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Sir Prize Birthday, who officially turns 34 in May, enjoys a snuggle with volunteer Valerie Wasail at Wallkill Correctional Facility in New York. Photo by Cody Jo Wasail

Sir Prize Birthday, 34, brings hope to inmates

For 10 years the dark bay Thoroughbred raced with the heart of a prizefighter. In his youth he surged into battle on racetracks far and wide, fighting for victory in a staggering 206 starts and earning $300,000 before it was all said and done. And when age and mileage finally took him from the track, he was asked to enter different kind of fight, the kind waged every day by the inmates incarcerated at Wallkill Correctional Facility in New York. For 16 years now, Sir Prize Birthday, who turns 34 in May, has swaggered about as king of the field […]

From the Canadian slaughterhouse to the show ring, Cactus Cafe strutted her stuff at last year's Battle of the X's

X’s get ready to rumble in Texas!

The second annual Battle of the X’s OTTB Challenge is set for March 8 and 9 at the Will Rogers Coliseum in Forth Worth, Texas. With $10,000 in prize money on the line, professional trainers who have taught their Thoroughbreds the finer points of several disciplines, including Western, Working Cow Horse, Dressage, Jumping and Competitive Trail, will face off in a competition, which is building on last year’s successful inaugural event. Extra classes, and an additional day of showing, were added to accommodate the popularity of the event, according to Donna Keen, president of Remember Me Rescue, the host and […]

Minstrel Blue with Bobby Gardner and son seems to smile too

Kind-eyed broodmare wins over the whole family

Such a gentle mare was Minstrel Blues. Her large, kind eyes being what Susan and Bobby Gardner first noticed when they met the former Thoroughbred broodmare from Florida on a November day in 2011. But before that the mere mention of the breed, threw their coach into a state of worry and apprehension. “Don’t get a Thoroughbred!” was what they were told, as they drove from Jacksonville to Ocala, Fla. with Susan Gardner’s riding instructor. She was adamant that a racehorse was the very last type of horse the first-time buyers should consider, Susan Gardner says. “At one point my […]