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Racing is close to finishing up for the year. Lots of potential broodmares and stallions are retiring to start new careers. After a quick break for Thanksgiving, I went to Churchill for the Clark Handicap and for likely my last day of racing this year. Other recent and ongoing assignments have included a New Sires feature in the December 11 ...

Dappled out and lighter in color from her racing days, millionaire Octave resides at Darley’s Gainsborough Farm near Versailles, Ky.''Octave is low maintenance,” said Broodmare Manager Gary Harlow. “Easy to care for and mild tempered.”Below, Octave at Keeneland in 2007.Order this Photo.Photos below, Octave at Darley's Gainsborough Farm in ...

Balance won five stakes including three grade I races—the Santa Anita Oaks, Las Virgenes Stakes, and Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap. Raced by John and Jerry Amerman, she was trained by David Hofmanns.Order this Photo.A millionaire, Balance was retired in November of 2007 as a 4-year-old to Dr. and Mrs. John Chandler’s Mill Ridge Farm near ...

Busy week for consignors, buyers, and officials at the Keeneland September yearling sale, where 4,857 yearlings are catalogued.Two of those yearlings are by Storm Cat, who was represented by his last two yearling offspring at public auction. North America’s leading sire of sales yearlings for seven years, Storm Cat, now 27, is pensioned at ...

Blame, winner of the Whitney Handicap (gr. I) in his most recent stakes race, returned home to his barn at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., after traveling and spending the summer in Saratoga.Order this Photo.Blame has been under the care of Glenn Brookfield at Keeneland since he was two. “He thinks he owns the place,” said Brookfield, assistant ...

Undefeated in 19 starts, Peppers Pride won 14 stakes and was a four-time champion in New Mexico. Bred and raced by Joseph Allen, Peppers Pride raced at four different tracks in New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment. She was trained by Joel Marr.   A fan favorite, Peppers Pride was retired after her last race in December, 2008. The mare ...

Life really was sweet when I recently visited Lane’s End Farm near Versailles, Ky. Their staff was wonderful about accommodating my photo requests.  My plan was to photograph Life is Sweet as requested by a few of the readers here at Through the Lens. I had photographed Life is Sweet winning the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic.Order this ...

Late summer means weaning time at many farms so I’m photographing the youngsters as they transition from foals to weanlings. Plans are to photograph the weaning process sometime in August. Right now it’s like Weanling Camp with a Troop Leader as the weanlings follow a nursemare and stay close to the other weanlings.Order this Photo.Order this ...

My Through the Lens blog is here to stay. I will be discussing recent shoots, historical shoots, future shoots and I’ll be glad to answer any questions you have. Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to add me to your RSS feed and follow along.  The url is: http://www.throughthelensblog.comThe Blood-Horse recently did a feature on Claiborne Farm ...

Oaks day weather was gorgeous, and Blind Luck battled down the stretch for the win. The meteorologists predicted major storms for Derby day, and Churchill Downs even held a press conference about the likelihood of horrendous storm systems and winds.Fortunately, the weathermen were wrong. The day started with rain, fairly heavy at times, and ...