It's on to the BC Distaff for Salama

It is on to the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) for Maria Santa Stable’s Salama following her U.S. debut here last Saturday.

“That was always the plan: to get a race in her rather than breeze up to a race of that caliber,” trainer Charlie LoPresti said. “It is tough enough as it is.”

Racing for the first time in 16 weeks, Salama finished second in an optional claimer at the Distaff distance of 1 1/8 miles.

“The chart said she was getting to the winner,” LoPresti said of Salama, who was three-quarters of a length short of catching Lavender Chrissie. “I wish she could have won by three-quarters of a length. She came out of the race well and was full of energy after the race.”

Salama earned a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff with her victory in the Clasico Cesar del Rio (G3) in Peru on June 21. She arrived in LoPresti’s barn July 27.

“She’s a 3-year-old and she’s done nothing wrong,” LoPresti said of the Desert Party filly who has compiled a record of 9-5-2-2. “The owners are realistic. She won a ‘Win and You’re In’ race, so it is all paid for, so why not take a chance?”

Julien Leparoux, who has ridden five Breeders’ Cup winners, was aboard Salama on Saturday and is expected to have the mount in the Oct. 30 Distaff.

“That’s the plan for him to ride her back,” LoPresti said. “He liked her when he breezed her the first time (Oct. 1) and he liked her in the race.”

The Distaff will be a considerable step up in class for Salama, purchased at Keeneland’s 2013 September Yearling Sale, but LoPresti is embracing the challenge.

“I imagine we will be 20-1 in there,” LoPresti said. “But without Beholder in there, it could be anybody’s race.”

Beholder, the top older mare in the country, is expected to take on males in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) on Oct. 31. The deadline for pre-entries for the Breeders’ Cup is Oct. 19.

FOCUS ON RACING

On Friday, 10 senior photojournalism students from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green will spend the day at Keeneland to learn a unique aspect of photographing Thoroughbred racing as part of Professor Tim Broekema’s Remote Camera Workshop.

“Their mission is to prove to me that they are ready to graduate from our program and take on the rigors of real assignments for real publications,” said Broekema, who has brought students to Keeneland during the Spring and Fall Meets for nearly 10 years.

Broekema, who was the sports picture editor for the Chicago Tribune in the 1990s, is a veteran horse racing photojournalist. For the past 22 years, he has worked for a variety of publications shooting the Kentucky Derby (G1). He says knowing how to use remote cameras – which might be placed under the inside rail at the finish line, on the starting gate and elsewhere around the track and triggered with a remote control – will make his students more marketable even if they’re not shooting horse racing.

“One of my recent students, while working for the New York Times assigned to the White House, used remote cameras on the Rose Garden to capture a unique angle of President Obama,” Broekema said. “When I asked him how he got it he told me it was inspired by the day I took him to Keeneland.”

A large portion of the students’ day at Keeneland will be spent just learning how to set up remote cameras. With multiple races, they will have many opportunities to practice.

“If they miss getting the action in race one just wait 30 minutes and try again in race two,” Broekema said.

Students also learn the fast pace of a sporting event.

“In horse racing photojournalism, it is all about getting a unique angle and different shot of the winning horse – a different shot than anyone else on that track is getting,” Broekema said. “And the winner can sometimes win by a nose and the decision of which horse to focus on happens in less than a split second.” 

As a result, students are challenged to find new perspectives to make their images interesting.

“Often students get some pretty nice work from this day and an image ends up in their portfolio,” Broekema said. “The staff at Keeneland understands the learning opportunity that is taking place and helps me make this workshop work.”

Broekema said the light at Keeneland inspired him to hold a workshop here. He loves introducing his students to Keeneland and having opportunities to bond with them.

“The track is beautiful,” he said. “When the sun rolls past the high noon mark and begins to stream across the finish line after4 p.m. – and the way the light streams through the Grandstand 
at 5 p.m. – not much can beat that.”

LNJ Foxwoods’ Nickname, winner of the Frizette (G1) at Belmont Park in her most recent start Oct. 3, worked five furlongs in company with Wild Man in 1:01.80 early Monday morning over a fast main track. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Nickname has earned a berth in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) to be run Oct. 31.

Source: Keeneland Association