Cheers to the Connections

The gates are scheduled to open at 9:30 a.m. on Friday. Post time for the first race is 11:35 and the first Breeders' Cup race goes off at 2:45. But long before those bright-eyed Breeders' Cup attendees begin filling the grandstands of Del Mar, the backside will have been awake for hours.

For those back in the barns as Breeders' Cup morning dawns, in many ways it's just like any other day. It is the same routine of raking barn aisles, topping off water buckets, checking temps, preparing feed, wrapping legs, walking hots and passing out peppermints.

And in other ways, it is very much not like any other day. It's the grand finale of a year's worth of highs and lows, celebrations and disappointments, sweat, sore muscles and impossibly long hours, all to get a horse to the Breeders' Cup.

“It's the pinnacle of the racing year,” said Lee Vickers, an assistant trainer for Christophe Clement who works with Breeders' Cup Turf starter Far Bridge (English Channel). “It's the culmination of the year. When you're going into these big races, that's where the year ends and that's where you want to go.”

“Getting on a horse that's going into a big race like the Breeders' Cup, it's so exciting,” said Jeramie Fennell, the exercise rider of Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf-bound Minaret Station (Instilled Regard). “There are times that I'll think about it and I almost want to cry about it, you know? There are tears of joy because it's very exciting for this team to get to send a horse to a race like that.”

The Arthur's Ride team includes exercise rider Damian Hinds and longtime Bill Mott assistant and groom Erma Scott | Sara Gordon

The TDN's Breeders' Cup Connections project was about the horses, yes. But more than that, it was a tribute to the individuals behind the athletes. It was created to celebrate the horsemen who live for grandiose days packed with Grade I racing, but also quiet afternoons in sleepy stalls and an unexpected win from the barn's favorite claimer.

“I love racing and I love everything about what we do, but I just really love horses,” said Katie Tolbert, an assistant trainer for Brad Cox who is also the exercise rider for Classic contender Highland Falls (Curlin). “It's fun just to be in the barn and see them grow and learn and be successful, to see them do what they're bred to do.”

“One thing about me is I'm going to try to do my best, it doesn't matter what kind of horse you put me on,” said Carlos Rosas, the exercise rider for Turf Sprinter Cogburn (Not This Time) who has worked for trainer Steve Asmussen for the past 21 years. “It can be a really cheap horse, like a $5,000 claimer, or a stakes horse.”

In an industry that can oftentimes appear rather uniform, this project organically wound up featuring people from a multitude of backgrounds.

Jeramie Fennell and Lee Vickers are both former jockeys. While Fennell grew up in South Dakota and started riding Quarter Horse races at age 16, Vickers is from Yorkshire, England and followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather in becoming a jockey in England before he moved to the U.S. to work for Christophe Clement in 2010.

Carlos Rosas and Cogburn this summer in Saratoga | Sarah Andrew

Exercise rider Damian Hinds and assistant trainer/groom Erma Scott have formed a fast friendship during their time working for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and that bond has only strengthened this year through their shared adoration of Classic contender Arthur's Ride (Tapit). While Hinds discovered a passion for the sport while attending the races in Jamaica with his uncle, Scott was working at a restaurant in New Orleans when she landed a job with Mott. Now in her 70's, she has been a beloved member of Mott's racing stable for decades.

Then there was Byron López and Edgar Revolorio, both grooms from Guatemala who shared their story with us in Spanish, but the passion they have for their horses broke through any language barriers.

“I am motivated by the horses,” said López, who is the groom of Classic contender Fierceness (City of Light) and has been responsible for other Grade I winners like Malathaat (Curlin) and Life at Ten (Malibu Moon) during his 24 years of working for Todd Pletcher. “They are so affectionate and I get along with my horses well. I never really liked to work, but I like working here. It has been a lot of years and I just got used to it. It became home. I feel good working at the stable with everybody around.”

Of course, the thing that brings this wide assortment of horsemen and women together is their passion for the horse. At one point or another, every one of them discovered a love for the animal and never looked back.

Carlos Rosas had just moved from his home in Mexico to work a landscaping job in Texas when he spotted horses grazing in nearby pastures. He asked his boss if he could stop trimming hedges and instead, start looking after the horses on the farm. Over the 30 plus years since, Rosas has ridden champions like Curlin, Gun Runner and Midnight Bisou.

Katie Tolbert grew up in South Carolina looking for any opportunity she could find to get her hands on a horse. She never had one of her own as a kid, but would clean stalls in exchange for time on horseback. After working at Juddmonte Farm and Sagamore Farm, she landed a job with trainer Brad Cox and has ridden stars like Essential Quality, Cyberknife and Idiomatic.

Jeramie Fennell knew he wanted to dedicate his life to the industry from a young age, but he came close to giving up his career because addiction was taking over his life. He learned about a program called Stable Recovery, where men in the early stages of recovery from addiction are placed in a supportive, therapeutic community that was centered around horses.

“I talked to a guy there named Christian Countzler, and he asked me, 'Are you ready to change your life?' And I said, 'Yes, I am,'” recalled Fennell. “I said, 'I'm open minded and willing to do anything, go to any length, to change my life because I just want to be on the backside of a racetrack on a horse.'”

Jeramie Fennell and Juvenile Turf contender Minaret Station | Katie Petrunyak

Fennell graduated from Stable Recovery this spring and landed a job with Will Walden. Now, he is the exercise rider for Walden's first Breeders' Cup contender, Minaret Station.

Getting a horse to the Breeders' Cup is no easy task and oftentimes, it takes a lot of luck. Some of the stars of this series will be snug in their stalls this weekend, but the stories of their caretakers are just as inspiring. Priscilla Schaefer, who grew up working cattle on horseback on her family's ranch in Idaho, rode this year's GI Belmont and GI Haskell hero Dornoch (Good Magic). Zurdo Estrada, the groom of GI Beholder Mile victress Sweet Azteca (Sharp Azteca), spends hours in the barn after morning training has wrapped up each day simply because he loves being around the horses. Taylor Cambra, an assistant for Richard Mandella who shares a bond with GI California Crown victor Subsanador (Arg) (Fortify), works every day towards his dream of becoming a trainer.

Through this series, we've learned tiny details about each Breeders' Cup star that only those closest to the horse would know. Like how Minaret Station often teases Jeramie Fennell as he walks down the barn aisle, playfully nipping at the saddle Fennell is carrying. Or how Fierceness is always in a better mood if Byron López gives him a peppermint before he starts working with him each morning. And how Arthur's Ride can sometimes have some toddlerish tendencies, but loves when Erma Scott sings and dances with him.

Lee Vickers and Far Bridge | Sarah Andrew

“He's just like a baby,” Scott said. “He likes to play. He likes to eat his carrots. If I call him, he looks up at me. He's special. We all love him. We love all our horses and we take care of our horses. They're our hearts.”

And that's the 'why' for each of these connections. The horse is at the heart of everything they do.

“I think that's the only reason I do it,” said Katie Tolbert. “I mean, there are plenty of jobs where you can make more money or have a better schedule or whatever, but it's the only thing I want to do.”

“This job is no days off,” said Carlos Rosas. “If you love it, you're going to do it. I want to do this for as long as I can. I just love racing, I love the horses and I don't want to do anything else.”

So cheers to the connections of this year's class of Breeders' Cup performers. Through this project, hopefully you may know a few new names. More than likely there will be plenty of faces that you don't recognize, but if you look closely, you'll know where to find them. They'll be the ones sitting on a straw bale by a stall keeping their horse relaxed before they make their way to the paddock, the ones waiting anxiously with shanks slung over their shoulders as the field enters the starting gate, and ultimately, the ones who so graciously hand over the reins so that the owner can be in the spotlight as a champion stride into the winner's circle.

Click here to view each feature from Breeders' Cup Connections.