Photographers Use Chainsaws To Reach Churchill Downs For Stephen Foster Stakes After Floods

Staff members at Coady Media, the Louisville-based horse racing photography company that serves as the official photographer for the Kentucky Derby and All American Derby, faced flooded roads, fallen trees and other storm damage while trying to make it to the 45th running of the Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs on Saturday, June 27.

Marketing Manager Cady Coulardot, who has worked for the company since 2020 and lives in Lebanon Junction, said she tried several times to leave her home but was turned back by flooded lanes on northbound Interstate 65 and at Preston Highway, as well as by fallen trees blocking back roads in the area. An evacuation notice was also issued to residents due to concerns about a possible dam failure.

Statewide flooding ahead of June 27 resulted in at least four flood deaths. Gov. Andy Beshear said that three people died in Madison County, with one flood death in Jackson County.

As floodwaters receded, Coulardot, who also runs Coulardot Thoroughbred Racing operations and marketing company Global Equine Marketing, was able to reach Churchill Downs by the seventh race.

"The weather wasn't going to keep me from going to Churchill, especially when we have Stephen Foster Day, and it was one of the best races of the meet," she said.

Magnitude, ridden by Jose Ortiz, won the 1 1/8-mile Grade I race in 1:48.03. Baeza took second and 2025 Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty placed third.

Owner and CEO Kurtis Coady, who lives on a horse farm in Fisherville, said both routes leading from his home were blocked. A low-water bridge near his property was submerged under several feet of water, while the other route was blocked by a landslide.

Coady said he and other staff members were dressed in suits and ties when they came across a fallen tree and had to turn around.

"We turned around and went and got the pickup truck and chainsaws and headed back after we changed real quick," he said.

After clearing the tree, Coady and two other photographers were able to make it to Churchill Downs just a minute before post time. If they hadn't, a photographer who drove overnight from Colonial Downs in Virginia would have been Coady's "saving grace."

Coady is a third-generation horse racing photographer. His grandfather started photographing races in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1962, and the family business eventually expanded. Coady joined the company full time in 2007, and Coady Media now covers 31 racetracks across the country.

Major race days like the Kentucky Derby typically require about 65 photographers, while the Stephen Foster Stakes was covered by about a dozen photographers.

Reach Marina Johnson at Marina.Johnson@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Photographers use chainsaws to reach Churchill Downs for Stephen Foster Stakes after floods