Lady's Secret

Beach Faulkner was at Keeneland one day when John Williams called him over and pointed at a horse being led off a van a couple of barns down. "Look at this," Williams said. "Watch him walk. You might as well put your name on the side of that horse." Beach remembers the great horseman's compliment with a smile. He's been working on horses' feet for 57 years, more than half of that time with son Tyler alongside, until he too has come to share the same mastery. They are farriers,...

Historically, Independence Day racing had served up a smorgasbord of delectable graded action throughout the U.S. Since the advent of the 'Super Saturday' format instituted in many of the nation's biggest racing jurisdictions in more recent times, however, July 4 racing has felt a little more abstemious than gourmand. Underscoring the point, this year's holiday racing schedule features a single graded stakes race, the GII Great Lady M. at Los Alamitos. Formerly the Sequoia H., the Great Lady M. was initially contested over seven furlongs at Hollywood Park in 1941,...