It was Friday, April 19, 2024, when a text came across my phone from a friend. The text read "Amazing run! Congratulations!"
"What did I miss?" I replied.
"Canopy Lane just won at Keeneland," came the reply from Cormac Breathnach, accompanied by a photo from the winner's circle. A smile crept across my face as I reclined on the sofa, attempting to deal with the pain of recovery. I was not even aware that Save the Trees was running that day. I knew he had been training and his works had been superb. But my mind had been on things other than the horses training in my virtual stable on Equibase.
Earlier that week, on Monday, April 15, I had surgery to repair a torn bicep tendon in my left arm. Exactly a week earlier on April 8, one day before my daughter's birthday, I was restraining, or rather attempting to restrain the 2024 foal by the side of Canopy Lane, as the vet injected the microchip. I gripped her tail in my left hand and her halter in my right hand. An approach I had used many times over the years raising horses, and it usually proved strong enough to stabilize month-old foals, even willing foals up to 3 months of age. This filly was not willing at all. As soon as the needle went in, the filly sat back, almost dropping to the ground. Most people would have just released their grip on the tail, but not me. My grip proved stronger than my bicep in this case, and my left arm extended past the point of the strength of my bicep.
As soon as the race was available, I navigated to the race replay video via BloodHorse.com and watched it no less than 10 times in a row. Shared it immediately on social media and spammed all my racing friends and family with the event.
Save The Trees was last out of the gate and was in no hurry to catch the competition, 15 lengths back at the quarter-mile pole. When they rounded the turn, he began to move, and when they reached the top of the stretch, he seemed to have another gear. Kurt Becker's race call is still etched in my mind. As they run down the stretch, Hold My Bourbon begins to make a move around Run Jalen Run and Size Lord, who had been battling each other for the lead most of the race. Becker's race call stops momentarily as he spots Save The Trees charging fast, now only 7 or 8 lengths off the leader. "...Save the Trees ... Save the Trees is making an incredible rally! Save the Trees broke absolutely last! Passed everyone down the stretch to win for Luan Machado."
This was his first race, and at Keeneland, no less. Considered by many, myself included, to be the toughest place to race, a win at Keeneland put the proverbial feather in my cap. As a small breeder on an even smaller budget in the sport of kings, a spot in the winner's circle at Keeneland is as much a challenge to accomplish as it is to try and describe how it feels when it happens.
During the summer of 2022, while prepping him for the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Save The Trees came into the barn one morning with a small bump on his leg just slightly above the upper knee. An X-ray revealed it was just cosmetic. So we began several types of daily treatments to make the knot go away. Our initial treatment was a handheld ultrasound machine on the knee for about 20 minutes each morning after the daily sales prep routine. The device was hooked to an extension cord as he would not stand still, and I had to follow him around the stall the first week or so of the treatments. One morning after completing the treatment, I unplugged the ultrasound machine from the extension cord and stepped out of the stall. As I was putting the ultrasound machine back into its case, I heard a loud thump, which could only be the sound of a horse hitting the ground. Reacting faster than I had ever reacted to anything in my life prior to this moment, I lunged for the extension cord and ripped it out of the outlet. I looked in the stall and watched as he got up, just a bit groggy. Chewing on electrical cords is a favorite pastime of many a dead horse. But this day, the shock dropped him to the ground before he got a chance to finish. Watching him get up brought a huge sigh of relief.
When my vet arrived later in the morning to do the daily repo broodmare work, I told him about our earlier adventure. Dr. Walker had been a practicing vet for 50-plus years, examined the yearling, and was amazed that nothing detrimental had happened that day. Of all the stories he had relayed to me over the years, the ones involving horses and electrical cords never had a happy ending.
The Keeneland September Yearling Sale that year was the second year I would consign my own horses in an attempt to save money. I remember Bret Jones from Airdrie talking to me about the Preservationist yearling colt, asking me if I planned to protect him, meaning would I put a reserve on him in the sales ring. I explained that I had to sell him. I did not have the luxury to keep yearlings and try them at a 2-year-olds in training sale. The hammer struck at $23,000 for hip 3387, which was slightly more than double the stud fee. Meager as it was, anything on the plus side of the stud fee at the sale is considered a win for our farm.
One week after his maiden debut victory at Keeneland, Save The Trees, now a gelding, was entered in the Keeneland April Horses of Racing Age Sale of 2024. He sold for $335,000.
Two months later at Churchill Downs, he wins his next start in allowance company. He's now got two wins in his first two starts. And it's moments like this that are so rare, when they happen, we hope and dream and start talking about him being our first stakes winner. And could it be that maybe even a graded stakes race might be possible? Cautious optimism is what this business evokes from most of us.
Just one month later, his third would prove to be the test. A rather stiff bump up in competition, the Dwyer Stakes (G3) at Belmont at The Big A posted only four entries that day. Domestic Product won easily and also went on to win the H. Allen Jerkins Stakes (G1) and ran third in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) that year. I was still honored to have my first-ever runner in a graded stakes race. It only took 12 years.
During the summer of 2025, we were at the Hope Center in Versailles, Ky., adopting a couple of cats for the barn, and I was chatting with DeeDee Lloyd, and our conversation moved into Thoroughbreds, which usually happens among horsemen. I told her that I seemed to remember meeting her at Airdrie Stud one breeding season as we waited for our mares' turn with their respective stallion. As we talked about the sales, stallions, and how tough the commercial market seems to be for many small breeders, I shared that we had our first winner at Keeneland. I told her what I tell most everyone, "It's one of the best races you will ever see. Wanna see it? You gotta see it!" Without hesitation, "Absolutely," she replied. As we watched the race unfold, she said, "I'm getting chills." "Me too," I replied.
On October 29, 2025, I was having lunch with my neighbor Russell at Ricardo's in Versailles. As we chatted about horse racing, he asked about Save the Trees, and I remembered that I had seen an entry for Save the Trees. I glanced at my phone to check the entry date. ... I discovered the entry was actually that day, race 2 at Churchill Downs. I glanced at the TV over the bar that had horse racing. The screen read Churchill Downs 2. "And They're off..." What are the odds I look up at the TV exactly as the horse we were discussing was about to exit the starting gate? It was almost surreal, like something out of a movie.
Knowing that Save the Trees usually ran from behind the pace, I took the extra few seconds to check the entry information on my phone and see what number he was. I stood up and began talking to the TV. The folks at the bar, behind whom I was yelling, did not seem to mind my encouragement as I watched him make a move on the inside. I could not see his number, but I knew the blaze on his face, stamped by his mother on every foal she had. "Get up! C'mon! Go! Go! Yeah!" I exclaimed emphatically as I cheered him home from a distance.
That was his fourth win in nine starts, posting a 103 speed figure. He posted the same speed figure in his last win, which came at Ellis Park a month after his last-place effort in the Dwyer Stakes (G3).
As a kid, I remember watching "The Wide World of Sports" and Jim McKay's accurate description, "...the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." After all these years, I have no recollection of what video they used for the thrill of victory. However, the image that is embedded in my memory is of the skier crashing horribly as he says, "...and the agony of defeat." The thrill of victory when your horse crosses the finish line in front is unparalleled. I think the worst agony of defeat is never trying to be a part of something so wonderful.
Horse racing and all that it entails benefits so many people all over the world—both those who work in the business and those who just enjoy spectating. The horses provide a tangible living for many of us. And yet, the real value for those of us blessed enough to be in the game is the experience and the stories we get to share, like this one.
Dan Davidson owns Sycamore Bark Thoroughbreds in Versailles, Ky.
