Random Retiree News

CoronadosQuest · Fri Apr 07, 2017 3:47 pm

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ ... ld-friends

Looks like Awesome Gem moved to Old Friends after that cute photo. Doesn't mention anything about his best friend though

WarBiscuit · Fri Apr 07, 2017 6:14 pm

CoronadosQuest wrote:http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ ... ld-friends

Looks like Awesome Gem moved to Old Friends after that cute photo. Doesn't mention anything about his best friend though

He looked like he was awful content with Daisy. Wonder why they moved him to Old Friends? Hell to make friends and then have to move away...

WarBiscuit

Sparrow Castle · Fri Apr 07, 2017 8:38 pm

WarBiscuit wrote:
CoronadosQuest wrote:http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ ... ld-friends

Looks like Awesome Gem moved to Old Friends after that cute photo. Doesn't mention anything about his best friend though
He looked like he was awful content with Daisy. Wonder why they moved him to Old Friends? Hell to make friends and then have to move away...

WarBiscuit

I think this could be a good move for him. I know originally Craig was hoping to make a pony horse out of him. I think we last visited him at the track during BC time in Nov 2013. There was talk then about maybe he'd be better suited to another kind of second career. My hunch is he didn't transition well from not being a racehorse, he was so competitive and maybe a bit assertive under saddle.

But he also was a big ham and loved having visitors. He has a large fan following on the west coast, his many WP partners, and folks like us, lol. Maybe the farm he'd been retired to in California wasn't good with people tramping through to visit the star. Hopefully, folks that visit Old Friends will make the royal fuss over him that he and I think he deserves!

Sparrow Castle · Mon Apr 10, 2017 10:17 pm

Just ran across this Haskin article that talks a bit about Awesome Gem's personality. This is the Gemster I got to know. And that's why I think he likely couldn't settle well into a 2nd career and, in the long run, he's better suited to the lifestyle at Old Friends than lying around a quiet but lovely farm surrounded by critter friends.

Awesome Addition to Old Friends

In the starting gate, he was always the perfect gentleman, but on the track he was difficult to handle and dumped many a rider. One morning at Hollywood Park when Awesome Gem was a 3-year-old, Bloom, who would often gallop the horse, and Dollase were watching him out on the track, and were delighted to see him galloping along and doing everything perfectly.

Bloom turned to Dollase and said, "My gosh, it's amazing how good this horse is now. He's really settled down and is so easy to manage." Dollase agreed that he had showed a great deal of improvement. As Awesome Gem was pulling up from his gallop, Bloom and Dollase walked down the stairs from the clocker's stand to wait for the horse and walk back to barn with him. As they waited, here came Awesome Gem...with no rider on his back. No sooner had they said how good he was doing, he dumped his rider, as if on cue.

"He's such a character," Bloom said several years ago. "He can be in the shedrow rearing up and strutting his stuff, but in his stall he's the barn pet. You could bring little kids up to him. I have two daughters and he's their favorite horse. He drops his head down and is like a little kitten in terms of petting him and feeding him carrots. He'll nibble the carrot in your hand. He just loves people and loves attention.

"This horse is such a great story. Sometimes, there's a certain thing about a horse that you can't put your finger on. You can't explain it; they just have it, and he's definitely that kind of horse. He just sparkles."

http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/horse-ra ... iends.aspx

Sparrow Castle · Sat Apr 15, 2017 11:04 pm

I remember this guy from Longacres and the Northern California circuit. Not a world beater, but it's a name you don't forget. So glad he looks happy and healthy.

Remember Me Rescue added 2 new photos.
Old is no excuse for skinny. This is 34 year old Yeah Me Do, the oldest known living thoroughbred in the USA. He is a permanent resident and will live out the remainder of his years at #RMR #OTTB

Sparrow Castle · Tue Apr 18, 2017 12:31 am

Millionaire Mister Marti Gras ‘Back to Business’ in Second Career

When Mandy Alexander heard millionaire Mister Marti Gras was looking for a second career late last year, she tried to tell herself she wasn’t interested.

She had decided that she was taking a break from horse ownership and figured a horse with Mister Marti Gras’ long race record may not be the best candidate for a second career at the level she once competed at due to how long he’d raced – but that all changed when she saw him.

A fan favorite as a racehorse, Mister Marti Gras raced in 30 graded stakes during his 58-race career where he won over a million dollars, starting in the 2010 Louisiana Derby and ending in the 2016 Hanshin Cup Stakes. Retiring late last year after a few lackluster efforts, he was laid up at Chesapeake Farm when Alexander went to visit him.

https://www.americasbestracing.net/life ... ond-career

‘Krew,’ aka Mister Marti Gras (Mandy Alexander)

Life At Zen · Fri Apr 28, 2017 10:36 pm

Mr Commons is now a dressage horse in the 2017 Retired Racehorse Project.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3571529 ... 448902005/

BlindLucky · Sun Apr 30, 2017 2:59 pm

I'mawildandcrazyguy popped up out of the blue! Apparently he had some time off (I think from a jumping career) just turned out for a while, but has been adopted again and seems to be in good hands these last several months

I just loved this guy--his attitude and all!

Catalina · Sun Apr 30, 2017 5:38 pm

BlindLucky wrote:I'mawildandcrazyguy popped up out of the blue! Apparently he had some time off (I think from a jumping career) just turned out for a while, but has been adopted again and seems to be in good hands these last several months

I just loved this guy--his attitude and all!

Glad to see he's still around! All the best to him!

Psychotic Parakeet · Sun Apr 30, 2017 8:07 pm

Iliad, who was on the Triple Crown Trail, has been retired due to an ankle injury.

Catalina · Sun Apr 30, 2017 9:34 pm

Psychotic Parakeet wrote:Iliad, who was on the Triple Crown Trail, has been retired due to an ankle injury.

There've been rumblings that this might happen.

BlindLucky · Wed May 24, 2017 7:37 pm

Nowhere to Hide (he ran in Mine That Bird's KY Derby) seems to have found his forever home with an ex-NFL player. This is such a fun story

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ ... er-team-up

Sparrow Castle · Wed May 24, 2017 9:57 pm

BlindLucky wrote:Nowhere to Hide (he ran in Mine That Bird's KY Derby) seems to have found his forever home with an ex-NFL player. This is such a fun story

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ ... er-team-up

That really is a good story! Thanks for sharing.

Diver52 · Fri May 26, 2017 1:36 am

Agree! Rescues have a fine line between handing out animals to homes where they could fail and being "dog or horse Nazis" who won't let an animal go without ridiculous demands. Good results here.

Curtis · Thu Jun 01, 2017 2:57 pm

I've been trying to post some photos of my two OTTB's, Border Run and Anniversary Year, but I keep getting the following message: Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached.

sweettalk · Thu Jun 01, 2017 6:54 pm

Curtis wrote:I've been trying to post some photos of my two OTTB's, Border Run and Anniversary Year, but I keep getting the following message: Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached.

upload the pics to imgur. you're teasing me with border run pics!!

Curtis · Thu Jun 01, 2017 8:35 pm

sweettalk wrote:
Curtis wrote:I've been trying to post some photos of my two OTTB's, Border Run and Anniversary Year, but I keep getting the following message: Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached.
upload the pics to imgur. you're teasing me with border run pics!!

I'm afraid you'll have to speak English.

ThreeMustangs · Thu Jun 01, 2017 10:19 pm

Curtis wrote:
sweettalk wrote:
Curtis wrote:I've been trying to post some photos of my two OTTB's, Border Run and Anniversary Year, but I keep getting the following message: Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached.
upload the pics to imgur. you're teasing me with border run pics!!
I'm afraid you'll have to speak English.

Try this:

https://help.imgur.com/hc/en-us/article ... oad-Images

Sparrow Castle · Fri Jun 02, 2017 6:27 pm

Paulrus

Herb Hogg was looking for a horse. Thirteen years ago, the lifelong foxhunter had taken a bit of a beating from a “rogue-y” mount who’d left him with a punctured lung and broken ribs. A CPA by profession, Hogg got a suggestion from a client – Hall of Fame trainer Janet Elliot – who mentioned she had a prospect on her Pennsylvania farm.

“Janet never told me anything about him,” he said. “She just said to come try him and see what I thought. So we went out to one of her fields and jogged around, and the next thing I knew we were jumping fences. And this horse is a reallllly good jumper.”

Pleased, Hogg took 16-year-old Paulrus home to his 15-acre farm near Coatesville, Pa. Shortly thereafter farrier Desmond Hewitt came to replace the horse’s shoes. In his thick accent, the Irishman asked Hogg, “Where’d you get this horse?”

“I told him I got him from Janet,” Hogg said. “And he kept saying ‘Derby horse! Derby horse!’ ”

What Hewitt knew – and Hogg quickly discovered – was that Paulrus had finished seventh in the 1991 Kentucky Derby. The field included Hansel, Fly So Free, Best Pal, Corporate Report, Sea Cadet and Strike the Gold, who won the classic that day for Nick Zito and Chris Antley.

http://midatlantictb.com/cms/index.php/ ... 20-paulrus

lurkey mclurker · Fri Jun 02, 2017 9:11 pm

omg they are both too adorable for words *hearts*