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OTTB Finders Key lights up War Horse

Before Steven Spielberg’s movie lens created a cinematic star out of a rearing, wild-looking ex-racehorse named Finders Key, the petite bay was a bit—well— forgettable. Even to the well-trained eye of owner and trainer Bobby Lovgren, his talent was initially a bit hard to spot. “I didn’t recognize his potential for quite some time,” says Lovgren in a telephone interview with Off-TrackThoroughbreds.com this week. “I had him for approximately two or three months and really got to spend a lot of time with him,” before uncovering the powerhouse of emotion that could naturally explode from the little horse like a […]

Precious horse returns after job loss, cancer

Gripping the wheel of her car one-handed, she wiped away tears that ran down her face, and concentrated through watery vision on the bolted doors and departing taillights in front of her. This was not how it was supposed to end for Melissa Skillings and her prized chestnut filly Molinaro Precious. A few years earlier, Skillings was full of hope and excitement when she purchased the unlikely mount after first seeing her burst from her stall, with a skilled rider doing his level best to steady her. So frisky and headstrong, the 17-hand girl with “a very big opinion” could […]