Harriet Finkelstein wheels her car into the stable area at Pimlico Race Course, hops out and plants a big smooch on the white face of her colt, Danny's Crown.
"That's the telltale sign," Finkelstein said. "Everyone in the barn knows I've been here because I leave lipstick on his nose."
Finkelstein and her husband, David, didn't have time for the empty-nest syndrome. As soon as their two children were grown, they bought a stable of racehorses.
"Just one horse at first, as a lark," Harriet Finkelstein said. "Now all of a sudden, we're talking about a major business venture."
They have also turned out to be among the luckiest owners. During a mere five years in the game, the Pikesville couple has bought seven thoroughbreds, three of whom have won stakes and two of whom have been good enough to run in the Breeders' Cup, racing's year-end championship extravanganza.
Magic struck immediately with the Finkelsteins' first horse. They purchased Diamond Duo on the advice of trainer Bill Donovan for $11,000 and won nearly $300,000 with her before she hurt her leg in the 1992 Breeders' Cup Distaff at Gulfstream Park.
Now, the Finkelsteins are back for another try in Breeders Cup XI on Saturday, this time with a more expensive horse, Stormy Blues, and an improved chance of success.
At an auction of 2-year-old racing prospects in Florida last winter, David Finkelstein was prepared to spend $65,000 for a particular filly that had turned in the fastest workout of all the sales horses, but the bidding was going much higher. However, when he found out that she was born May 8, a day before his own birthday, all the signs seemed fortuitous, so Finkelstein made a rash decision, spending an extra $50,000 and buying Stormy Blues for $115,000.
Now six months and five races later, including $283,740 in winnings, Stormy Blues is among the three or four fillies who are being talked about as possible upset material if division standout Flanders stubs her toe Saturday in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies stakes.
The Finkelsteins will be one of three groups of Maryland owners with a horse running on the $10 million card at Churchill Downs.
The others are Robert and Jane Meyerhoff of Phoenix, who will race Concern in the $3 million Breeders' Cup Classic, and Robert Meyerhoff's brother, Harry, of Easton, who is starting Western Echo in the $1 million Juvenile.
Last October, David Finkelstein stepped down as chairman of the board and president of the Kluge-Finkelstein food brokerage company that is headquartered in Columbia.
His partner in the venture, John Werner Kluge, is among America's wealthiest men and operates his own racing stable, Morven Stud. Now, in addition to his overseeing his racing outfit with his wife, Finkelstein is a consultant for Kluge's parent company, Metromedia, Inc., located in Washington.
Just a few years ago, Harriet Finkelstein said she would not have believed that her whole life could become so wrapped up in racehorses.
"Now even our grandchildren complain that we have more pictures of horses on our walls than we have of them," she said. "David and I might just end up riding off into the sunset with our horses."