A Spirited Conversation

FROM DUSK TO DAWN Celebrate

HORSE RACING SEASON COCKTAILS

BY AMELIA ROSE SMITH

The spring horse racing season has begun! Events like the Kentucky Derby, Keeneland and our very own Iroquois Steeplechase are happening, and what is a southern social event without the most divine cocktails? Even if a race lasts a mere two minutes, the celebrations last from dusk til dawn, so you will need a variety of drinks to sip on! Here are just a few options to make merry at the track! These recipes take a spin on the classic Mint Julep by opting for a refreshing and sweet tequila twist and so much more.

Blackberry Mint Julep Margarita Recipe courtesy of Liquor.com Ingredients 5 blackberries 6 mint leaves 1 oz honey syrup 2 oz Añejo tequila Garnish: 2 blackberries & a mint sprig

Directions 1. Add the blackberries, mint leaves and honey syrup into a cocktail shaker and gently muddle. 2. Add tequila, lime juice and ice and shake until well-chilled. 3. Strain into a Julep cup filled with crushed ice. 4. Serve in a silver julep cup and garnish with two speared blackberries and a mint sprig.

Horse’s Neck Recipe courtesy of Allen Katz Ingredients 2 oz bourbon, brandy or American rye whiskey Ginger ale, chilled, to top Garnish: lemon peel

Directions 1. Pour your choice of liquor. 2. Top with ginger ale. 3. Garnish with a lemon peel. Kentucky Mule Ingredients 2 oz bourbon 1/2 oz lime juice, freshly squeezed Ginger beer, to top Garnish: mint sprig

Directions 1. Add the bourbon and lime juice to a Moscow Mule mug or a highball glass. 2. Fill the mug/glass with ice and top with ginger beer. 3. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Southside Cocktail Recipe courtesy of Geoffrey Zakarian Ingredients 2 oz gin, such as Plymouth 1 oz lime juice 3/4 oz simple syrup 1 sprig mint Garnish: 1 fresh mint leaf Specialty item: Chilled martini glass

Directions 1. Combine the gin, lime juice, simple syrup and mint sprig in a shaker. Add some ice cubes and shake vigorously–strain into a chilled martini glass. 2. Garnish with one mint leaf, smacked to release the oils, floating on top of the cocktail.

Saddle up, drink up and relish in a fun-filled day at the races!

PHOTOGRAPHY BY © TOD MARKS NATIONAL STEEPLECHASE ASSOCIATION

The Queens’ Strides

GIRL POWER DOMINATING THE TRACK

BY ANNA ROBERTSON HAM

Steeplechase trainer Keri Brion has made a name for herself in the world of horse racing. She, along with The Mean Queen, a mare she is training, are dominating the boys in the Steeplechase racing world.

Keri’s passion for riding began at the age of five. She loved riding and showing, but it wasn’t until she galloped her first racehorse at the age of thirteen, that she knew racing would be her career. She wasn’t initially interested in Steeplechase racing until she started exercise riding for Jonathan Sheppard. “I instantly knew it was something I would love,” explains Keri. “From there, I pursued being a jump jockey, always with the goal I wanted to train long term.”

“I wasn’t a spectacular jump jockey, but I won a few bigger races on the big days, which was very exciting,” Keri says. “My first winner came at Nashville, aboard Lune De Caro. After that, I won five races aboard a cool horse named Orchestra Leader and also rode AllthewayJose to win the feature race at Fair Hill, two weeks after finishing second at Nashville. As far as training goes, it’s been an unreal start to my career. Last year I won four out of the fifth-grade ones offered, and this season, I’ve won both the Carolina Cup and Temple Gwathmey.”

“I am only as good as my team, owners and horses. I’m lucky to have the best people in my corner, and without them, I wouldn’t be enjoying the success that I have,” she says. “It’s a ton of work, but if you put in the time and effort, you will be rewarded!”

For an industry that has been vastly made up of males, Keri doesn’t think it is as bad as it once was. However, she says there are always the owners that do not believe you are as qualified to train because you are a girl. “I dealt with many issues as a jockey where I was discriminated against as a female, but the best way to move forward from that is to let the results speak for themselves and I believe my training career is doing that,” she says. Keri says that there is nothing like watching a horse you train win a race. “I am lucky to have a barn full of really talented horses, it’s the dream of what they will all become that keeps me waking up at 4am every day.”

The Mean Queen has made a name for herself at Steeplechase. “She’s pretty special. She won her first race in April of last year and since then has been on a tear,” Keri says. “She is so competitive. Her name fits her. She’s mean in the stable and has a very cutthroat type of attitude…a true competitor inside and out.”

Keri has a great relationship with the man from whom they got The Mean Queen. “I was in Ireland training at the time and took over training her, and actually made history with her as she won a hurdle race in Ireland and made me the first American trainer to win a hurdle race in Ireland,” explains

Keri. “We brought her back to the states then and the rest has been history.”

Keri tells how the horses “are top class equine athletes, and many horses, who are nearing the end of their flat careers, find a new spark and lease on life when they try jumping. I have a group of horses running at the Iroquois Steeplechase: Historic Heart in the novice stake, Montmartre D’ Ange in the maiden hurdle, Kicking Myself in the filly stake and, of course, The Mean Queen, and Iranistan in the big race!”

See Keri’s talented lineup of horses and The Mean Queen at this year’s Iroquois Steeplechase at Percy Warner Park on May 14th. Learn more at iroquoissteeplechase.org.