Oaklawn Mornings: Ready for the Derby
- Details
- April 10, 2021
- Jade Cunningham

As horses ship in for the Arkansas Derby and other horses ship out for the year, I find myself reminiscing on the 2021 meet at Oaklawn Park.
As horses ship in for the Arkansas Derby and other horses ship out for the year, I find myself reminiscing on the 2021 meet at Oaklawn Park.
Jack Fisher is a master of the quick draw. As he paces down the aisle of the bank barn at his Butler, Md., farm, he reaches toward his right hip. He grasps, wields and answers before his cell phone rings a second time.
As Keeneland is about to start another spring meeting with more fans returning, I want to share my good fortune in working as a “Green Coat” during the 2020 Keeneland fall meet and the 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships during the height of COVID-19.
One-hundred sixty-five pounds. Not a goal. An ultimatum.
And not easy for a guy who’s 6-foot-3.
Yelling and profanity rang out from the front stretch of Oaklawn Park one morning last month. The shouts weren’t over a loose horse running around the track, rather something more terrifying.
I changed the name of this feature, from a road to Cheltenham to a postcard from Cheltenham as I post some of my favorite photos from previous years.