BEST BET

Rillito Racetrack comes to life in Tucson, AZ from February through mid-March of every year.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been a Quarter Horse racing venue since 1943.

With only 6 weeks of racing, there is a lot of action to capture in a short amount of time.  I spent early mornings capturing the preparation and training workouts.  The horses truly workout like human track and field athletes, doing sprint intervals of sprints and working up a sweat.

But it’s not just the horses that are working hard, dedicated jockeys do a lot of the work too.  Most of the jockeys had horse racing in their blood, their families had been involved in racing or had owned horses. 

These guys are small but mighty.  They have to maintain their weight in order to optimize the power top weight ratio on top of the horse.  Catching up with these athletes behind the scenes gave me a glimpse of what life was like off the track and a chance to capture their personalities through photos.  It is truly a labor of love and these guys are passionate about what they do. 

On the track, the spirit of competition is evident down to the wire.  The true beauty and emotion of these muscular animals racing to the finish is something to see.

Check out the Rillito Racetrack on 4502 North First Avenue in Tucson, AZ or visit their Facebook Page for more info. 

PHOTOGRAPHY by Rod Mikinski.  Rod Mikinski Photography is located in Tucson, AZ.  He specializes in commercial, fine art and wedding photography.  More of his Internationally Award Winning work can be found at ROD MIKINSKI PHOTOGRAPHY or visit us on FACEBOOK