Chelsea Hackbarth

A favorite subject of racing photographers, Cherie DeVaux has become well-known for her emotional journey with the iron-hearted champion Lady Eli. The mare won the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks in 2015 but stepped on a nail when she was leaving the test barn. Lady Eli developed laminitis, and her chances of survival seemed slim. DeVaux […]

Piecemeal, the trajectory of Jeffery Bloom’s career seems a bit unorthodox. The jump from professional jockey to the corporate software technology industry just isn’t something you see every day. Now, the 54-year-old Bloom seems to have found his niche as the managing director of his own racing, pinhooking, and breeding operation. Looking back, the widely-skewed […]

Standing on the rail during the running of Saturday’s Gulfstream Park Oaks, former University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino was ecstatic when the filly he owns a part of came flying down the outside of the track to score her first graded stakes victory. He turned to trainer Dale Romans and Romans’ long-time partner Tammy Fox […]

“I think every little boy around the racetrack grows up wanting to be a jockey,” said Todd Fincher. “And probably every little girl, too.” Raised on the fair circuit in Colorado, Fincher was born into a racing family. Daily chores like cleaning stalls, grooming horses, and feeding permeate his childhood memories, but the overarching theme […]

Trainer Keith Nations and his stable star Martini Glass were quickly dismissed when Nations entered the daughter of Kitalpha in her first graded stakes race last summer. It was the G1 Delaware Handicap, and champion Songbird drew all the attention. To the surprise of many racing fans, Martini Glass gave Songbird a run for her […]

Robert J. Baron named Promises Fulfilled for three things: 44 years of marriage to his childhood sweetheart, his four grown children now raising their own families, and a promise trainer Dale Romans gave him nearly 20 years ago. “Dale always told me that some day we’d have a good horse together,” Baron laughed. “When we […]

Winner’s circle celebrations are one of the best parts of the sport for the grooms and exercise riders who work so hard for their equine charges. Sometimes, however, the emotions run even higher hundreds of miles away from the racetrack. For Maria Kabel, watching the races on her phone, rather than in person, has become […]

In 1981, Mike Tomlinson was a world away from training Thoroughbreds. It was his rookie year on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit (PRCA), and the Oklahoma native was roping and bulldogging his way to a living every weekend. All that changed when his father suffered a sudden stroke. Tomlinson dropped everything and headed home, […]

For as long as she can remember, 32-year-old Kelsey Danner has been making left turns. It began in her father’s barns at Churchill Downs and Oaklawn Park, scrubbing buckets and leading Thoroughbred racehorses around and around the shed row before school each morning. As she got older, she graduated to riding those same racehorses along […]

It all started with a question. Throughout her career at ESPN, Jeannine Edwards has learned the greatest stories often begin with the ability to ask the right question. The award-winning reporter may be best-known for covering the sidelines of college football games, but she got her start as a Thoroughbred racing analyst. Edwards’ love affair […]