percy’s Bar a part of their annual Derby-week ritual.  

“Derby week, all the people that would come by the bar — if Percy was away, on his restroom break, all of the out-of-town people would ask if he still worked there,” Leach said. “That’s the effect he had on people. He made a lot of friends in the industry.”

“He was such an institution there over the years that even when they had the Rolling Stones concert [at Churchill in 2006], Percy was there working at his usual place,” said Doug Glass, another of Percy’s friends at the track and a horse owner. “His place was like a neighborhood bar, in the middle of Churchill Downs. Percy was just as engaging on a weekday when it was just me, Geno, and a few others as he was Derby week when the lines were 10 deep.”

Many of Pool’s family members and friends were present at his retirement celebration in June 2015, when a race appropriately named “Percy’s Last Pour” was held in his honor at Churchill Downs. After Mayor Mac won the maiden race, trainer Greg Foley presented Percy with a trophy commemorating a remarkable career in Kentucky that spanned four Triple Crown winners, major racetrack expansions, the introduction of simulcasting, and many other changes.

Percy’s Bar, by Airdrie Stud stallion Upstart, was purchased as a yearling by Hat Creek Racing for $52,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September sale. The bay filly debuted during Keeneland’s spring meet and won a 4 ½-furlong sprint by four lengths. Bell and trainer Ben Colebrook then entered the filly in a stakes race at Percy Pool’s hometown track, and Percy’s Bar was just as sharp under the Twin Spires, taking Churchill’s six-furlong Debutante Stakes by five lengths in June.

Percy's Bar wins the Debutante. (Coady Media)

After finishing second to highly regarded Tommy Jo in her next start, the seven-furlong, Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga, Percy’s Bar showed a new dimension when back at Keeneland for her first two-turn start Oct. 3 in the 1 1/16-mile, Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades Stakes. She set the early pace and showed courage when challenged by Tommy Jo, finishing 2 ¾ lengths clear of her rival only to be disqualified and placed second due to interference in the stretch. Since then, Percy’s Bar has continued training at Keeneland, posting a timed workout on Oct. 18 and galloping for one final time Oct. 24 before the trip to Del Mar.

“Probably her best attribute is her mind,” Bell said of the filly. “She’s pretty calm and even-keeled, not unlike Percy was when dealing with a whole bunch of people in line. She’s just blossoming right now, and I’m hopeful that the light bulb has come on in the last month or two.”

Percy Pool was part of a close-knit family, and one of the highlights of his later years at Churchill was working with his son Percy Pool Jr., who also tended bar there for a time. Sadly, Percy Pool Jr. passed away several months after his father at age 62. Surviving family members — which include Nichelle, daughter Denise, second wife, Liz, and seven grandchildren — are proud of Percy Sr.’s legacy and how it is evoked through this talented filly’s name.

“It’s such a warm feeling to know that people still think about my dad and would name a horse after him,” Nichelle Pool said. “We are just so grateful for that.”

Most fans of horse racing will tell you that a big part of what makes it so enjoyable is the bond that forms at each racetrack between folks from different backgrounds who are drawn to the sport, and how, over time, that bond creates its own community. With that in mind, it’s safe to say that longtime members of Kentucky’s horse racing community will be rooting for Percy’s Bar in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Friday, many of them raising a glass in remembrance of Percy Pool, his gathering spots, and the good times shared.