Hands on History

Doug Cauthen still vividly remembers watching from the tunnel at Del Mar as the field reached the starting gate for the 2017 GI Breeders' Cup Classic. When Gun Runner seized the lead and zipped through an opening quarter of :22.50, Cauthen retreated a little further back into the shadows. "I was sweating bullets," Cauthen admitted, laughing at the memory. "They were flying on a track that wasn't really providing a lot of opportunities for horses on the lead. That race was loaded and it was his only other time that...

One of Kevin Lay's fondest memories with Blame involved an unexpected olive branch from a 9-year-old girl. Years ago, Lay was giving a tour through Claiborne Farm's stallion complex. When the group reached Blame's stall and the amicable stallion stuck his head out to greet the visitors, a young girl pointedly turned her back, refusing to look at the horse that had caused her such devastation in the infamous 2010 GI Breeders' Cup Classic. A few weeks later, the farm received a hand-drawn portrait of Blame with a note stating...