Excitement comes with taking in the Kentucky Derby from the owners’ box
Wellesley’s Manfred and Penny Conrad revel in the experience of seeing State of Honor take to the track at Churchill Downs
GIVEN ALL THE POMP and circumstance surrounding the historic Kentucky Derby, soaking up the sights and sounds may have been more than enough for a Wellesley couple making their first trip there as racehorse owners.
Manfred and Penny Conrad’s State of Honor got off to a quick start at Louisville’s Churchill Downs last weekend, but couldn’t keep the pace and faded away. Still, it was an exciting experience.
The first leg of the Triple Crown of thoroughbred racing – followed by the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes – the derby saw 20 horses compete on the one-and-a-quarter mile dirt track at Churchill Downs, which has hosted the event since 1875.
Conrad, founder and CEO of The Cora Group, and his wife have had horses for just over seven years. The interest was sparked when a neighbour of the couple, who had horses at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, invited Penny to come along; from then she began buying and breeding brood mares.
“She looks after finding the right match and you know she usually looks after the breeding part,” said Conrad. “She makes the final decision on who we agree to.”
State of Honor is not only Canadian bred, but is also credited to Penny. The couple has had him since birth three years ago, sired by To Honor and Serve.
Looking back at the journey before competing in what is billed as the most exciting two minutes in sports, the now threeyear-old was started as a two-year-old at Woodbine, where he was successful before heading to Florida. In his time in Florida with longtime trainer Mark E. Casse, he never won a race, but managed to place second or third each start receiving points for each start.
This was enough to earn the “big bay” a trip to Louisville.
It was the first time the couple has had a horse in the Kentucky Derby, with Conrad calling the experience unbelievable.
“It’s the best of the best,” he said. “The most exciting part is probably walking with your horse to the paddock when there is about 170,000 people screaming – it’s unique.”
Manfred says they were nervous about their horse coming out too quick from the start – if it starts stampeding from the beginning, there really is very little chance of maintaining that pace.
“We were afraid if the horse gets out too quick and then he could not keep up that pace, and sadly that’s what happened,” said Conrad.
This was the first time jockey Jose Lezcano rode State of Honor.
“The horse came bolting out and then, about at a mile, according to the jockey, the horse started sliding and really wasn’t sure, so the jockey just eased up and let the horse finish the race. In other words, the jockey did not try to get any place because there was no way that he could have won or come in second or third at that point. He wasn’t going to be a winning horse at that point, so the jockey eased up – he didn’t want to injure the horse, which was a smart move by the jockey,” said Conrad.
Leading the pack out of the gates wearing number 6, State of Honor ended up in 19th place.
Despite the placing, the 17-hand bay colt’s career has just begun. He is now back home at Woodbine preparing to race in the Queen’s Plate in July.
As for Conrads, they are thankful for the experience State of Honor gave them.
“We were thrilled, we were thankful to be there. We were very fortunate, and we know that we are fortunate to have been able to experience this. Experience of a lifetime, and we really couldn’t have asked for anything more. We are still in awe it still hasn’t sunk in yet, the whole experience. Regardless of the outcome, we are just thankful we are there and we love the horse and the horse is nowhere near finished yet his career, I can tell you that much,” said Conrad.