Kentucky Derby favorite is Virginia horse farmer's first foal

Forte is Amy Moore's very first foal and now the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby.

MILLWOOD, Va. — If you’ve ever thought of chucking big city life and buying a farm, you can take heart in the story of former high-powered D.C. lawyer Amy Moore.

The Virginia horse farmer’s first colt is now the favorite in the Kentucky Derby. Like a colt let loose in the pasture, she can scarcely believe her luck.

Seven years ago, she retired from a City Center law firm and bought South Gate Farm in the Shenandoah Valley. Her first horse started slow: Last and last in her first two races – by twenty lengths. "I thought I was going to have to go to the races with a paper bag over my head for shame," Moore said.

But when she switched her from racing on dirt to racing on turf, Queen Caroline shone. "And won over $400,000!" said Moore.

Queen Caroline’s colt is even more impressive. Forte won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile race for two-year-olds in November, and is now the odds on favorite to win the May 6th Kentucky Derby.

"Crazy. It is crazy," said Moore of her very first foal's success. "If I had written a script for how my horse breeding business would turn out, I wouldn’t have dared to include a Kentucky Derby contender with my very first foal."

Walking along the fences on a spectacular spring day, Moore thinks back on Forte's time at her farm. "You remember him as a foal, right down in the pasture down there. And as a curious baby. And to see him all grown up and winning a race against the best horses in the country is an unbelievable thrill."

It was 50 years ago that Secretariat, another Virginia raised col, won the country’s three biggest races.

"I’d love Forte to win the Triple Crown," said Moore. "But the Derby comes first. Got to win the Derby to win the Triple Crown."

There are about 20-thousand thoroughbred foals born in the US every year. Only one can win the Derby, and the Triple Crown odds are even longer.

But for Moore, it all already feels like a miracle. "It is unbelievable," she said.