Born to Run

“While walking through the Cal Expo stables, I found Pablo Villamar from Pleasanton taking a nap between the two horses he owns. All the horses arrived pretty early in the morning, and with the races starting in the afternoon, Pablo still had lots of time to kill before making final preparations and walking each horse to the track for the race.”

“I love the concentration and care that groom Luis Izaguirre showed as he very meticulously covered the leg of a horse named Purple Starduster with an ice wrap before racing started. Grooms, trainers and owners were looking for every advantage they could find to get their horses to the winner’s circle.”

“Veterinarian Dr. William Grantham is injecting a thoroughbred named Pump N Up with Lasix, a brand name for furosemide, a drug used to prevent racehorses from bleeding in the lungs—apparently a common problem for thoroughbreds. When I first stumbled on this scene, I thought there was some illicit doping going on, but it turns out that Lasix is an approved drug that is regularly given to racehorses.”

“I was only allowed to shoot for a few minutes in the Jock’s Room, but managed to get this picture of a jockey checking a list of entries for upcoming races. I didn’t know it at the time, but this is one of horse racing’s legends, Russell Baze. Just a few days before, the 55-year-old had won his 12,000th race, the North American record for most wins in horse racing history.”

“Here is jockey Alejandro Gomez getting his weight verified right after a race on this cool, classic-looking scale mounted in the winner’s circle. It’s amazing how quickly the jockeys dismount, yank off their saddles, and queue up for the scale in a very tightly choreographed few minutes before the track is prepped for the next race.”

“This is Tony Martinez walking his horse Bullie Bob through the paddock before race time. While many horse owners are fairly wealthy folks who have little day-to-day involvement with their horses, some like Martinez operate on a much smaller budget, taking on a lot of the grunt work of feeding, bathing and walking that’s normally delegated to a hired groom. The paddock walk is a staple of horse racing, but I struggled to get a compelling photo in the poorly lit area until this shaft of light beamed in.”

“I was disappointed to have so little access to the jockeys, but the doorway to the Jock’s Room had such good light, I couldn’t resist asking Abel Cedillo to pose for a quick portrait. The Jock’s Room is kind of a locker room for the jockeys. They can shower, relax, eat and change their silks (what the industry calls the brightly colored uniforms) depending on which owner they’re riding for. Minutes later, Cedillo rode Maggie’s Gold to victory in the fourth race on opening day.”

“This photograph was taken after an evening race on opening day. I love how the bright color of this red saddlecloth contrasts against jockey Barrington Harvey’s shiny boot and the gray and very muscular flank of Erma’s First Love. It was crazy to see these jockeys tear around the track on these tall horses while perched in these tiny stirrups.”

“Even for a horse racing neophyte like myself, the notes of the classic bugle tune ‘Call to the Post’ instantly brought to mind memories of classic events like the Kentucky Derby. Horse racing is often referred to as the ‘sport of kings.’ While the crowd at the State Fair is decidedly more proletarian these days, it was cool to see—and hear—some of the old-school pageantry.”

“In this picture 8-year-old Devin Gagnon, left, and his sister, 6-year-old Maya, fill souvenir bottles with track dirt. Every day, after the first race, officials invite fans onto the track to take a closer look at and touch the surface the horses race on. It’s an effort that mimics similar field walks for baseball or football fans—plus, give any kid an excuse to dig in fresh dirt and they’ll take it.”

“I’ll admit it. I was a little surprised the first time I saw Marcia Stortz’s ponytail bobbing underneath her helmet. In a world dominated by men, Stortz is one of the relatively few female jockeys in the sport and the only one I saw at Cal Expo. Here she quickly hands off her saddlecloth before heading back to the Jock’s Room.”

“This is another picture taken with my remote camera. I like how the sun flared into my lens, which was dirtied by the constant dust and water from the tractors that harrow the track surface after every race. I hope that the sunlight, combined with the blurred horses, shows the intensity of these beautiful, powerful animals as they thunder neck and neck down the finishing straight. Photo finishes were a regular occurrence.”

“It’s amazing to see the rippling, veined muscles on this thoroughbred named Maggie’s Gold and the concentration and poise of jockey Abel Cedillo as he rides to a win in the fourth race of opening day. Thoroughbred horse racing only comes to Cal Expo for a few weekends during the State Fair, so most of these horses and jockeys are part of the crew that race regularly at Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley. It’s just another day at the office for the Bay Area-based Cedillo, who has already raced more than 440 times this year.”

“John Longmire let me peek over his shoulder as he organized his betting slips, bingo card and racing preview sheet, and settled in for the first couple of races on opening day at the State Fair. There’s a dizzying array of ways to bet on each race. The payout in horse racing is based on a pari-mutuel system, where all the money goes into a pool and then gets distributed based on the horse you bet on and where it placed.”

“I saw this guy from the winner’s circle and couldn’t resist shooting him. We were separated by a hedgerow so we couldn’t talk, but a few seconds after I shot him, we shared a wink and a nod. He’s a classic. I’m new to horse racing, but that’s the kind of guy I expect to see at the tracks. He’s straight out of central casting. Racing schedule, tallboy beer and a smoke—he’s ready.”

“Up in the VIP section with box seats, I hung out for a race with Mary Cardiff (center) and her lively group of friends. They were excited to be at the track and Mary cheered loudly for “her” horse during the Governor’s Cup race. Some bettors pick their horse after careful scrutiny in the paddock, others bet based on their lucky numbers, while Mary often picks her favorite jockey, Russell Baze, if he’s in the race.”

“This is Kevin Ritchie, executive chef at Shady Lady Saloon, and Whitney Johnson celebrating as Whitney’s wager on Expensive Pens, which won the sixth race of opening day, paid off. There are plenty of betting opportunities at Cal Expo: bettors can wager on not only the live races at the State Fair, but also satellite racing at Southern California’s Hollywood Park and many other tracks across the country and the world.”

“Here is jockey Eswan Flores posing on Rock of Ages for his winner’s circle photo after his victory during the last race of the day. It was clear how important these photos were to the owners, as they often ordered a handful of prints from the track photographer.”

“This horse, named Residual Income, is getting an ice bath and dinner in the stables after a day of racing. It was interesting to see the horses being treated like any human professional athlete with trainers, doctors and cooling fans—all in pursuit of the win.”

“After a day of racing, I found groom Arturo Flores walking this horse in what seemed like an endless circle. He was trying to cool down the horse after the race and a bath. Grooms do most of the grunt work of caring for the horses. They stay with them all day, aside from the few, short minutes of the race.”

“As the sun was setting, I found Sacramento groom Amber Carter kissing this horse named Lady while cleaning up. Amber was one of the few locals I found working in the stables. Most trainers brought their grooms with them from the Bay Area, but Amber was hired to help out just for the State Fair. She’s a regular during Cal Expo’s much longer schedule of harness racing.”