Tami Hoag’s Run With the Roses

Louisville, KY – Writer/rider, Tami Hoag, who is well known for merging  her dual lives as a New York Times best selling author and a successful Grand Prix dressage rider, enjoyed an insider’s glimpse of the Kentucky Derby earlier this month. Hoag was the high bidder on a VIP Kentucky Derby package auctioned at the USET’s Hong Kong Nights fundraiser for the 2008 Olympics held earlier this year.  The Derby package was donated by Moxie Equestrian, makers of high-end, innovative horse wear and equipment.

Hoag took her dressage coach and friend, Betsy Steiner along for the Derby weekend. They arrived in Louisville and enjoyed a whirlwind tour of some of the top Kentucky stud farms.  The foals and yearlings ( anyone one of whom may someday be a Kentucky Derby winner)  captured Hoag’s heart. “I managed to refrain from buying any,” Hoag wryly remarked.

A crisp, bright Saturday morning found Hoag and Steiner and their new friends from Moxie Equestrian having a delightful pre-Derby brunch at Derby Chairman, Carl Pollard’s, beautiful historic Louisville home. Next they were whisked off to Churchill Downs, they arrived wearing traditionally smart looking hats, and were escorted into the paddock area, reserved for owners, trainers, jockeys and a few lucky VIP guests. They were thrilled to meet Angel Cordero and Lafitte Pincay, two outstanding jockeys whose highly successful careers spanned over 3 decades. “I've met two U.S. presidents,” said Hoag. “And wasn't nearly as star-struck.”

Returning to the clubhouse, the ladies arrived in time to go out on the balcony and join in a rousing version of “My Old Kentucky Home” as they chose their favorites in the post parade. The excitement of the race and the electricity generated with a twenty-horse field going to post had 160,000 spectators roaring before the race even started. When the horses rounded the final turn and charged down the stretch the “energy of the crowd was incredible,” said Hoag.

“Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs as the horses crossed the finish line. It was all but a fairytale ending with Eights Belles running second. And then she went down.” Hoag paused. “As people realized she had fallen, it was as if someone had flipped a switch and sucked the life out of the place. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat-all in the span of seconds.” 

Hoag told us that Thoroughbred racing was her first love and she insists she still loves the sport. But she agrees for all the exciting and dramatic stories it brings, racing is fraught with the worst kinds of tragedy and heartbreak. Having lost her stunning dressage mare, Coco Chanel, to a freak accident last June, Hoag knows only too well the anguish and remorse an owner feels.

“For all the wonderful, exciting, dramatic stories racing gives us, it can also bring the worst kind of tragedy and heartbreak. We can only hope that something positive can come out of Eight Belles' loss, some kind of discovery or change that can make the sport safer and better,” Hoag sighed, along with the rest of the country.

Photo: Tami Hoag and Betsy Steiner at the monument to Triple Crown winner Affirmed, while visiting Darley Stud. Photo: Courtesy of Tami Hoag