Off Track Thoroughbreds

Immortal Wink is reunited with his co-breeder Kathy Von Gerhard on July 9.

Immortal Wink, a true racing warrior who ran his 142^nd race in Puerto Rico on June 22, was flown back to the Sunshine State, the place of his birth, on July 2.

It took a yeoman’s effort by a professional psychologist, a breeder, fans, and horse-rescue personnel who sought pluck him from a land “without many resources” and set him down softly on a grassy field protected by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation.

After all that running on legs that withstood so much strain, Wink’s co-breeder Kathy Von Gerhard was instantly “on board” for the seemingly impossible task of retiring and rehoming the horse; requiring airfare, quarantine, and a retirement home.

The phone call that enlisted her help came from Florida-based psychologist and horse lover Michelle “Shelley” Blodgett asking for help in a growing Social Media effort to retire Immortal Wink. Von Gerhard didn’t think twice.

Immortal Wink
Sire: Gimmeawink
Dam: Uppermost Inmymind, by Loach
Foal date: March 6, 2006
Earnings: $111,193 in 142 starts“Kathy picked up the ball right away,” Blodgett says.

Von Gerhard adds, “I emailed Shelley (Blodgett) and said if she sent me her phone number, I’d call her the next day. We just connected immediately over the phone, and I was totally on board. I remembered the horse well—my husband Ralph named him.”

Noting that the Von Gerhard’s still own Wink’s dam, she continues that the instant Blodgett started talking about him, memories of the bay gelding came flooding back. “I called him Little Wink. And when it came time to give him a name, I remember saying we should name him Little Wink. But my husband didn’t like that idea. I don’t know where he got ‘immortal’ from, but that’s how he got his name.”

It was that very name that caught Blodgett’s attention, and drew her into the effort on social media to return the horse home.

“I’m a professional clinical psychological specializing in older people. I don’t know exactly why, but the word ‘immortal’ really struck me. Its such an unusual name, and he was an unusual horse in an unusual circumstances.”

Immortal Wink is greeted by Kathy Von Gerhard and her husband Ralph. Photo by Suzy Sommerfield

So with little more than that to go on, Blodgett reached out to Von Gerhard, and the pair became the “little hinge” that swung open the “big door” leading to a whole new future for Immortal Wink.

Reaching out to friends and strangers, and buoyed by a race fan who Tweets under the handle NotCloudyAllDay, the pair quickly raised the $7,000 necessary to fly Wink back to Florida and quarantine him at Thoroughbred aftercare facility Florida TRAC.

And then the icing on the cake came when Diana Pikulski of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation agreed to open the doors of the nation’s oldest and largest Thoroughbred charity to one more horse.

“He is a war-horse and we are thrilled that his connections could get him back here— which isn’t easy,” Pikulski says. “We are happy that we can offer him a lifetime of grass and companionship.”

A little shocked at their success, Blodgett was moved to tears during an interview this week with Von Gerhard.

Immortal Wink was flown from Puerto Rico to Florida after making 142 starts in his race career.

It all happened so fast, she says. Wink’s final race was June 22. He was purchased the next day with funds raised online and vanned to a quarantine farm in Puerto Rico. On July 2, he was flown back to Florida and taken to Florida TRAC to be let down before traveling on to the TRF.

On July 9, with her heart in her throat, Von Gerhard and her husband made a three-hour drive to visit their old horse.

“It was overwhelming. I was so nervous on the drive down. And when we finally got to the barn, there was nobody around, nobody I could ask where he was,” Von Gerhard says. “So I just walked up and down the aisle looking in every stall. When he was a baby, I used to call out ‘Little Wink’ in a certain way, and his head would come out over his stall guard. So I did the same thing … and here came his head out of his stall, just like he always used to do. I can’t even explain the emotions I felt when I saw him again.” — Along with the 82 people who donated funds to help Immortal Wink retire, his breeders have pledged support in his aftercare costs.

Leah Lang-Gluscic and her $750 OTTB, AP Prime, conquered Rolex and are primed for Burghley. Photo by Kasey Mueller

After conquering the fabled Rolex Kentucky Three Day this spring, a former accountant-turned-professional rider and her bargain-basement superstar Thoroughbred are aiming to compete among top international horse and riders at England’s famous four-star event.

Leah Lang-Gluscic announced that she would attempt to gain sponsors and financial support needed to fly her four-star ex-racehorse AP Prime to Great Britain to compete at the legendary Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in September.

The move comes after she and AP completed Rolex at the end of April and she found, much to her surprise and delight, that her horse was firing on all cylinders.

AP Prime
Sire: Aptitude
Dam: Czarina Kate
Foal date: March 14, 2005“A week and a half after Rolex, AP had a full veterinary and lameness exam and he passed with flying colors,” Lang-Gluscic says. “I was in the vet’s office and I called my coach Jon Holling, a four-star Eventer, and said I have a horse who could go back to work tomorrow, what do I do with him? I though thought about going to Fair Hill, and he said he’s a Burghley horse now, he’s at a whole different caliber now.”

With that ringing endorsement as incentive, Lang-Gluscic launched a fundraising campaign to raise $40,000 to cover the cost of a round-trip ticket for AP ($21,000), as well as another $5,000 in airfare for herself, coach, grooms and other personnel.

Lang-Gluscic beams her pleasure following their dressage at Rolex. Photo by Kasey Mueller

She explains, “Travel is the bulk of the costs. We’re looking to rent an Air BNB because it’s cheaper than a hotel, and we’re hoping to do this on a shoestring budget. It’s such a huge amount of money, and I want people to know that I won’t be getting any new clothes and AP won’t be getting any new halters. The cost is almost entirely travel and lodging expenses.”

The effort to get Leah and AP to Burghley was spearheaded by Sara Kozumplik Murphy, a talented and deeply experienced Eventer and coach, who offered to raffle off a week at her beautiful Ocala, Fla. farm and five lessons with either her or her equally talented husband, a show jumping coach and trainer.

That offer, which Lang-Gluscic calls “insanely and over-the-top generous,” kicked off a silent auction of goods and services that has snowballed with goodwill and donations from fans and supporters who want to help the lovely off-track Thoroughbred and his rider get over the Big Pond.

AP gets a well-deserved hug. Photo by Kasey Mueller

Thus far, about $25,000 worth of goods and services has been donated to the auction, says Lang-Gluscic, who adds she is incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support. “I really have to credit Sara Kozumplik Murphy for spearheading this whole effort,” she says. “After she offered a week at her Ocala Farm, which is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, the whole thing snowballed. Suddenly people without any solicitation started donating an insane amount of amazing things to the auction!” To bid on auction items, please visit this site: https://www.32auctions.com/apprimegoestoburghley.

In a secondary fundraising effort, Lang-Gluscic is also offering to put photos of $100 donors on AP’s stall guard at Burghley. The idea is that the faces of donors will be right there with AP as a physical reminder that it was the fans and their support that made a dream such as this even possible, she says. To learn more about the stall guard campaign, please visit this site: http://llgeventing.com/burghley.html

Should Lang-Gluscic not meet her $40,000 fundraising goal, she will choose two or three CIC three-star events with “perfect footing” to ride, to keep her remarkable Thoroughbred sport horse tuned up. “If we wind up not meeting our fundraising goals, I’ll pick some venues that have prize money, and try to put that away and try again next year,” she says, noting that whatever happens, she is thrilled to be a part of the “powerful bond shared by OTTB owners. Says Lang-Gluscic: “I feel that as a group of people, we can do almost anything!”

And she should know. Lang-Gluscic bought AP Prime off the track after finding him in an advertisement by CANTER Illinois. She paid $750 on the spot, took him home, and made her equestrian career on a flashy bay gelding who has proved to be worth his weight in gold.