By selling handcrafted jewelry woven with the forelock hair of famous racehorses, The Exceller Fund has launched a fundraiser for racing warriors who have run 50 or more races.
On April 27, a necklace featuring the hair of A.P. Indy, and adorned with six oval sterling silver beads to signify the racehorse’s six Graded stakes wins, was put up for bid on Ebay. On May 4, the auction closed, but plenty of other necklaces were already in the works, taken from the hair of great racehorses.
The A.P. necklace, which sold for more than $700, featured large topaz Swarovski crystals, representing his beautiful bay coat, and green and yellow Swarovski crystals to honor Lane’s End Farm.
The first in a series for the newly launched Famous Forelocks Fundraiser is a creative way to raise money for lessor known racehorses.
Exceller Fund Executive Director Nicole Smith says the idea is to parlay the fame of great horses to draw attention to the needs of racing warriors—animals who have run 50 or more races.
“A primary focus of The Exceller Fund is helping what we refer to as racing warriors. These are Thoroughbreds who have run races year after year, often sliding from the top of racing to the bottom,” she says. “While the average racehorse may run an average of a dozen times in his or her career, a racing warrior runs 50 times or more.”
Funds raised throughout the year via the Famous Forelocks Fundraiser will be used to care for existing racing warriors, or to intervene on behalf of horses in need of emergency funds, she says.
A succession of necklaces, made from the hair of other famous racehorse, will be unveiled soon. Each necklace is crafted with care, and is designed to represent significant details in the animal’s life. The jewelry is authenticated with a certificate that attests to the origins of the horsehair, and includes photographs of the famous horse receiving a haircut for the cause, she adds.
For more information about the fundraiser or The Exceller Fund, please visit www.excellerfund.org.
May the slaughter end as well
No more Backstreet Bully
Or Deputy Broad , unmercifully slaughtered
🙁
Here’s to old warriors and supporting every effort to help ease their transitions from the track. It would be very helpful if someone would establish an emergency fund for them. Oftentimes quick money needs to be found to claim them out of a low level claiming race on a couple of days’ notice. Establishing a fund specifically for their rescue from auctions, kill buyers and lower level claiming situations would be a optimal back up plan for when immediate fundraising can’t be accomplished. I applaud the Exceller Fund and all you do for the benefit of horses like Exceller who started out as stakes winning horses and who found themselves facing downward spiraling careers. There are a growing number of voices speaking out to try to insure that there are no more Ferdinands, Excellers or Monzantes. We are doing better but we are nowhere near able to help all the horses who find themselves in the old warrior trenches.
Very cool!