The year was 1998, and trainer Bob Baffert was preparing to send his Kentucky Derby winner, Silver Charm, overseas to contest what was then the world's richest horse race, the Dubai World Cup.
There was just one problem: Baffert didn't have a passport or a birth certificate. Born in the small border town of Nogales, Ariz., the future Hall of Fame Thoroughbred trainer had never left the country before that first victorious trip to the UAE.
Enter Cindy Niemetz, the West Coast representative for the International Racing Bureau. The logistical frontwoman secured that first passport for Baffert, including making calls to the hospital at which the trainer was born to prove he was who he said he was.
Twenty-two years later, Niemetz is still making molehills out of logistical mountains for trainers and their staff the world over. For the past two weeks, she's been in charge of the quarantine barn for international shippers at the Breeders' Cup World Championships, held this year at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.
Niemetz is up close and personal with the horses and their staff from the moment they step off their international flights to the moment they board again to head home, and does her best to make the Breeders' Cup experience as easy and as memorable as possible for all the individuals involved.
“We're just basically a concierge,” Niemetz said, laughing good-naturedly. “I'm also like a mother hen; I'm very protective of all my people here.”
The job can require a delicate touch, maintaining the occasionally tenuous balance between keeping trainers happy and following the rules of the USDA as well as whichever jurisdiction the Breeders' Cup is being held in.
“A lot of them don't know the rules of going out on a track, because they have their own gallops at home,” explained Niemetz. “We make sure they know, the exercise riders, the rules of the racetrack. They have to gallop 20 feet off the rail, if you're doing fast work you can go by the rail, and backtracking the opposite way. We also tell them about our starting gate, which is very different from any Europeans'. We have to make sure that they have a vet and a farrier, if they need it.”
Every flight is held in a separate barn, and the horses are under strict quarantine for 48 hours after landing. From then on, horses are allowed to leave the quarantine area strictly for training or racing, but cannot otherwise break quarantine or they will be required to undergo a separate 30-day quarantine before returning to their country of origin.
“When we go racing, we have the USDA follow us over,” Niemetz said. “We also escort them over to the receiving barn, the saddling paddock, and the track, in case somebody needs something. It's a very different way of racing here, so we're there in case they have any questions.”
Niemetz speaks English and what she calls “stable Spanish,” and can understand French but doesn't speak it quite as well. An art major in college, she's ridden horses since she was three years old.
“The man who taught me (to ride) was the same man who taught Elizabeth Taylor for National Velvet,” Niemetz said. “I showed a little bit, but mostly fox hunting and steeplechasing. I kind of like the hell-bent-for-leather!”
She worked for California Thoroughbred magazine in the art department after college, then met her first husband and went racing all over the world for several years. For five years after that, Niemetz served as an assistant to the late Hall of Fame trainer Gary Jones before taking up the mantle of the IRB in 1987.
While she has no fear on the back of a horse, the IRB job showcases a totally different side of Niemetz' personality: she's incredibly organized. Posted every morning at the quarantine barn is a training schedule she's coordinated the night before, listing which horse goes to which track at what time, whether or not they require an American pony/pony person, and whether they'll head to the gate or school in the paddock before coming back to quarantine.
Niemetz is also in charge of licensing for every international attendee. That includes the trainers, the stable staff, the owners, and the jockeys.
“They don't have licenses in Europe,” she explained. “Every state we're in, I vouch for them. If I have to go to the stewards for something, that's what I do. But I've been doing this a long time, and people trust me.”
Trainers are required to have workers' compensation in the United States in order to be licensed. While they have a similar program in Europe, some U.S. states don't recognize that insurance as valid, so Niemetz has to help navigate those issues as well.
The COVID-19 restrictions have added to her workload this year, including requiring health certificates and negative COVID tests from all staff before getting on the plane.
“It's a very hard event to put on,” Niemetz said. “My job is trying to keep everybody happy, and to help them all have a good experience.”
Via the IRB, Niemetz is also involved in getting U.S. nominations and securing travel arrangements for Royal Ascot, the Japan Cup, Hong Kong International Races, and both the Saudi and Dubai World Cups. She usually travels to those events as well, but COVID has put a damper on that this year.
In fact, Niemetz drove all the way to Kentucky from her home base in Southern California, along with her husband, a retired regulatory veterinarian. The couple arrived about two weeks before the event to oversee the quarantine area set-up, and won't leave until the last horse is off the grounds.
“I'm very protective of the horse; the horse comes first to me,” Niemetz said.
A couple of her favorite horses from the Breeders' Cup events have been Ouija Board, two-time winner of the Filly & Mare Turf, and “the Queen” Enable, winner of the 2018 Turf.
The 33-year veteran has no plans to retire soon, either. The job keeps Niemetz around the animals she loves, which she's especially thankful for after surviving a bout with cervical cancer 10 years ago.
“I can't ride anymore, so this is a good alternative for me,” she said, smiling. “I just love being around the horses, and while I never imagined this is the job I'd end up in, it's been perfect for me.”
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