Author: Lindsay Griffin
Good music and good horse races are all about telling stories. Both involve tapping into life’s rhythms, pushing yourself, and having the heart and courage to pull something great out of yourself. When executed correctly, both can have a majorly transformative effect not only on the participant but also on the world around them.
Horse racing is also connected to high society. Many people go to the race track not simply for the horses but to see and be seen. There is always an audience available when the biggest races are being run, and there can never be too many performances.
It is, therefore, unsurprising that many music artists have enjoyed the Sport of Kings over the years. They have been involved in different capacities—some as owners, some as songwriters, some as participants or track personalities—but all have left a major impact on the worlds of both music and horse racing. Here are just a few of the music artists of the past and present who have demonstrated a major passion for Thoroughbred racing.
Will we see any of these names in the TwinSpires Belmont Stakes in Saratoga?
Stephen Foster
Stephen Foster is most known in horse racing circles for having written “My Old Kentucky Home,” which is ironic as he never once even set foot in the state of Kentucky. However, Foster was undoubtedly a fan of horse racing. He also composed the popular folk tune “Camptown Ladies,” which describes a nineteenth-century day at the races.
Although his lyrics in African American dialect and their use in minstrel shows are criticized as racist today, Foster was a friend to abolitionist author Harriet Beecher Stowe and supported emancipation.
Bing Crosby
A legendary performer from Hollywood’s golden age, Bing Crosby was intimately involved in the California Thoroughbred racing scene in the 1930s and the 1940s. He was one of the founding members of the Del Mar Turf Club, the governing body of Del Mar Race Track in southern California. He often made appearances at the track, both to perform and to greet racegoers. He composed a short song, “Where The Turf Meets The Surf,” which is played on the track frequently.
Crosby was also an accomplished racehorse owner. In addition to Del Mar, Crosby owned and operated Binglin Stables. His most famous racehorse was likely Ligaroti, a talented colt who was most known for running the great Seabiscuit to a nose in a $25,000 winner-take-all match race- the first horse race nationally broadcast by NBC.
Dan Fogelberg
Dan Fogelberg, a popular music artist from the 1970s and 1980s, is the writer and performer of “Run for the Roses.” Written because Fogelberg was a fan of the Kentucky Derby (and horse racing in general) but had never attended the historic race, the song was first performed the night before the 1980 edition of the Kentucky Derby. Later, Fogelberg included the song on his 1981 album, The Innocent One.
The lyrics to the song describe a young foal’s picturesque early life in Kentucky, as he romps through sunny green pastures with his mother. As the verses progress, it represents the horse’s development as he undergoes training to compete in the Kentucky Derby, known as The Run For The Roses: “the chance of a lifetime in a lifetime of chance.”
MC Hammer
The noted rapper MC Hammer owned Oaktown Stable with several members of his family, and during the early 1990s- the height of Hammer’s musical success- he made a name for himself as a racehorse owner. He and his family became popular at the races for their exuberance and charisma.
Hammer was the owner of two very prominent horses. The first was the filly Lite Light, who won the 1990 Kentucky Oaks in a ten-length romp, as well as several other prestigious races in her division. Hammer also owned Dance Floor, a colt who won two graded stakes races as a two-year-old and, as a three-year-old, added the Fountain of Youth Stakes as well as good thirds in the Kentucky Derby and the Travers Stakes.
Jack Harlow
Rapper and singer Jackman “Jack” Harlow is a native of Louisville, Kentucky, the host city of the Kentucky Derby. This means that even if he was not directly involved in the industry, he grew up in a culture enmeshed with it. The minutiae of daily life comes to a screeching halt in Louisville during Derby Week, and everyone in the city loyally follows the happenings around Churchill Downs.
Jack Harlow was honored in his hometown during the 2022 edition of the race. He walked the red carpet during the celebrity-laden parties leading up to the Derby. Harlow was also named “Grand Marshal” of the Kentucky Derby, meaning that he was the one to give the iconic call for “Riders up” prior to the playing of My Old Kentucky Home.