10 Things I Learned (or confirmed) at the 2010 Breeders' Cup

10 Things I Learned (or confirmed) at the 2010 Breeders' Cup

Having just returned from the 2010 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, held at Churchill Downs, in Louisville, Kentucky, I am unpacking my bags and considering the experience.

The two-day championships presented dichotomies of delight and disappointment, exhilaration and exhaustion, highs and lows, and much more.

Facing a birthday this week, I realize that I am not too old to learn something new every day.

Photo (at right) with 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic entry 

Musket Man 

(2010 Illinois Derby winner)

Photo copyrighted by Nickers and Ink

Here are the top ten things I learned, while attending the 2010 Breeders’ Cup.

1. Pluck, 2010 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner, actually snores audibly.

2. Goldikova, three-time Breeders’ Cup Mile winner (2008, 2009, and 2010) is untouchable – in quarantine and on the track

3. Lookin’ At Lucky may actually prefer fingers to carrots.

4. Jockey Calvin Borel will risk anything to save a friend from danger.

5. Zenyatta jockey Mike Smith has a tender heart, and her trainer, John Shirreffs is the real deal.

6. Retired Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero, Jr., is a class act.

7. Trainer Todd Pletcher loves flowers; he collected three garlands at the 2010 Breeders’ Cup.

8. Country music star Toby Keith loves Thoroughbreds, but not as much as Quarter Horses.

9. Hall of Famer Earlie Fires rode my Thoroughbred once in a race.

10. The city of Louisville, Kentucky, apparently has a (perhaps unwritten) beauty quotient for law enforcement officers.

Photo (at left) with retired Hall of fame jockey Angel Cordero, Jr.

Photo by D. Zeit - used by permission

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