Breezing and singing at Keenland

On April 1 & 2 I was in Lexington, Ky delivering a 2 day workshop on leadership and management at the Embassy Suites about 3 miles from Keenland Race Track.

Keenland is one of the premier tracks in the country where you will find the best of the best when it comes to horse racing.

As far as I am concerned the morning workout is the best time to be at the race track. First of all there is nobody there except for the trainers, workout riders, a few owners, and the horses. Second of all it is FREE. Third you can stand right there next to the rail and listen to the pounding of the thoroughbreds as they thunder by and the trainers give instructions to the riders as to what pace to keep, how far to keep it and asking for feedback from the riders as to how the horse is doing.

I got up at 5:00 AM and drove out to Keenland and spent a hour just soaking up the sights, smells, and sounds.

There were about 60 horses moving around and waiting their turn to "breeze", when the regulars began to chuckle and starting calling out to one of the riders as he entered the track to start breezing his horse. He then began to sign songs in Spanish as he rode.

Here he is on top of a 900 + pound race horse galloping around the track and singing out loud in Spanish. We could hear him coming, getting louder and then blast past and hear him fade away.

You've Got 2 be kidding me:

Here was a guy that does not make a lot of money, gets up at the crack of dawn every morning and literally puts his life on the line to train horses and does the whole thing singing.

This one man was leading everyone there and NONE of them worked for him. His attitude was infectious and it was clear the regulars were delighted when he showed up to start his singing routine.

Leadership can take place from any position.