The first half of Kaylin Podmore's sophomore year of high school was pretty intense for someone who usually tries to keep away from the drama. It seemed like almost every day she spent her day fighting with someone, whether it was between her parent...
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Only about half an hour later, I'm standing in the shade of our barn with my mom and grandparents while we watch Amber Jenkins, a twenty-one-year-old stable hand, hold Magic by her black leather and partial brass chain lead rope attached to her black leather halter that has a rectangular brass name plate on the left side that's engraved with "Faith's Magic" in the early evening sunshine.
Kyle, our thirty-three-year-old head trainer, and my dad are looking the filly over before we take her to the combined walking ring and saddling paddock.
Most trainers work for multiple owners and have multiple barns at different tracks, and while Kyle has barns at the tracks, he only works for my family. He's only been on his own for a handful of years now so he's still building his roaster, but we have enough horses to keep him busy and making money himself. He's trained a couple other horses that didn't get far in racing before being retired for one reason or another, if not sold to another owner, most of who pulled the horses from Kyle's barns.
Magic's white bridle is popping off of her shiny coat that looks like a brand-new copper penny as we walk out into the early May sunshine on our way to the track for the parade in front of the grandstand on the way to the conjoined saddling paddock and walking ring, which is a Derby tradition. Her mane and tail have been freshly trimmed to leave a few inches hanging over the right side of her neck while her tail lightly flows above her cannon bones thanks to the slight breeze.
"Alright, let's go!" my dad calls, spinning his hand in the air, signaling for us to start moving. He's six-foot-one and he has golden brown hair and forest green eyes.
The backside is always bustling with people taking horses about their day, race days are especially busy with press and other people alike around the area. The barns, that are each assigned to a specific head trainer, are more like a double-sided shed row of multiple stalls, with a covered walkway around every side to provide shelter while each of the blocks have office spaces, bathroom, feed and tack rooms.
There is added security here this weekend, mainly for the Oaks and Derby contenders, and has been for the past couple weeks or so because you never know what kind of shady people might be wandering around.
The majority of the Thoroughbred racing industry is safe, but over the years, there has been an increase in illegal drugging's of the horses that brings extra negative speculation to the sport, especially when those drugging's unfortunately end in fatalities.
Included in the midst of these doping incidents the past few years was Maximum Security, the horse who was at the head of the controversial disqualification in the 2019 Kentucky Derby, over interference.
In the sloppy track on Derby Day, Maximum Security was on the rail in the lead when he swerved out after getting spooked by noise from the crowd in the infield, only to cut off a few horses, mainly War of Will and Long Range Toddy when they came around the far turn.
Impeding can be a dangerous move in horse racing. Horses might clip heels and that can lead to a number of accidents for both horses and jockeys. Jockeys aren't usually afraid to call an inquiry on one another to the track stewards, who are like the referees of the sport, if they think someone was being reckless in some manner.
