As Communications Director, Katrina is thrilled to be part of the creative team that will drive the Museum's messaging and storytelling for the historic Derby 150 and beyond.

“Katrina has done a stellar job with our Communications platform since coming to Kentucky Derby Museum,” said Patrick Armstrong, Kentucky Derby Museum President and CEO. “She was a natural fit for the Director position, and we are excited about her bright future at the Museum.”

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13.35 Gowran, Mdn, €15,500, 2yo, f, 8fT
Craig Bernick's WILLAMETTE VALLEY (IRE) (Galileo {Ire}), one of two contenders from the Jessica Harrington stable, is a daughter of MGSW G1 Moyglare Stud S. and G1 Prix Marcel Boussac second Fire Lily (Ire) (Dansili {GB}). Her rivals include Shadwell's Giladah (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}), who is a half-sister to two black-type performers out of MGSW G1 Epsom Oaks second Tarfasha (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), herself one of two Dermot Weld nominees; and Coolmore and Westerberg's twice-raced History (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who is a 2.8-million guineas Tattersalls October Book 1 daughter of MGSW GI Del Mar Oaks third Prize Exhibit (GB) (Showcasing {GB}).

20.00 Wolverhampton, Nov, £7,000, 2yo, 8f 142y (AWT)
Godolphin's hitherto untried MILITARY CROWN (GB) (Postponed {Ire}) is a Charlie Appleby-trained brother to G1 Prince of Wales's S. and G1 Dubai Turf hero Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). The February-foaled homebred bay will sport a first-time hood and faces eight in this debut.

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“This is just a lovely town,” said one woman from Kansas after touring Midway's historic downtown for the first time. “It's amazing how clean the storefronts are and how friendly all the owners are.”

“There's a lot of things to see and do,” her travel companion added. “The people are very nice and it's been wonderful. To be able to get an old-fashioned soda just made our day.”

The sodas she mention come from Railroad Drug and Old Time Soda Fountain, a family-run, full-service pharmacy with an old-time soda fountain that offers a variety of delicious treats and harkens a bit of mid-20th century nostalgia.

Those who stop in to satisfy their sweet tooth can gather outside at the shaded benches along the shop's storefront. If they visit at just the right time, visitors will catch a glimpse of the train that runs through the middle of Main Street–also known as Railroad Street– each day.

Historic Midway was the first town in Kentucky established by a railroad. In 1835, the Lexington and Ohio Railroad's line from Lexington to nearby Frankfort was completed and the first steam locomotive rolled through Midway, the half-way point between the two cities.

Midway was the first town in Kentucky to be established by the railroad. | Katie Ritz

At that time, the land the railroad sat upon was owned by Colonel John Francisco.

“When the train came through, it ruined so much of his topsoil that he was going to sue the railroad,” said Leslie Penn, who along with her husband Bill owns the Historic Midway Gift Store and is known amongst locals as the town's resident historian. “To avoid a lawsuit, they paid him $6,500 . Who knows where he went with that money, but he was gone. Then the train owned all the property. They blocked off the streets, named them after board members of the railroad and sold off the lots.”

The town continued to prosper and during the 1930's and 40's, up to 30 trains a day would pass through town. But as the railroad's heyday began to dwindle later in the century, fewer passenger trains came through until in 1963, Midway's depot closed.

Penn can remember the time when Midway's downtown was much less than the hive of activity that now attracts visitors from across the state and beyond.

“At one time there were very few shops downtown and there was only one restaurant,” she said.

As the dawning of the 21^st century approached, efforts were made to revitalize the heart of Midway. In 1978, 176 buildings in Midway were placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Penn and her husband were among the leaders to head the charge in restoring downtown. In 1995, the couple purchased an old building along Main Street and transformed it into what is now Historic Midway Gift Store, a popular stop for both tourists and locals that offers handmade crafts and gifts, jewelry and a variety of books on the history of Midway, informational texts on Central Kentucky Horse Country, guides to Southern cooking and more.

“This building was an old saloon and was built in 1880,” Penn said. “We had to renovate upstairs, put in electricity and take out the red shag carpet. We really found a lot of history in the building.”

Another shop a few yards down the street called gigi & george offers a combination of unique antiques and locally-made crafts.

“We like to say that we're a curious mix of old and new,” shop owner Morgan Castle said. “I started out with a passion for antiques and now all of our new things come from other small businesses. We've been here about two and a half years.”

While Castle's collection of antiques is constantly revolving as items are purchased and she brings in new treasures, she said they always has a few pieces that will attract the eye of a horse racing fan.

This summer, she offered a pair of chairs that were in the original sales pavilion at Keeneland up until the facility was remodeled in the 1970s. Castle said the vintage pieces are made of Indiana hickory.

Gigi & George is described by the owner as “a curious mix of old and new.” | Katie Ritz

She also recently displayed an original painting of Hanover, a champion bred by Runnymede Farm who won his first 17 races in the mid-1880s and went on to become a leading sire in North America.

Any true equestrian will be drawn in by the lush smell of leather when passing by Freedman's Harness and Saddlery. The company specializes in saddles and tack for saddleseat and driving-type show horses and has been owned by the Freedman family for six generations.

“We are the only retail location of Freedman's here in Midway,” said boutique manager Jenny Vanwieren-Page. “If you buy something here, it has been handmade in our workshop by wonderful craftsmen in Canada, so it's really supporting a small business here in Midway.”

Shoppers can find just about anything they could dream up in the many shops surrounding Midway's Railroad Street. For the art enthusiast, Damselfly Studio Gallery offers artwork from over 200 regional artists and showcases many pieces depicting famous racehorses–both fan-favorites of today and some of the all-time greats. Antiquers can spend hours exploring Yeagers Antiques while boutique lovers will find plenty of options at Southern Sunday or Midway Boutique. Those hoping to look their best at Keeneland should visit Crittenden and Company Men's Clothing and memorable gifts are on hand for even the most difficult person to shop for at To You From Me and The Milam House.

After one has veritably “shopped 'till they dropped,” dining options in Midway's Historic District are just as extensive as the town's variety of merchants.

The Brown Barrel is a popular spot for locals. The restaurant's walls are graced with racing photos and mementos from the many prominent Thoroughbred farms surrounding the town-from Shadwell and WinStar to Hurstland Farm- and racing coverage is a constant on the televisions over the expansive bar.

Stop by the Brown Barrel Restaurant on a Sunday to discover the Chef's Surprise special for the week. | Katie Ritz

“If you like hot browns, shrimp and grits, steak or seafood, we're the place to go,” said restaurant manager Donn Knattus. “It's casual and we also have an outdoor patio. We get tons of horse people-owners, people who work with horses, the whole gamut.”

Other dining options include Don Jockey, the first authentic Mexican restaurant in town, Goose and Gander, a family-owned restaurant that offers a variety of options including salads, sandwiches and pizza as well as an expansive wine and bourbon list, Heirloom, the fine-dining spot in town that uses fresh, local ingredients to create Kentucky-inspired dishes with a global sensibility, as well a Mezzo Italian, which is well-known for its mouth-watering, wood-fired pizzas and calzones.

Once their stomachs are filled, visitors can finish their tour of Midway by taking a quiet stroll along the train tracks down the main strip and enjoy the architecture of the buildings and the Southern charm of passersby stopping to say hello. While more and more travelers are learning about the must-see destination, Midway still retains its small-town community atmosphere.

“The neighbors all work together,” said Jenny Vanwieren-Page from Freedman's. “People have been here for years and years and it's a great community.”

“Midway is just special,” Morgan Castle of gigi & george added. “It's hard to describe, but it's the charm, it's the character and it's the charisma. All the shops are wonderful and we all complement each other. Of course, there are some of the best restaurants in the state here and we have the train that comes through multiple times a day, which is really interesting.”

“People don't realize how beautiful Kentucky is,” she continued. “I like to say that Kentucky is America's best-kept secret because people don't realize how much we have to offer but when they do get here, they're blown away by the beauty, the landscape, the small towns and all the different things we have to offer.”

Travelers will experience all that and more on a visit to historic Midway, Kentucky.

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It's best to treat a horse with no vaccination history as if he has never received any vaccines, administering both shots and their routine boosters, reports EQUUS magazine. Administering additional doses of most vaccines is not harmful, with one exception: The strangles vaccine.

In rare instances, horses that have had strangles before, or those that have been repeatedly vaccinated for strangles, may develop a potentially serious complication if administered the vaccine again: purpura hemorrhagica. This abnormal reaction is when the blood vessels of the head, legs and abdomen swell.

Owners of horses with unknown vaccination history would be wise to draw a titer to see if the horse has antibodies to the organism that causes strangles before administering the vaccine.

Read more at EQUUS magazine.

The post Should A Horse With An Unknown History Be Vaccinated? appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Two days earlier, in the ninth race of the program, on a horse named Esquimal, Bill Shoemaker notched win No. 6,032 to tie John Longden's world record for career wins by a jockey.

There being no Sunday racing at that time, the racing world had a full day to savor the prospect of the man simply referred to as “The Shoe” ending a record quest they'd been following with enthusiasm since he hit the 6,000 mark a month earlier.

And, coincidentally, do it 14 years after another Labor Day at Del Mar when Longden notched record win No. 4,871, on a horse named Arrogate, to pass Sir Gordon Richards.

“Shoe's first big splash was at Del Mar in 1949 when he led the meeting, as an apprentice, with 52 wins,” Smith said. “That was the time people started finding out who he was. He kept riding at Del Mar through 1954. Then left to ride in Chicago and New York, won the Kentucky Derby on Swaps in 1955 and really became a star.”

Then, 16 years after leaving, Del Mar's prodigal riding son returned home.

“He came back in 1970, the year the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club started running the track,” said Smith, who wrote the definitive biography, “The Shoe” about Shoemaker. “He was in hailing distance of the record. He knew he was going to break it. He wanted to do it at Del Mar. He took dead aim on it and he got it done.”

Shoemaker's words, from Smith's book: “I rode my 6,000th winner August 8 on a horse named Shining Count. And then the countdown began. As I got nearer the record …the drama and the tension built up. With all the newspaper guys and TV people following me around, there's always some tension involved. You handle it the best way you can.”

As Shoemaker drew closer to the record, the media coverage intensified. Sports Illustrated sent one of its top feature writers, Jack Olson, to follow the quest through the final week. On the holiday weekend, crews from major television stations in Los Angeles and San Diego were on hand to chronicle the crowning and word spread across the nation and the world.

“It was important not just to Shoe, but to Del Mar,” Smith said. “It is a very significant event in the track history and led to Del Mar becoming what it has, one of the leading racetracks in the country.”

And Shoemaker remained unfazed by all the fuss. Fellow jockey, and by many accounts Shoemaker's best friend, Hall of Famer Don Pierce, was by his side through much of the buildup. And in sixth place, 16 ½-lengths behind on a horse named Sister Kat Bird, when his pal became the winningest jockey in history.

Pierce, 83, and a longtime Del Mar resident, doesn't remember the race. Nor does he remember Shoemaker being anything but his usual self in the weeks and days leading up to it.

“He was never excited about anything,” Pierce said. “I don't know what was going on in his mind or how he felt about it (internally) but I played golf with him and was around him every day and he was the same as always. I never asked him about it and we never talked about it.

“He had a way about him that everybody around loved him. We wanted him to break (the record) and knew he would.”

Shoemaker from “The Shoe” – “I never anticipated being able to break that kind of record early in my career, so I'd never set it up as a goal. But as I got closer to it and knew I could do it, I really wanted it …In one of the early races on Labor Day, September 7, I was on Dares J, a filly trained by Ron McAnally, and I knew she had a real good shot at winning.”

Hall of Fame trainer McAnally, 88, has spent this summer, like decades before, at his secondary home in Del Mar. In fact, this is his 60th season at the shore, more than any other trainer in history. During that time he's saddled 447 winners, 77 of them in stakes.

“Dares J. was actually owned by a jockey agent, Camilo Marin,” McAnally said. “But a jockey agent couldn't own horses in those days, so they ran her in the name of the auto painter (Earl Scheib's Green Thumb Farm Stable).”

In a long and colorful career, Cuban-born Marin, who died in 1988, was known for introducing, and often representing, a stream of riders from Latin and South America to U.S. racing. Among them were Hall of Famers Braulio Baeza, Manny Ycaza, Ismael “Milo” Valenzuela and Laffit Pincay, Jr., as well as Kentucky native Don Brumfield.

Shoe's big moment was the fourth race on the program.

McAnally had no instructions for Shoemaker before giving him a leg up on Dares J. He'd abandoned the practice years before after seeing Shoemaker go counter to all the information offered on a filly McAnally thought he had figured out, then produce an astonishing victory.

“(Dares J.) broke in front, and all of a sudden it goes so quiet it was like you could hear a pin drop,” McAnally recalled. “Then, when she went under the finish line, the crowd let out a roar like I'd never heard before.”

Dares J. led by two lengths at the first quarter, four at both the half and top of the stretch, and won clear by 2 ½ over I Wanna Win under Robby Kilborn.

Shoemaker from The Shoe: “I knew she had a real good shot at winning.

She broke sharp, and I sent her right to the lead. I let her roll on the turn, and she opened up a pretty long lead. She got a little late in the stretch, but she was too far in front to catch – and that was it. I naturally was happy and relieved it was over.

“John Longden was there in the winner's circle waiting for me to come back, and he was one of the first to congratulate me. I felt a little bad breaking John's record. I'm sure it meant a lot to him. But records are there to be bettered, so I enjoyed doing it for that reason.”

The late San Diego sportscaster Ernie Myers conducted winner's circle interviews.

“Well it's a great day for Bill,” Longden told him. “I held it for 14 years and I know it is going to be a hell of a lot longer before they break it again. I think it took a good man to make this record and it took a damn good guy to break it.”

Shoemaker said: “I'm glad that I could win today's race in Longden's style, in front all the way.”

It was then the job of media department staffer Jeff Tufts, later to become Del Mar's morning linemaker for several decades, to escort Shoemaker through throngs of autograph seekers to the jockey's room. Shoemaker calmly obliged as many as he could.

“Can you imagine what that autograph would be worth today,” Smith wondered.

Tufts had been given strict instructions from publicity director Eddie Read about his assignment and took them seriously.

“It may be that the reason I don't remember anything special is that Shoe pretty much took it in stride and I was a slightly nervous escort,” Tufts said in an e-mail.

“Al Shelhamer, a former jockey and longtime steward, I think uttered the ultimate wisdom about Shoe when he said that aside from his obvious talent, the secret to Shoe's success was that there were never any real highs or lows.

“He took everything as it happened and didn't let disappointment or success affect him. Misjudging the finish line in the Kentucky Derby (in 1957 aboard Gallant Man to lose to Iron Liege) could have really hurt a lesser character, but Shoe dealt with it and went on winning.

“And could any other jock win 17 straight riding titles at Santa Anita and not be the object of envy and jealousy? He was one of a kind.”

Who, 50 years ago, was in the spotlight on one special, and memorable, Labor Day at Del Mar.

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