UNCLE MO!!
LOOKING AT LUCKY!!
I have always been a huge horse racing fan, and it has always been my dream to move up to Kentucky and purchase a horse farm and be in the horse racing capital of the world- Lexington. But since I am only a poor college student, I have to accept my yearly trips to the derby , and Lexington. For my spring break trip, I decided to not go to the beach like the other college students but decided to go down to Lexington and visit Uncle Mo, Super Saver, Big Brown and Monarchos. So here is my experience!
I had made an appointment to visit Coolemore Lexington to visit Uncle Mo, yes the Uncle Mo who was the 2010 Juvenile Champion of the year. Arriving at Coolemore, one is at taken at awe at the sight of the farm. When entering the farm, you are greeted by a huge golden gate, and it opens slowly for you, and you become transfixed in an Irish wonderland. There are no words to describe the sight you would see. There are countless fields of green blue grass, beautiful trees line the dirt path that leads to the farm, brown fences line the road and in the distance you can see mares and their foals enjoying the sunshine. Here are some pictures of what you would see driving up to the stallion barn.
Before you go the stallion barn, you enter the main office which is a small cottage, and one may think it has nothing to offer. Inside the cottage, it is like a mansion, which hundreds of portraits of Ashford family members and former race horses. When we entered the office, we were given "Uncle Mo" hats and pens with names of horses like Dunkirk and Uncle Mo on them, as a welcoming gift. Once one leaves the main office, it is time to head to stallion barn.
Every person who you run into at Ashford has a strong Irish accent that just adds to the dreamy experience you are experiencing. We finally reached the stallion barn and met our tour guide, who had a strong Irish accent, and he was the groom for Scat Daddy. The stallion barn is not just one but three barns, each with a few horses in them. I was expecting all the stallions to be wide awake and eager to see my presence but they were all eating dinner or lunch. The first stallion I got to meet and see eating was Grand Slam. I felt honored to have met him, especially since he passed away a week after my trip. He had a very kind eye, he was tall and he was definitely grand. Then came Uncle Mo.... I was sooo excited. He was not taken out of his stall, because he was eating but I felt honored to have just been there in his presence. I called out to his name, and to my surprise , he came over. It was almost as if he knew I was there to see him. He had the attitude that his blogs often portrayed him to have. He was very tall, very sweet and kind eyed, and I felt like I had been introduced to Secretariat. I could go on and describe every stallion I saw but there were more than 10 of them, but I will talk about one more. I am sure most of you remember Munnings? I was familiar with him, and was excited to get to meet him. He was not eating his dinner yet and he was very hyper active. He threw his head as if to say " Wheres my food??", I even asked him " Are you hungry?" and he threw his head up and down as if he was agreeing, and then pawed the ground and swung his head in a circle over and over again. It was quite amusing. I also got the honor to meet Looking at Lucky, the horse that had an unfortunate trip in the derby. He was eating but looked up at me as I approached him, and I have to say, he had one of the sweetest faces I have ever seen. I enjoyed my visit to Ashford, and as I left I got teary eyed, because I felt like I was in a dream, it felt like an Irish wonderland.....
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