This picture was taken right before I was taken to the security holding area at Keeneland Race Track in Lexington. I had to call Bryan to come and get me out of onsite “jail” where I was being held.
My day started out great. Keeneland is my favorite spot to watch horse races. It is a beautiful property and I have gone there since I was a little girl with my grandparents. Horse racing is a longstanding Kentucky tradition and I find the track in Lexington a little more fun and laid back versus the sister track in Louisville, the famed Churchill Downs. Keeneland was founded in 1936 and is located in the Horse Capital of the World. I always joke you can have a super fun day with $20 betting a few dollars on each race. Many people also dress up for a trip to the races so it also makes for great people watching.
This April visit to Keeneland was for a photo class on sports photography. We had permission from the track to roam and take professional camera photos during the races. I of course thought that meant we could go anywhere to shoot. I was frustrated with blocked views and wanted a clean shot of the horses so I went under a fence to the backside of the track and was able to get a few straight on beautiful shots with a clean green background of the field as seen above.
Little did I know there was surveillance cameras everywhere and I was met with an angry looking security officer who promptly took me off the track and explained that you cannot roam freely on the horse track during races even outside the fence. I was taken to the security office and had to make a call to Bryan to come and get me. I had to sign a statement and was told that if there were any other issues I would be banned from the track permanently. It was a horrible misunderstanding that scared me to death. Luckily, I stayed out of trouble the rest of the weekend and I am able to always go back and enjoy the live races when they run in April and September each year.