Despite the recent freezing temperatures that have made this one of the coldest and longest winters on record already, and despite a morning workout that certainly didn’t go to plan, the mood in the NARA (North American Racing Academy) barn at The Thoroughbred Training Center is positive and upbeat. The students, or junior jockeys as they’re known are concerned for the two riders who were involved in an incident on the track earlier, but Ariel, from Puerto Rico, who was one of the jockeys who fell, declares with a broad grin that he’s “never felt more alive”! I’m glad to report that the other jockey was also fine, and that this was a very rare occurrence.
Kali Francois came to NARA via a working student position with Philip Dutton, and admits that she finds the riding physically challenging, but the workload easy to cope with after her apprenticeship in an eventing barn. She enjoys the camaraderie, and wants to see how far she can go in the racing world, and already, she’s noticed how much better she’s riding all three phases of her eventing!
At the center of it all is Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron. Twice a winner of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Races his list of accomplishments is long & impressive, both on the track and off. Rather than live out his retirement in the warmth of sunny California where he was based for most of his racing career, NARA has been a dream of his since 1990, and a reality since August 2006. He says he “doesn’t know how to relax” with a shrug and a smile, and the morning I watch him he is a whirlwind -watching work, shampooing and towelling the horses’ legs and tails when they come off the track, cleaning tack, checking horses as they walk by, – he is constantly doing something useful.
Chris wanted to be sure I got a picture of this horse: he got such a thrill out of the way she drinks out of the hose every morning, very touching.
The only time I witnessed Chris not in motion was when he sat at the computer in his office right off the shed-row,for a couple of minutes, so he could show me a video he’d made. It was of all the school horses running in the snow: every friday afternoon, no matter what, they get turned out in a large field to roll, gallop & play for a few hours, & Chris has a file of them being let loose & letting off steam one chilly afternoon.
We do talk: while he cleans tack, and casts an appraising eye around the barn every now and then, all at the same time!
Nick Milford is in his second semester at NARA. His great-grandfather was a jockey in Chicago in the forties; his grandmother was a hunter-jumper trainer who fell in love with his grandfather, her stable hand. His aunt is an equestrian coach at the University of Miami in Florida, and his mother also rode hunter-jumpers right up until she had him and his three brothers, so you’d be forgiven for thinking he was born into it.
However, as I found out, this was not the case…
Thank you to Chris McCarron, and Nick Milford for talking to me, and good luck to all the junior jockeys at NARA. They will be riding in a specially designated race in the High Hope Steeplechase at the Kentucky Horse Park in May, before graduating and advancing to their various internships. Thank you for reading and watching, and if you’re at the races and see any of Chris’ kids, please put a fiver on each way for me!
