Lindsay Runs on Coffee: Tuesday Adventures at Keeneland and Star Sightings

Anybody who knows me, knows that I love horses, especially the Thoroughbred Racing Industry. At the age of 5, I attended my first Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. I was hooked! It's been a family tradition that began in 1985, continuing on to the present.

1985 Kentucky Derby.

This is what originally brought me to Kentucky from Wisconsin over 10 years ago. With a degree in Animal Science from the University of Wisconsin, I took an internship with the Kentucky Equine Management Internship (KEMI) As an Intern, I was placed on Lane's End Farm, and worked with the Mares and foals during the breeding season, 2003. After the internship, I began working in the surgery department of a large equine hospital, Rood and Riddle until 2010. The racing industry is very complex, and I participated in many different aspects of it.
In the interest of keeping this short and sweet, I'll cut to the chase. It's September, and in Thoroughbred industry, that means Keeneland hosts the September Yearling Sales. The auction runs for 3 weeks and is one of the largest in the world. The sale is open to the public, free of charge. If you'd like to read more click here.
Since I was off today, I ran my 5 miles early this morning, got cleaned up and loaded up the fam and headed out to Keeneland. The sales started at noon today, so we went to breakfast at the Track Kitchen! Yummy!

The sales ring (yes, that horse sold for 1.5 million!)

With the quality of horses sold at this auction, there are many buyers and sellers who are very prominent/wealthy experienced horsemen. Sometimes, there are other celebrities who try their hand at it, bidding on horses in the auction ring. Today, we saw Terry Bradshaw! Since I'm also a big ~~cheesehead~~ football fan (Go Pack Go!) I was star struck! It took awhile, but finally got the courage to ask to get a picture. Thank goodness my Mother-in-law is not afraid to talk to people. I, on the other hand, am a big chicken.