The US Postal Service can’t claim sole domain over the phrase, “Neither rain, nor snow, nor dark of night…” –not in Lexington, Kentucky, anyway! Thoroughbred Trainer, Gary Contessa, checked into Twitter this morning with the following report:
Gary Contessa At sale in Lexington and the market had not softened. Sold a few mares but have been outrun on buying yearlings. Cold and blustery!!!
(Please feel free to click on @GaryContessa, above, to go directly to his Twitter pages, and follow him.)
SO! Freezing temperatures and snow are trying to kill horse buyers at this year’s Keeneland Sales, or at least weaken their resolve. BUT! Horsemen and -women have gathered to buy horses, and By God, inclement weather will not deter them from their appointed mission. The horses are there–the Keeneland Sales Pavilion is heated–so taking the time to drive carefully and thoughtfully out Versailles Road is the only consideration. For a few days, anyway, attendees should simply adjust their thinking: look around and say, “This must be Saratoga in January…” 
In spite of the soul-numbing cold, our Gary reported directly here to Contessa Central, and gave this early-morning report from chilly Lexington:
Arrived in Lexington from Florida– 80F degrees to 10F degrees. [Editor’s note: “YIKES!”] It has been very cold and blustery the entire three days. The market is as strong as ever. We came to sell a few, and try to buy a couple of yearlings. Very difficult task buying, as the market for newly-turned yearlings was exceptionally strong. Taking one last crack at buying one today, and selling two mares also. Not thinking we will end with a yearling, but we will certainly be in the hunt.
We hope that, while Gary’s horse-hunting and selling today, he’s wearing dry boots and warm clothes. We know that his mind will be as sharp as ever–we Upstate New Yorkers know that there’s nothing to keep the brain cells crisp like freezing temperatures and the natural instinct to stay alive!
Good luck, Gary–go get ’em! We look forward to more news from the (Arctic) front.
P.S. Might we suggest that the Commonwealth’s State Song title be changed to, “My Old Kentucky Nome“?
———————————————————————————————————————————–
Video: Gary Contessa, Keeneland, 12 January 1016:
https://www.facebook.com/gary.contessa/videos/10208545332809799/