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©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Exercise rider Lindsey Molina nuzzled the horse Rendezvous in the stable of trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. The horse ran fourth in the Derby Trial on opening day of Churchill Downs on Saturday. "He's got this thing," she said. "I'll cup my hands and he'll put his nose right in there." April 27, 2009.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
A groom threw water on a horse on the backside area of Churchill Downs.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Jockey Calvin Borel celebrated after Mine That Bird won the Kentucky Derby, May 2, 2009.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Jockey Calvin Borel celebrated as Mine That Bird won the Derby. May 2, 2009.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
A hotwalker took one of his horses around the stable area on a cold morning at Churchill Downs.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Legendary jockey Bill Shoemaker, left, stood with trainer Charlie Whittingham outside of his stable in 1986. Shoemaker booted home the Whittingham-trained Ferdinand to win his fourth and final Kentucky Derby.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Jockey Aaaron Gryder watched fellow jockey Pat Day kiss his wife outside of the jockey quarters before the Derby.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Bob Baffert stood on a trainer's stand at Churchill Downs in a pensive mood as he watched horses exercise at the Downs. He trained War Emblem to the Derby win and is now pointing toward the Preakness. The trainer has won three Kentucky Derbies, with Silver Charm, Real Quiet, and War Emblem.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Ron Turcotte, who rode two Derby winners, Riva Ridge and Secretariat, came back to the track in 1999. The jockey was paralyzed after an automobile accident.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Soap and water form a mosaic on the side of a horse in the stable area at Churchill Downs.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Veteran jockey Pat Day talked to the media in 1999. Now retired, he won the 1992 Derby aboard Lil E Tee.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Fuiaschi Pegasus, with exercise rider Andrew Durnin, rears up. Holding the horse is Enrique Larios. The horse won the Derby in 2000.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Saddles were lined up after training in front of trainer Kenny McPeek's stables.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Veteran trainer D. Wayne Lukas walked his pony onto the track. Horses that he has trained have won the Kentucky Derby five times.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Early morning sunlight creeps over a barn in the stable area of Churchill Downs, lighting the steam rising off the back of a throughbred racing at the Downs.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Jockey Kent Desormeaux threw a kiss to the crowd after winning the 2008 Derby aboard Big Brown.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Morning light shines on a stable near the entrance to the Churchill Downs track.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Amy Peters, an exercise rider for Lynn Whiting, waited to take a horse out. Derby horses trained on the track at Churchill Downs.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Trainer Steve Asmussen waited on his pony to take a horse onto the track.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Derby favorite Colonel John seemed to laugh after a bath in 2007.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Trainer Carl Nafzger answers questions from the media about the Derby favorite, Street Sense. The horse ended up winning the 2007 race.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Golden light from the spires of Churchill Downs helps to light the racetrack at the legendary Louisville facility, the home of the Kentucky Derby. Horses are on the track training for the biggest race. On the backside of the track, trainers talk to the media, and others get the horses ready for the big race.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Rider and horse are blurs in motion as they train around the track at Churchill Downs.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Groom Joseph Murphy cuddles a horse after bathing him and walking him and then putting the horse in his stable at rest, preparing for another day of training at Churchill Downs.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
A hot walker walked her charge around the stable area.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
2006 Derby winner Barbaro nibbles on the blanket of roses while walking shed row at Churchill Downs, the Sunday after his win in the Kentucky Derby.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Lucy Feytag, left, and Sonja Conatser, both from northern Tennessee, checked out the action in the paddock at Churchill Downs prior to the 2008 Kentucky Derby.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
John Floyd, left, is a former groom and now hot walker working with Willie Dunn, right, who is 42 and works as an exercise rider for the Chuck Simon Stable on the backside of Churchill Downs. They are taking a respite from work during the renovation break held each morning at the track to resurface the track.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
James "Rambo" Vollroth is a native of New Hampshire and journeys across American tracks working as a hotwalker. A hotwalker walks the horses around the barn after they have trained, cooling them down. He's been working with horses the last 15 years.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Horses roared out of the starting gate in the 2005 Kentucky Derby. Most years, 20 horses are entered in the Derby, considered the premiere horse racing event in the world.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Jockey Mike Smith rejoiced after winning the 2005 Derby aboard Giacomo.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Under the spires of Churchill Downs, owners and trainers wait for daybreak for their horses to come onto the track to train for the Kentucky Derby.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Early riser Jockey Rafael Bearnjo, who rode Consolidator in a recent Kentucky Derby, emerged from the shadows with a yawn as he got ready to work a horse on the backside stable area of Churchill Downs. May 1, 2005.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
A stable worker relaxes awhile near the barn of Bob Holthus.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
A trainer prepares to mount a pony in order to take one of the horses in his stable out onto the track.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Exercise rider Kenny Jones gets his gear ready for a morning gallop. He works in the stable of trainer Forrest Kaelin.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
A lone horse galloped on the track at Churchill Downs. The storied track celebrated the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May 2009.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Anne Campbell of Dogwood Stables (she and husband Cot Campbell own Limehouse, a Derby contender) stood in the paddock before the 5th race on Derby Day, 2004.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Crowds on the backside stable area of Churchill Downs crowd around a chute as one of the Derby candidates makes its way to the racetrack for training. Derby Week sees huge crowds of the public come out to see the horses work out.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Trainer Kristin Mulhall gets nuzzled by her horse, Impearlism, as she goes into his stall at Churchill Downs.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
A Derby candidate gets a bath after a morning workout.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Stable workers bathe a horse on the backside of Churchill Downs.
©Bill Luster, The Courier-Journal
Exotic hats are the rule for Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs in Louisville. These two come every year to the Derby and stand near the paddock, where horses are saddled.
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