| U.S. bred Thoroughbreds at Rolex 2010 Posted: 29 Apr 2010 01:33 PM PDT Of the horses at Rolex, at least 20 were OTTBs and at least 3 were purchased for under $3,000 (I won't say which). The first photo below shows event-and-former-race-horse Courageous Comet -- he had 36 starts as a racehorse and then went on to be one of the best event horses in the world (per Jimmy Wofford). His dressage performance compares to anything you see at a USDF-sanctioned show. The bottom photo is the tough little chestnut mare Madeline (she scratched Rolex at the last minute). There are no original thoughts I had the brilliant idea to find out about the ex-racers that competed at Rolex this year, but 2/3 of the way through the article I found out "it's been done" on the Canter Mid-Atlantic Calabria Rose blog. Note that her article includes non-US TBs. Now for the list o' OTTB's at Rolex in 2010...  - Vaunted (Two Punch/First Quad) was scratched this year but ran before.
- Anthony Patch (Castleguard/Aimee Alexis). Registered as Alex's Castledream, he had 10 starts, 8 at Charles Town, and earned $815.
- Gin and Juice (Audio/Qtapatree). No info.
- Brandenburg's Joshua (Gilded Rooster/Josh Dancer) ran at the Charles Town racetrace.
- Madison Park (Monaco Magic/Mistress Mine) had 11 starts and 1 win to his credit, earning $2744.
- Radio Flyer (Stick Together/Gypsy Hoofer) was registered as Bounce the Budget. He had 8 starts with one 3rd place finish with lifetime earnins of $937.
- Titanium (Shuailaan/Lost Silver) ran 14 times and earned $11,673. He finished up his racing career at the Lincoln Fair in a $5000 claiming race where he finished second to last.
- Draco (Aye's Turn/Royal Swish) was registered as Aye Am Tuff. He raced two times at Charles Town, finishing last and second to last.
- Foreman (Across the Field/Four Flora) was registered as Four Across. He raced 21 times, with one win and one second place finish, and earned $6,908.
- Truluck (Maha Baba/Grayfully). No info.
- Courageous Comet (Comet shine/Rosenelli) had a good career with 36 starts, $71,780.
- Last Monarch (Benchmark/Alpine Queen), had 18 starts and finished 2nd and 3rd several times, with earnings of $5,049. His last race was a $3200 Maiden Claiming race where he finished second to last.
- Rock on Rose (Amber's Lust/Dorado) is a homebred, I think.
- El Primero (Dr. Dan Eyes/Classic Allure) was bred and foaled in Idaho and he ran a total of 6 races at age 2 and 3. He never outran a single horse.
- Madeline (Mysterious Count). No info.
- Wonderful Will (Woodman/Shir Dar) sold for $232,869 as a yearling, but he failed to place in 11 starts. Will did a stint as ponying racehorses at the Keeneland race track.
- Hollywood (Mighty Adversary/True Knight) was registered as Mighty Reckless. He raced 12 times and earned $626. His yearling sale price of $750. In his last race at Beulah Park in Ohio, he came in 3rd to last in a 4500-5000 claiming race.
- Coal Creek (Devil on Ice). No info.
- Leyland (Roy/Dream Creek) was registered as Lee Roy Boy. He had 8 starts, most of which were at Emerald Downs in Washington State, and earned $1,810 with one 3rd place finish. As a yearling, he was sold for $13,500.
- Buckingham Place (Buckaroo/Old Maid) raced 40 times and won $23,298. He finished his career at Penn National, coming in second to last in a $3500 claiming race. He won 4 races, came in 2nd 3 times, and 3rd 4 times.
Note that the winner this year, Cool Mountain was a British TB, and there are many non-US thoroughbreds on the roster. If anyone knows a bit more about the history of these thoroughbreds, put it in the comments! RESOURCES Racehorses to compete at the Olympics from the Thoroughbred Times The Thoroughbred in sport horse breeding by Nicholas 0'Hare Bloodlines of Hunters and Jumpers in North America by Dr. Peter Birdsall Even Mark Todd can be led astray from William Mecklem blog (parts 1-8) Promoting the thoroughbred as a sport horse from Equisearch.com Thoroughbred sires that jump from TB Heritage  |
