Out and About

Work has taken me to a few Central Kentucky farms in the last week. (It’s a rough life, I know!)

A yearling balks.

Included among the photographs in this post are 25-year-old, Grade 1 winner, multiple Grade 1 producer Lady Shirl; Sunday Silence’s beautiful daughter Silence Beauty (dam of Grade 1 winner Tale of Ekati); and the mare who had a cameo role in “Secretariat” as Somethingroyal giving birth to the star of the film. Coincidentally, the actress is a granddaughter of Secretariat!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grande dame and Grade 1 winner Lady Shirl, the dam of 2011 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Perfect Shirl, Grade 1 winner Shakespeare, Grade 2 winner Lady Shakespeare, and stakes winner Fantastic Shirl.

Feet.

Silence Beauty, a rare daughter of her sire Sunday Silence in the U.S. She's the dam of Grade 1 winner Tale of Ekati.

Stud barn kitty crosses over the grave of Black Toney at Darby Dan Farm. The headstones of father-and-son Ribot (right) and His Majesty (left) are visible in the background. 

A mare and her young filly.

Grave of Topper -- possibly a riding or companion horse -- sandwiched between the burial sites of 1926 Kentucky Derby winner Bubbling Over (d. 1948) and Blossom Time (d. 1946), dam of 1929 Belmont Stakes winner Blue Larkspur.

Broodmare. Actress. Granddaughter of the real Secretariat. Mother of the fictional Secretariat.

Straw.