Off Track Thoroughbreds

World Cup rider Trapp O’Neal found Au Girl on Craigslist. Now she’s in the ribbons for owner/rider Caitlyn Epperson. Alison Harwell Photography

Leading Grand Prix rider and coach Trapp O’Neal was out shopping for a flatbed trailer one lazy afternoon in August when he discovered in the dirt and dust of a modest Texas farm a gem of a Thoroughbred with the makings of an A-rated sport horse.

Though Au Girl lived in circumstances that lacked a standard ring to stretch her legs or pretty jumps to display her form, she went along quite willingly and smartly for O’Neal, who rode her in her jockey’s saddle over jumps made of orange cones and lumber. The bay mare just seemed a natural for the job.

“As a Grand Prix rider and coach, it’s never been typical for me to chose Thoroughbreds to work with. But as a horseman, I’ve learned to keep my eyes open. I don’t think you can be too prejudice as to what shape, size and breeds the talent comes in,” O’Neal says. “And when I tried Au Girl I knew I couldn’t pass up talent.”

O’Neal purchased the ex-race mare in August 2013 and took her home to his Magnolia, Texas facility TKO Sporthorses, where the green mare quickly proved herself as worthy as the fancy show horses in the barn.

Au Girl
Barn name: Lulu
Sire: Formal Gold
Dam: San Miguel Queen
Foal date: April 23, 2009Whip-smart and scopey, she trained for about a year before Trapp sold her to his longtime student Caitlyn Epperson, 20, who formed an instant connection with the mare. “The minute she sat on her, they just clicked,” says Caitlyn’s mother Kathryn Epperson. She adds, “They are a great team. They’ve already earned numerous grand championships and reserve championships … this mare just has a spirit like she’s in it to win it, and yet, she’s also very sweet.”

The pair has excelled at the TAKE 2 Thoroughbred Division at the lower heights, but has also ribboned at the High Adult Jumper Division as well. Her awards include: Low Adult Jumper Champion (1.0 – 1.05 meter) Dallas Harvest in October 2014; High Adult Jumper Reserve Champion (1.10 – 1.15 meter) Great Southwest Winter Classic IV in February 2015; TAKE 2 Thoroughbred Jumpers Reserve Champion (1.0 meter) Pin Oak Charity Horse Show in March 2015; TAKE 2 Thoroughbred Jumpers Champion Show Jumping Classic in May 2015.

Au Girl takes a nap after winning Grand Champion in the Take 2 Jumpers at the Show Jumping Classic in May

Au Girl is ranked 9th in the National TAKE 2 Thoroughbred Jumper standings and 7th in the USHJA Zone 7 TAKE 2 Thoroughbred Jumper standings through April 2015.

But more than earning ribbons there is the deep satisfaction that comes from bringing along a green OTTB to compete at the highest levels.

“In this area you don’t see a lot of Thoroughbreds competing at this level. A lot of trainers just want the Warmbloods. Trapp was one of the first trainers in our area to step out and try a Thoroughbred, and now that people see her, other people have started to show an interest in them,” she says. “This horse is just a trooper. I don’t care how tired she is, or if she’s been at a show for three weeks, she’s going to give 110 percent every time.

“And she moves, very, very well. And she was a fraction of the cost of the other horses in her division. She was a true diamond in the rough.”

Canterbury Park’s 2011 Horse of the Year, Tubby Time, stands in a Pennsylvania kill pen before his rescue May 7.

In the end it didn’t matter how many titles Tubby Time earned, or how many fans were charmed by his endearing flourish to finish his turf races, win or lose, with his tail flared out like a champ.

But after the cheers had faded and the trophies grown dusty, the racehorse immortalized as the 2011 Canterbury Park Horse of the Year had lost the fine trappings of an earlier life to wind up discarded like trash into the slaughter pipeline.

Looking bewildered and unrecognizable from the horse he’d once been, the multiple stakes winner from Minnesota, named for popular basketball coach Tubby Smith, and once so adored by all who knew him—owner, fans and racetrack officials— was discovered in early May in a Pennsylvania kill lot.

Steps away from taking the final ride to the slaughterhouse alongside other frightened horses, it wasn’t his wins, or his fans that mattered. It was a random phone call made by the meat buyer himself, who contacted a Thoroughbred charity volunteer with the words, “I’ve got some Thoroughbreds.”

The news spread fast on social media channels, hitting his former owner Dorene Larsen like a body blow, as her beloved chestnut, now 875 pounds, was rescued by charity Beyond the Roses.

Tubby Time
Sire: Devil His Due
Dam: Gentle Princess, by Tejano
Foal date: April 23, 2006
Earnings: $263,515 in 35 starts;
Multiple stakes winnerAs Tubby was put into quarantine and monitored for disease, Larsen grappled with the aftermath. “If this can happen to us, this can happen to anyone,” she says.

“My sister used to say to me that in life we have to face our worst fears. What happened to Tubby was my greatest fear realized.”

Larsen fought tears, recalling the good days when she and her husband Jim reared Tubby from birth. “We took such great care of him. We loved him. And the only reason we let him go was because we were told he was going to a 14-year-old girl who would ride him in the hunter/jumpers. I never would have let him go for something like barrels, because it’s so taxing. But, when I heard that the manager of the farm where we sent him to layup after his last race had found a hunter/jumper family for him, I thought, ‘Oh my God, Tubby would love doing something like that!’ ”

Though it’s still unclear how Tubby wound up emaciated and battered in the kill lot—Jeff Larsen has been making calls to try to get a answers— his old family and racetrack are rallying to his aid.

Tubby Time reveled in his time on the turf, according to his former owner who says he often flared his tail.

Canterbury Park Vice President of Racing Eric Halstrom was among the first to reach out and offer financial support for Tubby’s recovery.

“We found out through a fan of Tubby’s what had happened, and after we confirmed that it was Tubby, we knew that the time was right to do what’s right: We paid for 60 days of care, Halstrom says.

“This was a really good horse. He wasn’t necessarily bred for turf, but he just took to it, and in his prime, he was unbeatable. The horse has so many endearing qualities and the fact that he ended up this way … shows that things can go astray through no fault of the people who owned him.”

As Tubby regains his health at Beyond the Roses, Larsen is working closely with founder Gail Hirt to create a soft landing for him. She is weighing the possibility of taking him to her sister’s farm, to retire alongside Tubby’s brother Taconite. But, Hirt has also been in touch with a well-regarded equine attorney, who has also made inquiries about adopting him.

Tubby strolls in his quarantine paddock late last week.

Hirt says Tubby is in no shape to travel quite yet, given his emaciation. However, so far he has remained in relative good health, neither spiking a fever nor showing other serious symptoms.

When she rescued Tubby on May 7 with other Thoroughbreds, Hirt had no idea just how special he was.

“When I found out who he was after researching his tattoo, I just about fell over,” Hirt says. “All of horses are special, but Tubby became a very big deal when his owners and the racetrack starting contacting us to help and tell us about him.”

And there were so many stories, says Larsen, who notes that the spirited chestnut had some real racing glory days.

“Tubby truly had his happiest days on the track. For some reason, he just loved to run,” Larsen says. “It didn’t matter where he finished in a race, he could be mid-pack, and he’d flair his tail out like he’d won the race.”

And in the end, Tubby did win; and one day will flare his tail with pride.