About Me and the Blog

Welcome to my blog! Let me introduce myself and give you some information about the two focuses of this blog.

My name is Travers Manley and I was born in Louisville, KY in 1988. My dad has been a horse racing fan his whole life and named me after his favorite race, The Travers Stakes. Having a Dad that would name his son after a horse race means I was exposed to Thoroughbred horse racing from a very early age. In fact, my earliest memories as a child are at race courses, especially Keeneland. I always loved going to the races with my family, but I never considered myself a fanatic or thought about a career in the industry. That all changed in 2004 when I visited Saratoga Race Course for the first time. I walked through the gates of Saratoga and horse racing became an obsession. I remember looking around and thinking, “I’m not sure what I’m going to do in this industry, but this is where I will make my career. This is where I want to be.”

Since then, I have been working very hard to make something of myself in this industry. I currently go to school at the University of Kentucky, where I major in Equine Management, and I’ve held jobs with Crestwood Farm, Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, Keeneland, Bluewater Sales, the Breeders’ Cup, and Chesapeake Farm. I am currently finishing up my senior year and will graduate on May 8, 2011. Upon graduation I will go to work at Churchill Downs as a Media Coordinator and Staff Writer. I am very excited about beginning this next chapter of my life. So…this is focus point #1. I will be blogging about my career in the horse racing and breeding industry.

Focal point #2 will be about my small breeding operation that I started in February. At the 2010 Fasig Tipton Winter Mixed Sale in Lexington I purchased hip #260. The name of the mare is Sky. She is a 7-year-old daughter of Menifee, out of the Sky Classic mare named Skyshine. Bred in KY by J.H. Stone and Arthur B. Hancock III, Sky was consigned by Penn Farm. Sky sold with an Even the Score filly by her side and I have nicknamed this foal “Skype.” Skype was born on February 1st; just one week prior to the sale. Since then, Sky has had another foal that I bred, a chestnut filly by Parading, that I’ve named Faith. I will be blogging often about being a first time horse owner/breeder and giving updates on Sky, Skype, and Faith.

I look forward to writing about my horses and my life in the horse industry. My hope is that you will enjoy reading my posts as much as I enjoy writing them.

Thanks again for visiting.

Travers