# Wild night



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Last night I drove up to Louisville to photograph the horseraces at Churchill Downs. It was last minute, didn't know I was actually going until yesterday morning lol <A friend I shoot with couldn't go, lens problem>.
Well... My best camera is in the shop! My other camera that I took with me isn't near as good, but does okay. Shutter Button is going out on it <after 200,000 pics lol>.

Of course....racing after dark/under the lights can always pose issues to further my camera woes.

I used the earlier races to get a handle on how the camera will do with sports with it's shutter button issue <just hard at times to push the button>.

I love the garden and the statue, they dedicated it to war vets, and you could buy a flag to place in the garden from flagsforvets.com


















3rd race was a stakes race, Right to Vote and Shaun Bridgmohan won. Camera did lousy lol 


















Next race elusive Fate and Brian Hernandez Jr. won. Camera worked a little better.



























I didn't go out for the 5th race...actually enjoyed a yummy alcoholic beverage and watched the live band for a few minutes..









Wish I could have gone back up there after dark for pics









Then... mother nature decided to unleash her bad side, and it started storming. Lightning was pretty intense and there was a delay while the worst of it passed.
It rained through the rest of the races, there were a few really heavy downpours that made for a sloppy dirt track, and 'yielding' grass track. Bleh.



















Didn't go out for the 6th race, watched from the rail...didn't want to die from lightning strikes lol

7th race was another small stakes for 2 year old colts. Debt Ceiling and Eric Camacho put in a nice win










Race 8 wasn't a big race, but exciting finish!



























Will post more pics and video in just a sec.


----------



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

The big race was the 9th race, it was run about 10:30pm due to storm delays. 
My VERY FAVORITE horse on the track, WISE DAN was running. He was the 2012 horse of the year, champion turf horse and champion older male. 
I've seen him win all 3 of his races this year.

This was a very tough race for him. He was carrying more than 10lbs. than all the other horses <128lbs.>, inside post, nasty wet track.
The other horses/riders tried to block him in on the rail so he couldn't get through, but well.... there is no stopping 'Dan the man' haha...
He proved he's all heart last night...

So with all my rambling....here's Wise Dan 






















































































































Naturally, around the time of the very last race the rain stopped. I left about 11:30pm and got home at 1am after stopping to get 'dinner' haha...I live about an hour from that track.

Here's a video of the race on youtube:


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Nice pics! Those horses are beautiful.


----------



## imthegrt1 (Jan 13, 2013)

U take great pictures!!!!!

As always


----------



## OakHollowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

Beautiful pictures and horses too!


----------



## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I always get so excited when I see you posted in photo  Now Im a total horse lover but I love the one with the lightning


----------



## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Wow! Amazing pics! That looked like a fun night. 

What camera do you use? Mine is shattered into a billion pieces at the moment....


----------



## still (Mar 16, 2013)

You always take such great pictures!! I take pictures and it looks like a kid got a hold of the disposable camera!


----------



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks Everyone I appreciate it and glad you enjoy them 

Last night I was using my Canon 40D with my 70-200mm F2.8 lens.

My Canon 7D I sent off to Canon last week, along with my short lens 24-105mm F4. 

If I had my other camera and short lens I could have gotten some awesome lightning pics.


----------



## Maggie (Nov 5, 2010)

Great pics, love the lightening shot!


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Amazing


----------

