Lisa Brandabur Kremer is a practicing physician in Sonoma County, California. A lifelong equestrian, she has been a cardholding member of the US Pony Club and the US Equestrian Federation. She was able to impress her children with a large sack of vintage satin show ribbons.
Surprising discoveries about her mother’s family during COVID pandemic period coursework for a master’s in education at Sonoma State University (SSU) became the basis of this manuscript. Using medical research skills required in the mystery-solving field of rheumatology and knowledge of the horse world, she was able to follow the clues through a multimedia genealogical search into the life and times of her grandparents, Jake and Estelle Heupel, during the golden era of horse racing. The wide appeal of stories surrounding the old time jockeys like Jake Heupel was brought home to her by the cast of characters that avidly assisted in creation of this book, including genealogical research librarians, SSU writing professors, a Virginia Tech journalism student, the LifeLines physician’s writing group, Latonia’s Mother of God Cemetery superintendent, distant cousins with boxes of memorabilia, and a fan of historic jockeys working in the family court of Kenton County.

Dr. Kremer is always ready to hear the stories of daredevils and heroes of the past.