# Just because...LOADED with pics...



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I am bored, been looking through some old pics, and thought I"d bore you all with sharing some...hah....

First time I took my current camera/long lens out to the track... about 6am in the dark late March 2009 --- This was 2008 champion 2yo Stardom Bound working out. 









Teuflesberg - a young, not so big named stallion that I was a huge fan of on the racetrack. I love his nose 









Stormalory <outside> won the Transylvania stakes in 4/09, his last win before breaking down in a race on Kentucky Derby weekend  Hard to get over the loss of this guy...









Informed Decision winning in April 09. One of my VERY FAVORITES racing right now. She was Champion sprinter in 09 









Lawyer Ron was a wonderful racehorse who won and ran a lot of thrilling races! Sadly, he died in the spring of last year due to colic. 









Mushka in the pouring rain...(My first time shooting a race in the POURING rain.)









When it rains...it tends to pour here in April...









Mr. Sidney wins the Makers Mark Mile - a big turf race at our tracks spring meet.










Nicanor - younger brother to the ill fated champ, Barbaro <in case anyone knows who he is>. And my favorite jock, Julien Leparoux getting ready for a morning workout.









Nicanor has a GORGEOUS head/face









Forever Together, another FAVORITE of mine who is buddy and stablemate to Informed Decision <fourth pic I posted>. 









General Quarters winning the Bluegrass Stakes last year <last prep for the Kentucky Derby>. He's got a COOL story between him and his trainer, he's getting a break right now, but should be a BIG name in the fall championships. Love this horse 









Nothing like going to the track early in the morning during the racemeets <April & Oct>. 









A nearly impossible shot taken on a dark, dreary, rainy early morning. 









My first morning at the historic track, Churchill Downs, a week before the Kentucky Derby. I'd been to the track 2x before, but never like this LOL









Eventual 2009 Kentucky Derby winner, Mine That Bird









I planned this pic to turn out like this - knowing the trainer and who his horses were. Focus on the horses...and keep the trainer as background.. 









Rachel Alexandra - 2009 Horse of the Year and Champion 3 yo. AMAZING, not another word for her. 









Rachel Alexandra and her 'humans' coming over to the saddling area for the Kentucky Oaks.









Rachel Alexandra winning the Kentucky Oaks by 20 lengths!!









Rachel and her Lillies before going into the winners circle 









Ken Ramsey, a notable racehorse owner/breeder celebrates after getting a big win in a race on Kentucky Derby day! His words were 'I finally got one! I finally got one!" 









The elusive, Kentucky Derby trophy









Mine That Bird wins the Kentucky Derby


















And if you've managed to get through all of this now... <you have as much time to kill as me LOL>

I am getting ready to work a yearling sale soon...taking these kind of pics -- these are from last July














































Waiting...









Black Mamba gets a closer look at her sales advertisement <Nov 09>. One of my VERY FAVORITE sale moments...priceless...









In January it's not totally uncommon to see mares go through the sales ring with a foal at their side. This mare just happened to be a champion, and her newborn 14 hour colt by one of the hottest young stallions...




































My fav 2yo from the April 2010 sale, Wilburn




































Winter in the Bluegrass.... <Central KY>









I could go on and on... I have over 5,000 pics in my photostream LOL And all those pics on my computer I haven't done anything with...! I don't put up a lot of my sale pics on flickr though, as I do some work off and on with 2 other websites, and it's too hard trying to upload to 3 sites....

I'm doing the July sale even if I don't get paid for it - something I LOVE to do. I'm hoping the one website comes through though, as if it does it'll mean more work with them in the fall!

I also found out I am going to be credentialed for the World Equestrian Games in September!!! I am soooo excited, but terrified LOL!!

I hope I didn't put anyone to sleep...just browsing, and figured I'd share some of my personal favorites..


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

:shocked: I love your work, I haven't gotten through your entire flickr yet.. lol! but now i must keep going


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Beautiful.......just Beautiful......love them....tremendously..... :thumb:


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## mrs. lam (Apr 20, 2010)

I'm a big fan of the grays! My late hubbies, late grandfather worked at a track in Ohio and always told me, "If a race has a gray in it...BET ON IT!" :greengrin: We always did.

My fav is the one of Black Mamba looking at the sales poster. "Does this make me look fat?" Or "Wow! The camera does add 10 pounds! But I still make it look gooood!"

Gina


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## RowdyKidz (Apr 2, 2009)

Those are absolutely amazing! I loved the ones with the dapples! Those are some of my absolute favorites!

I love watching races and Informed Decision is one of my all time favorites!

Your pictures are amazing! I'd love to see more... :greengrin:


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## Crissa (Oct 7, 2007)

Great shots! So when do you want to come take some of my horse? lol


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

You didnt bore me a bit I love your photos.....It is really neat to look at all the horses even though I am not a huge horse fan. They are so pretty.....My favorite horse has always been a light brown horse with a dark mane and tail.


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## Epona142 (May 26, 2008)

Oh oh..! Mine that Bird! Rachel Alexandria! Nicanor! 

*dies of envy*


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks everyone I appreciate the kind comments 

Mrs. Lam - I am a HUGE 'grey lover.' Informed Decision, Forever Together, Eight Belles, Rockport Harbor --- all Greys and favorites 

Well, I got some very sad news this morning. One of the local horse rescue homes lost a stallion yesterday. They are the ONLY rescue in the USA that takes in retired stallions, but also rescue other horses too - off of the racetrack. They will also let some stallions who are pensioned <no longer breeding> come, and make arrangements with their owners to pay for their keep and an added donation on top of it - this keeps the farm going and helps them to rescue more horses. 
The 'big' name horses get the fans coming, and the fans in return learn more about the 'little' horses. More donations = more growth. They have a 2nd farm in NY that is just getting started. I can remember when I got involved, they only had about 5 or 6 horses. Now, they have well over 50.... minus 1 

Black Tie Affair was a champion racehorse, as well as an excellent stallion. He was sent to the home last year 
, and has melanoma <spelling?>, which are cancerous tumors on the skin - very common in greys, and caused by the sun. He was underweight, and didn't even want to walk off the van.
He's been getting excellent care by some of the best in KY, but sadly, he had to be euthanized yesterday from laminitis <a death sentence for a lot of horses - including the great Secretariat>.

He was such a kind horse, and they kept him going until he showed them he had enough... 




































1986-2010


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

RowdyKidz said:


> Those are absolutely amazing! I loved the ones with the dapples! Those are some of my absolute favorites!
> 
> I love watching races and Informed Decision is one of my all time favorites!
> 
> Your pictures are amazing! I'd love to see more... :greengrin:


Wow glad to see another fan of her and on here!  I absolutely ADORE her and her stablemates! I have watched her race in person like 5-6 times! She's raced at our track at least 4 or 5 times and only lost 1x. Is 0 with 2 starts this year, but she's always there at the end trying her best.

She is running on Sunday at Arlington Park! $100,000 Chicago Handicap! I am soooo excited! I hope she does well! Her jockey has been off for 6 weeks after an injury in a nasty fall back in mid May - soooo glad she will have her regular jockey again!

Mine That Bird is making his first appearance in 2010 on July 4th as well --- in a turf race at Churchill downs! Turf? HUH? okay....
$175,000 Firecracker Handicap. Should be interesting...considering he is a 'dirt' horse.


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## RowdyKidz (Apr 2, 2009)

Black Tie Affair was such an awesome horse. 

Eight Belles was another one of my favorites...

I love horse races! I really want to get down to KY some year to watch them. Did you take any photos yesterday? Let me know if you did...I'd love to see more pictures!


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## Trace (Dec 29, 2008)

ANY time you want to post more - go ahead. Great pictures - thanks for sharing.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks so much Trace!

RowdyKidz --- I don't travel much to other tracks, but eventually I will if I pick up any work to do at the other tracks. I am within an hour of at least 3-4 tracks.

Eight Belles was one of my VERY favorites. I was sooo thrilled when she spent a few weeks at our local track before the Derby. I always stopped by the barn to see her, but could never get to the track early enough to see her out as she went out about 7am, and I couldn't get there until at least 7:30am <had to get kids on the school bus first>. 
One morning - 2 weeks before the derby, I rushed up there hoping.. and guess what? There had been a water main break on the main track - shut down for about an hour. So I FINALLY saw her out on the track that morning. 
She was amazing - had that 'look of Eagles' in her eyes.



















I sent her owners copies of my pictures and a card right after her death. They had a memorial service at Churchill Downs where she has a permanent memorial, I wasn't able to go  I was at a horse sale, and wasn't able to leave in time. I later found out they had used this next picture on display in the Kentucky Derby Museum to advertise her public memorial. Out of all the pics they could have chosen, I was deeply honored that they chose mine.
The print looked so much nicer IMO than it does on the computer.





































I was sick for a week after she died. I just couldn't leave the house, all the negative talk on the internet about her trainer made me soooo upset. If there was a good trainer in horse racing, it was her trainer.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Here's some more...

Stallions from the January 2010 farm open houses to see the stallions. I LOVE the open houses <Nov & Jan>. You get to see your favorites without bothering the farms with setting up a visit.
Of course...it's VERY cold in KY in January! But I meet up with some friends and we hoof it together 

Dunkirk - new 2010 stallion










Dunkirk was freezing poor boy! And he wouldn't put his head up, he kept checking us out. We decided not to torture him with trying to get a correct pose. I love his expression.









Street Cry - one of the top stallions in the country.









Bernardini - 

























Street Boss - being shown to fans and potential breeders









Hard Spun - 









Visionaire -









Stormello - He is such a pretty horse









Rockport Harbor - November 2009


















Quiet American -


















Cloudy's Knight - an AMAZING gelding who nearly won the Breeders Cup Marathon <A LONG race> a week after this pic was taken. Love this guy.

















Forever Together - Nov 2009 



























Informed Decision - Nov 2009 - a week before winning the Breeders Cup Sprint and sealing her as the 2009 Eclipse winner for female sprinter of the year. 













































Lentenor - younger brother of Barbaro - his first race - Halloween 2009. There were so many photographers there you'd have thought he was a big famous racehorse - not a first time starter who is a sibling to a famous racehorse! 
I tried to get this pic just right & get something different from everyone else <who were standing far to my right>.
So, I was able to get this shot with him walking in the walking ring - his trainer, and owners in the background 









He finished 2nd that day, but had a bit of a rough trip otherwise I think he would have won.









Take Control - the son of Horse of the year, Azeri, and horse of the year/top stallion, A.P. Indy. Azeri was the horse that got me back into racing.

AND.... if you have ever seen the horse movie, Dreamer. The race at the end of the movie is from our track - and the crowd scenes were taken on the day she raced there! All those people came to see Azeri, and the film company took advantage of it! <not that anyone was complaining LOL>. I wish I was into photography at that time!

So here's her first boy 
2yo April 2009 I belive he was $1,900,000 in this sale. As a yearling he RNA'd <retainer not attained> for $7,700,000, they wanted $8,000,000 for him.

















I have pics of Azeri, but for some reason don't have the more recent ones up... hmmm...


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

these horses seem unreal. wow.


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

I really like cloudy's knight The second picture looks like he is right infront of me. I just wanna touch him.


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## citylights (Jul 3, 2009)

WOW. WOW. WOW.


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## citylights (Jul 3, 2009)

What an incredibly soft eye Visionaire has.....stunning


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## 2horses (Jun 28, 2010)

Amazing pics! There is nothing quite like a Thoroughbred. Or a race horse in general. My mare is an Appendix QH (half TB), and my gelding is an Arabian, both ex-racers. I did an internship at (now closed) Horizon Farms in IL in 2001. We stood Unreal Zeal (now deceased), Classic Account, Canyon Run, Accused, and a few Standardbreds. Bred and foaled around 90 when I was there. Unreal Zeal and Classic Account were both top stallions in IL in their day. It was so much fun going to the track two years later to see "my" babies run their first races!


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## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

Amazing pictures! I loved them all!!! What kind of camera do you have?


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks again for the kind comments. I didn't get 'real' serious doing this until about 2 1/2 years ago. It's a lot of fun, and you learn something new every day. I use a Canon 40D with a 70-200mm F2.8 IS lens. I LOVE this set up. I would like to upgrade my camera as soon as I get a chance, just so I can use my 40D as my backup - right now I use a Canon 20D as backup, which is what I use when I get pics of the goats. It's a very nice camera, but not as good as the 40D and no where near as fast.

2horses - Very cool, and I have heard of those stallions. I worked with mares and foals in 2000-2001 - gave it up when I had my son. It was too hard trying to work 6 days/48+ hours with 2 little ones. I miss that job A LOT. I loved working with the horses. We had 17 mares and foals in our barn, and several barren or pregnant mares in fields around our barn that we cared for. 
We had a mare named Nadra in our barn in 2000 - her 2001 colt ended up in the 2004 Kentucky Derby! He's fallen off the radar, but it was so cool to know we took care of her throughout her entire pregnancy, and got to see the foal after he was born! His name was Master David.
We also took care of Point Given's dam for a short time. That was in 2001 right before he ran in the Kentucky Derby. Her name was Turko's Turn. I have photographed some of her offspring at the sales - and Point Given has become a pretty decent stallion himself, but wow...was he a racehorse!

I could talk horses all day long - I don't claim to know it all, but I sure love them all 

Tues and Wed there is a yearling sale locally. There are lots of new stallions offspring in this one, so it will be fun to see what some of the stallions offspring are looking like. 
I do off and on work for 2 websites - should know if I am working for one website tonight. The other website, I just put up whatever I want or what might be useful <top selling horses, popular pedigrees, etc.>, that website is pay-as-photos-are-used. 
If I work for the first website I mentioned, I'd be trying to photograph every single horse, otherwise I just get what I want to get, as I'd go reguardless if I was working for someone. That's how I've come this far - because I love to do it with or without the pricetag. Of course now I have to add the pricetag as I dont' want people trying to take advantage of me. But basically - I tell them pay me what you think it's worth, and I've not been disappointed.

I'll try to add more pics later


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Well, just thought I'd post... I guess I am not working for one website for this sale?  Hopefully in September, because if they don't cover that sale...yikes.
I am going to the yearling sale tomorrow morning, meeting up with a friend. I just want to look around, get pics. I'll submit some work to another website, but overall, this will be for fun, and of course, I didn't get this far by sitting at home, gotta get out there no matter what!

On top of that I sprang my ankle on Friday morning! I was stepping onto the side porch steps, and the steps collapsed! They were loose, and thank goodness I didn't put full weight on my foot or I would have broken it! My foot turned at an upward twisting angle. I can walk on it fine, it's just stiff, and swollen over the past couple of days - feel some annoying tingling in my toes, but otherwise I feel fine.

I won't let my ankle stop me. It might slow me down, but it won't stop me...haha..

I hope the weather tomorrow is nice. 
I have been trying to clean out my hard drive on my computer. I am so lazy when it comes to getting stuff organized and off the computer! I have so many pictures that have never been touched....it's sad. Really.

In the process of cleaning up, I uploaded more stuff from the April sale I worked.

Here are a few pics:
Darned lip chain....




































Trainer Bob Baffert inspecting.... he is one of the best trainers in the US.









Wilburn, my absolute favorite horse in the sale, I just fell in love with him the first time I saw him, which was on the track - he was coming towards me, and wow....just wow. He's not flashy, but he's good looking, and just the way he carried himself.









BTW, Wilburn sold for $650,000.

Then there are the ones from the sale breeze show - each 2yo goes over the track at whatever distance the seller wants, it's a public workout, videotaped, and each horse goes one at a time. 
It was hard to get pics - the sun was glaring down and made it impossible to read my camera meter <tells me if I am making the pics too bright or too dark>. I didn't edit these other than cropping and putting my name on them. I DID have to edit them 2 different ways for 2 different websites. Fun...heh.














































Anyway, as usual I could go on and on... here's a link to the sale workout pics if anyone cares to see any. I still need to label a bunch with sire/dam names...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] ... 46/detail/


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I haven't been posting as much as I usually do this week. I've been sooooo busy it's been crazy. I went to a horse sale Mon-Tues-Wed. It was real fun with a sprang ankle! Monday wasn't horrible, but Tuesday which was the first day of the sale, wasn't real great. It rained the entire time I was there, and it was just too hard to stand in one place all day with my ankle, so I left early and missed the sale topper! Had to get off my foot though, and wasn't about to go out in the rain to do it 

Wed was great, but very hot. I got a weird sunburn on my arms, neck/chest. But thank goodness it wasn't any worse!

I havent' done much with my stuff from Wed. just the sale toppers for that day. So total, I photographed over 250 horses in 3 days, WHEW.

Here are some of my favorites

I absolutely love this filly, very pretty girl


















A colt from first crop sire, Hard Spun - who I loved on the racetrack. Another horse spooked this guy when I was taking random pics of him being shown. I really liked this guy.









Same horse being shown to a potential buyer...



























A real nice colt IMO who sold for $250,000 which was real good for this sale.
Sheihk Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's bloodstock agent bought this one for him. Sheikh Mo' as we horse folks call him is a HUGE part of the horse industry in the US <racehorses that is>. He has a few VERY nice farms here in KY, some of the best pedigrees, and his stallions are wonderful. 









Caption this one...LOL 
The horse was being shown and started acting up, so the man inspecting the horse started flapping his arms hoping to keep the horse from balking towards us. I happened to catch his arm up w/the sale catalog in his hand...heh. Yeah sometimes I think the silliest shots are kinda cool...









Without the arm...









Rain, rain go away...come again another day! I brought rain gear for my cameras...but left my rain coat in the shed...









The sales pavillion at this particular sales ground is tricky to shoot in. But I won't complain too much. I don't use a flash, so I go off of whatever lighting is available.



















The first horse I posted in this post --- in the sales ring


















Wed sale topper - a filly by top young stallion Medaglia d'Oro - conformation pic









She has a really pretty face









Another good selling colt by the same stallion









Another one I heard good things about and thought would sell well. She sold for $200,000.


















A pretty Unbridled's Song colt - I believe he sold for $160,000.









And yet another Medaglia d'Oro yearling in the outside walking ring. They are walked into this ring for inspection, then taken inside to another walking ring where 2-3 horses walk, then they are led into an aisleway behind the sales ring where they wait. Most of the horses handle this 'drama' very well.









Inside walking ring









Here's a link of my sales pics so far:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] ... 25/detail/

I hope to add more in the next day or two.

Thanks for listening to me ramble


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

beautiful I've been watching your flickr, not much commenting tho, usually just oohing and ahhing...LOL


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