OTTBs make it to Kansas on 3,500-mile journey
Battling locusts, health issues and occasional setbacks, a 60-year-old California woman on a mission to cross the USA on her off-track Thoroughbred arrived in Kansas this week. Some 1,500 miles into a journey that began in California in May, Valerie Ashker and her OTTB Primitivo rode like the wind toward lush grasses of the last “big state” they’ll cross on their five-month trek. Ashker and her boyfriend Peter Friedman, who is riding alongside Ashker on OTTB Solar Express, were en route to Dodge City, Kan. yesterday afternoon, building up “million dollar experiences” on the trip that is easily the hardest […]
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Mare goes from kill pen to show ring in 6 weeks
As the thin gray mare stood tied among other slaughter-bound livestock, Ingrid Messineo flipped the obliging animal’s lip to confirm she was indeed a tattooed ex-racehorse. Then carefully, and one by one, picked up all four feet. Nice horse, she mused, as she patted the gentle animal’s neck and whispered, “I hope you find a good home.” Turning her back, she walked away as the sad-looking creature’s eyes followed her. A moment later, before Messineo disappeared from view, the mare let out a mournful whinny. “She seemed to look at me as if she was saying, ‘I can’t believe you’re […]
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Saratoga abuzz over golf day for horses, jocks
Enthusiasm and passion is building as the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF, Inc.) and the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) prepare to tee off a golf event raising funds and awareness for injured jockeys and retired racehorses. As Tee Off for the TRF and PDJF prepares to get underway Aug. 23 at the McGregor Links Golf Club just outside Saratoga, N.Y., buzz is growing for the event, says Eclipse Award winning jockey and TRF board member Richard “The Mig” Migliore. “It’s going to be such a fun event. Enthusiastic and passionate people have really rallied behind this idea,” says Migliore. “It’s such a […]
