Since its first season in 2018, millions have tuned in to Foal Patrol around the world for a behind-the-scenes look at what daily life is like for in-foal mares and foals. Learn more about Season 5 featured mares at www.foalpatrol.com.
Foal Patrol has partnered with the Paulick Report this season to bring you closer to featured mares and foals and to ask farm staff questions about their care and health before and after foaling.
In this episode spotlighting Elate at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky., Paulick Report staff ask Claiborne's Mary Ormsby, “How does Elate's mothering style compare to her own mother's?”
Elate, her mother Cheery, and her grandmother Yell were all born at Claiborne Farm, and they were foaled out by the same member of the farm's staff. This means the team had plenty of past performance to project how Elate would handle herself as a mother when she had her first foal last year.
For a chance to have one of your questions asked in an upcoming Paulick Report episode, email your question to foalpatrol@racingmuseum.net. Be sure to let us know if your question is for a specific Season 5 mare.
Foal Patrol Season 5 education content begins with breeding and reproduction and covers various aspects of the life of a Thoroughbred horse, from foaling through retirement. New content for Foal Patrol viewers of all ages will be added to the Foal Patrol Education Site weekly, from January through June 2022, at www.foalpatrol.com/education.
Foal Patrol has partnered with the Paulick Report in Season 5 to bring you closer to featured mares and foals and to ask farm staff questions about their care and health.
In this episode with Spanish Bunny at Gainesway Farm in Lexington, Ky., Paulick Report staff ask Gainesway's Lakota Gibson, “What does the nightwatch staff do?”
For a chance to have one of your questions asked in an upcoming Paulick Report episode, email your question to foalpatrol@racingmuseum.net. Be sure to let us know if your question is for a specific Season 5 mare.
Foal Patrol, an initiative of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, is a one-of-a-kind collection of live web cameras that gives viewers rare insight into the life of mares during their pregnancies, including the actual birth and the first few weeks of their foal's life.
Since Season 1 in 2018, millions have watched the live webcam series for a behind-the-scenes look at what daily life is like for in-foal mares and foals. Learn more about this season's featured mares at www.foalpatrol.com.
Foal Patrol Season 5 education content begins with breeding and reproduction and covers various aspects of the life of a Thoroughbred horse, from foaling through retirement. New content for Foal Patrol viewers of all ages will be added to the Foal Patrol Education Site weekly, from January through June 2022, at www.foalpatrol.com/education.
With “Jockey,” Clint Bentley's directorial debut has made a big impression on critics and movie audiences that have had the opportunity to see it prior to its national release later this year.
Actor Clifton Collins Jr. won a Best Actor award at the Sundance Film Festival, where “Jockey” debuted last year. The movie itself is nominated for the John Cassavetes Award from Film Independent Spirit Awards for the best feature made with a budget of less than $500,000. At least one critic is calling the film a “dark horse” for one or more Oscar categories.
What is striking about the movie is its non-glamorous, realistic, un-Hollywood like treatment of a jockey's life at a blue-collar racetrack. In this case, the track is Turf Paradise and you might recognize some of the cast from among the Phoenix oval's riding colony and employees.
Bentley, who co-wrote the film with Greg Kwedar, is the son of jockey and knows the lifestyle that Collins portrayed in compelling fashion. Bentley joins Paulick Report publisher Ray Paulick and bloodstock editor Joe Nevills to discuss the making of “Jockey” and its reception to date.
Watch this week's Friday Show, presented by the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, below:
The path to a career as a Thoroughbred trainer can take many forms.
For some, it starts with a love of racing—perhaps a parent who imparts their passion for the game onto their child from an early age. For others, it might start with a job on the backstretch, working as a hot walker or a groom—if you work long enough, you can usually find a mentor willing to detail the finer points of the sport.
But for trainers like Rodney Jenkins, the desire to race is an expression of a larger career trajectory that began in the show ring and ends at the racetrack.
“I always liked racing when I was younger but since I rode show horses, I was just a little too heavy to ride a racehorse,” joked Jenkins. “But I love racehorses, they're beautiful animals and to be honest, that's why I went back to training.”
As modestly as he mentions his show jumping career, Jenkins was anything but the typical rider on the competitive circuit. Born in Middleburg, Va., Jenkins first began riding with his father, Enis, an avid huntsman and active with several fox hunting groups.
Jenkins' first professional foray into show jumping came when he was 17. While showing remained his central focus, he dabbled in racehorse training on the side.
Beginning in the late 1960s, Jenkins established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the show ring. His most famous mount was Idle Dice, a former Thoroughbred racehorse whose second career would more than eclipse his modest record on the track.
Together, the pair would win the Grands Prix at New York, Devon, Detroit, and Cleveland; the President's Cup in 1971 and 1972; and the Grand Prix Horse of the Year in 1977, among many other accolades. Idle Dice was the first horse inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 1987.
The most decorated rider in the history of U.S. show jumping, Jenkins himself was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 1999. In total, he won a record 70 Grand Prix-level competitions before retiring in 1989.
When he show jumping career came to an end, Jenkins decided it was time to pivot his career back to racing. In 1991, he struck out on his own, training primarily in the Mid-Atlantic area where he remains today.
“I started training steeplechasers first and the only reason I really did that was because they were jumpers,” said Jenkins. “I really enjoyed it but as far as the business goes, I knew that racing on the flat was where the business was. There is so much more opportunity to do that.
“While I was doing steeplechase, I was running a few horses on the flat at the same time. After a while, I got a couple more horses running on the track, so I just began to gravitate away and do only that.”
For Jenkins, the challenge of training racehorses comes in the observation. While he admires their natural speed and athleticism, he admits that working with show jumpers was an easier transition for his skills as a horseman.
“For me it was a little bit different moving only to racing because show horses, when you ride, they will show you what kind of ability they have,” said Jenkins. “With racehorses, you have to go a lot by breeding and really pay attention to the way they move. Show horses were always easier because I could jump them myself, and I felt like I knew what it took for a horse to be a good show horse.”
Thirty years after he made the decision to train Thoroughbreds full time, 77-year-old Jenkins remains as enamored with the horses and the game as ever. Based out of Laurel Park, he has logged 927 victories from 4,573 starts to date with just over $24 million in purse earnings.
Currently, Jenkins has 17 horses in training in his barn, but continues to shop the sales for his clients each year, buying yearlings and breaking 2-year-olds—many of them Maryland-breds—ahead of starting them on the track.
Among his current contingent is his most successful trainee, Cordmaker, who most recently captured the Richard W. Small Stakes on Nov. 27 at Laurel Park. With $734,640 in purses and an 11-4-7 record from 33 starts, the 6-year-old son of Curlin has more than proven himself to Jenkins.
“It's been a thrill to see him do well,” said Jenkins. “He was a slow comer, but he's really turned it around and turned into a really nice horse. We haven't thought about what he'll do in 2022 yet. We have a race (Robert T. Manfuso Stakes) coming up next Sunday at Laurel Park, so we will run him there and then see what happens after that. We have quite a bit to look forward to.”
