Dr. Robert Copelan

He's such a fixture here, he's even on the sandwich menu. Here you go: the Copelan, grilled cheddar and onion on pumpernickel. True, that only makes Dr. Robert Copelan an institution within an institution. Lunch at Lil's Coffee House on Main Street is a ritual cherished by many other horse folk in the neighborhood of Paris, Kentucky. But it's certainly a joy, for all of them, to see the great veterinarian seated alongside veteran radio host Ercel Ellis Jr., at their usual table in the corner, exchanging wit and wisdom...

   TDN is proud to partner with the Keeneland Library and the Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky Libraries in a very special collaboration: the Keeneland 'Life's Work' Oral History Project, a series of filmed interviews by TDN columnist Chris McGrath with significant figures in the Thoroughbred industry. An excerpt from current installment, with Dr. Gary Lavin, appears here. As Will Rogers said, the best doctors in the world are the veterinarians--because their patients can't talk. "And that's true," says Gary Lavin. "But at the same...