In photos: Sunday morning service with Catholic Boy

The performance of Catholic Boy in the 149th running of the Travers was stunning, exhilarating and impressive. Unexpected to many, but not the connections and the team of trainer Jonathan Thomas.

At sunrise this morning I headed to the track to follow up with the team of Catholic Boy at their barn adjacent to Clare Court at the Saratoga backstretch. I went to the track and experienced several zen moments of horse barn beauty, almost like a Sunday morning church service. A service of a very special kind with many dimensions -- solemn, appreciative, calm, serene. It was the service of passion for a horse, dedication to the details of the daily work of the men and women caring for and working with their horses.

I was greeted by a morning yawn of Catholic Boy the day after his Travers win.

Gazing out his stall window he seemed to be contemplating his strategy for what to do once he got into the round pen.

The groom Angel provides the morning rub ...

... while exercise rider Tracey Brown provides the morning treats.

Soon Javier Castellano stopped by to check up on his most recent horse of success. Javier has been able to now win the Travers an unprecedented sixth time and was enjoying yesterday’s success in the warm morning sun while being interviewed by a local TV station.

Javier then performed his own kind of horse whispering as he connected with Catholic Boy in a very gentle, caring, proud and passionate way.

After these beautiful moments Olivia Perkins-Mackey guided Catholic Boy past his Travers blanket out of this stall into a new day.

As he was walked at the grounds he kept his eye on yesterday’s prize.

And received some affection from Olivia during breaks to quench his thirst.

While Olivia guided Catholic Boy around the barn area striding with pride ...

... trainer Jonathan Thomas gave an interview in which he emphasized how much this win at the Saratoga Race Course means to him personally and his organization.

Soon Catholic boy was inspecting the dirt in the round pen and thoroughly enjoyed rolling in it.

After he was done with this exercise Catholic Boy picked some ornaments off the Christmas tree next to his pen.

Olivia then guided him to graze in the lush meadow next to the barn.

Towards the end of the morning trainer Jonathan Thomas posed with his biggest success horse to date.

Now the question is if Javier Castellano will have another opportunity to rejoice with Catholic Boy after they cross the finish line at the Breeder’s Cup in the same way they were able to at the finish line of yesterday's Travers Stakes.

But no matter how big the success, the subsequent day will require the same amount of dedication in caring for the race horses. There is no time to take a breather or sleep in -- these champions constantly keep you honest and on your toes.