editor’s note:

This is the fourth in a series as correspondent Carlo Angerer treks across the United States. Check out his daily blog at carloangerer.de/onthe road.

BY CARLO ANGERE SPECIAL TO THE DAILYIBERIAN

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May 5 was a special day for horse racing fans in Louisiana. A jockey from their own state won the Kentucky Derby on the horse Street Sense.

Calvin Borel, born and raised in St. Martinville, rode horses at first through sugar cane fields. This Saturday was a big day for Louisiana. For Kentucky, it was just another racing day.

“We are racing year-round,” Roy Hudson, farm manager of Normandy Farm in Lexington, said.

The Kentucky Derby in Louisville is still the most important, he admits. Lexington, a city of 260,000 in the center of the Bluegrass Region, considers itself the horse capital of the world. This statement is not big-headed. The outskirts of Lexington fade into wide pastures, separated by wooden fences in brown or white. Horses graze these meadows. Some rest before their next race, some just breed, others wait for a buyer from around the world.

“Every horse has a purpose,” Hudson insists, “if they are retired from racing, they can take care of the young ones.”

Taking them to the slaughterhouse, which is still practiced by some owners but will probably be prohibited by law soon, is not the right decision, he thinks.

Hudson manages Normandy Farm, one of the many thoroughbred farms in the Lexington area. The farm is a breeding farm, with close to 100 horses. But only about half of those horses belong to owner Nancy Polk, who bought the farm 10 years ago. The rest belong to people around the country, who want to send their mares to breed with a stallion and to give birth in Kentucky.

“Everybody wants a Kentucky-bred horse,” said Sandy Brown, office manager at Normandy Farm.

And they are willing to pay anything between $1,000 and $12 million. Of course, few horses sell for millions of dollars.

“It’s hard to make a living as a horse farmer,” said Hudson, “you never know what you’ll get for a horse.”

Foals are usually sold when they are 1. They are called yearlings then. The price is set by their potential as future race horses and their appearance. In the weeks before they are showed to future buyers, the horses are usually brushed every day and kept inside to prevent the sun from changing the solid-colored skin. The pedigree is also a big part of the horse’s value. Three Chimneys, a thoroughbred farm in Woodford County west of Lexington, charges $150,000 for a mare to breed with Dynaformer. The stallion has sired several successful race horses, including Barbaro, winner of last year’s Kentucky Derby. The most famous resident is probably Smarty Jones, undefeated Kentucky Derby Winner — stud fee: $100,000.

Laurie Whetstine came with her husband Scott all the way from their home in Georgia to tour the farm and see Smarty Jones, for the second time.

“I have a deep love and a great passion for horses since I was a little kid,” she said, “there is nothing greater than a horse.”

Ann Hayes has seen a lot of those in past decades. She has traveled around the country with race horses and knows what you need for such a job: “You have to be addicted with horses to work with them. It’s hard work, particularly in the summer months.”

Now a tour guide at Three Chimneys, she said she enjoys witnessing the connection between visitors and horses.

“It’s great that Three Chimneys’ farm is open to the public,” she said, “people enjoy seeing horses up close that they saw on the race track.”

Visitors come from all over the world. So do horse breeders — Arab sheiks and European farmers.

“It’s been an international business for more than a century,” said Margaret Layton, communications director at Three Chimneys. “In the 1800s, Americans used to go to Europe and bring the horses here. Now, it’s the other way.”

But spending money for getting a good pedigree is not everything. Race horses have to be trained, too. Farm manager Hudson, who also races horses, emphasizes that horses without a famous pedigree have won important races. And then of course, there is still the jockey who leads the horse to the finish lane.

“A jockey can really mess it up,” said Hayes, “but anybody can ride a good horse.”