SUPPORT THE PADDOCK FOUNDATION WHEN YOU SHOP
You can now support the Paddock Foundation when you shop at Amazon.com.
Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to The Paddock Foundation whenever you shop on AmazonSmile. AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same service.
Just click the link below and a portion of your purchase will help retired racehorses: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/27-3298733.
ROSES TO RIBBONS AT RETAMA PARK
The next Roses to Ribbons event will be held at Retama Park on Saturday, October 21st. It is designed to showcase Thoroughbred horses ready for a new career after racing. Handlers will present horses in the paddock area and potential purchasers have an opportunity to physically inspect the horses and ask questions of their handlers, with all negotiations to be between buyer and seller. Horses will be arriving in the paddock at 11:00a.m.
For more information, see https://www.facebook.com/events/131344894157857.
NEW CAREERS FOR TEXAS OFF-TRACK THOROUGHBREDS
Witt Way (Special Rate – Final Cut), a 2010 Accredited Texas-bred gelding bred by Henry Witt Jr., raced from 2012 – 2014 for owner Tammy Wincott and then went to LoneStar Outreach to Place Ex-Racers (LOPE).
Now Witt Way has a new career as a dressage horse with his adopter Roxanne. They had an incredible dressage show last weekend. Witt won the Training 2 and Training 3 classes with scores up to 69.31.
The 2017 Thoroughbred Incentive Program Thoroughbred of the Year is SSO Valor, an Accredited Texas-bred previously known as Raja’s Best Dancer (Raja’s Best Boy – D’Or Dancer). He was bred by Terry L. Royall and raced from 1996- 1998. Bobby Boyett stood his sire, Raja’s Best Boy, from 1988 – 2006 in Longview, Texas. The 23-year-old gelding now serves as a police mount with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.
Valor has been a member of the police force for 14 years. He has worked every large event in Sarasota County and has facilitated crowd control at a Super Bowl, numerous college football games, and a Republican National Convention. After Hurricane Irma, Valor helped with crowd control outside of retail shops. Valor was also one of two horses used in the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Activities League SADDLES program, an experience for latch-key kids and at-risk kids who learn team building, non-verbal communication, and how to care for horses.
“Valor has served with distinction his entire career at the sheriff’s office, and everyone who has worked with him has been honored and thankful to do so,” said Sergeant Chris Laster, supervisor of the Sarasota County Sherriff’s Office Mounted Unit. “He is an ambassador not only for mounted police units but also for retired racehorses.”
Here is a link to a story on a wonderful organization where retired racehorses provide comfort and confidence to children with autism and other behavioral diagnoses: https://www.americasbestracing.net/lifestyle/2017-the-healing-horses-square-peg
Check out this article on the Man O’ War Project, a study of equine therapy for PTSD: https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/223038/a-firmer-footing-for-retired-horses-and-veterans?utm_source=BHFB&utm_medium=social
NOTES: Congratulations to Texas-bred Ivan Fallunovalot on his win in Remington Park’s David M. Vance Sprint Stakes for the 4th year in a row! Coming within .09 seconds of the track record, he is now less than $55,000 away from becoming the third Texas-bred millionaire, and the Breeders’ Cup Sprint is an outside possibility for him…The next meeting of the Texas Racing Commission is scheduled for 11a.m. on Wednesday, November 8th.