This “Where Are They Now” story is a bit of a personal one for me. I first met popular New York-bred stakes winner Blindwillie McTell (Posse), affectionately known as Willie, back in 2018 when he was just a 2-year-old.

I was there the day he made his debut, finishing a game second at 19-1 in a state-bred maiden special weight at Aqueduct. The gutsy little bay impressed trainer Linda Rice enough for her to enter him in a stake next out and he proved worthy of her faith, splashing home to a good-looking graduation in the NYSS Great White Way S.

Willie opened his 3-year-old season in similar fashion, taking the Rego Park S. in his next outing, much to the delight of his exuberant owner/breeder Jerry Zaro. He took the Mike Lee S. two starts later and, once again, I stood in the winner's circle with Willie and his proud connections.

Willie's talent on the racetrack made him a fun horse to be around throughout his career, as did his winning personality. A very friendly and happy horse, he always tried his heart out and did so with plenty of enthusiasm, making him a barn favorite during his four seasons in the Rice barn and a personal favorite of mine.

In April of 2021, Willie let Rice know he had enough. She refused to run him for a low claiming price and Zaro agreed, so the decision was made to retire him. Being a gelding, the best option for the three-time stakes winner was finding a new home as a show horse.

I had recently assisted Rice in placing a horse named Mental Model (Into Mischief) with a friend of mine, who now successfully competes him as an eventer. So the conditioner turned to me to find a home for the lovable Blindwillie McTell.

I always knew Willie was special. I also knew he would love to have his own person and would give that individual his all in any discipline they tried together. I wanted to make sure Willie found a person who would recognize how special he was and would give him the best chance to thrive in his new career. So, I turned to one of my best friends, Caroline Letts, a hunter and jumper trainer based in Colts Neck, New Jersey, who had plenty of experience with off-track Thoroughbreds.

Letts was quick to say yes and we brought Willie to her facility in May of 2021. Under her guidance, my favorite little racehorse-that-could blossomed into a talented hunter and jumper. Her 16-year-old working student successfully competed him in Thoroughbred classes at a recognized horse show that September.

Since then he has taught lessons to kids as young as 12 and competed successfully in a variety of horse shows in both the hunter and jumper divisions. He even helped me achieve one of my dreams of climbing aboard one of the racehorses I had the privilege to follow or work with during my career. He is still as much of a perfectionist and overachiever in his new career as he was on the racetrack.

Willie continues to gain fans everywhere he goes. He is a barn favorite at MCL Equestrian and has a leaser, who adores him. His fans from his racing days, those that love New York racing and fans of Bob Dylan, for whom Blindwillie McTell was named, still follow him diligently. As expected, my old friend Willie is still a winner in everything he does and I'm just thrilled to still be a part of it.

The post Where Are They Now: Blindwillie McTell appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The hard-knocking gelding was a family favorite for Morley, his wife Maggie Wolfendale and their two daughters, Grace and Willow. So, when it came time for him to retire, there was no question that he would remain in the family, becoming Wolfendale's personal riding horse and top toddler babysitter.

“He was very special to both Tom and I because we owned most of him,” Wolfendale said while standing beside the now-9-year-old gelding just after a ride. “When he won his first Louisiana Champions Day Turf S., we were in England. Obviously, it was late there. We all stayed up and watched it, sitting around his dad, who struggled with Parkinson's disease. It was this big eruption of joy when he got up and won. He has truly been our family horse. He is a very special horse to us, so we always knew when it was time to call it quits on his racing career, that he would come home with us.”

The Morleys privately purchased Ninety One Assault in partnership with Paul Braverman after he broke his maiden in his 13th start at Belmont in March of 2017.

“We bought him because he was a Louisiana-bred and we were going down there,” Wolfendale said. “He became this horse that we all loved. He won several stakes at Fair Grounds and most of his other races, except his maiden score, which was at Belmont.”

Ninety One Assault, or Boo as he is affectionately referred to by Wolfendale, quickly became a barn favorite for the Morley team.

When asked if she galloped him in the mornings, Wolfendale said, “If I won the fight to gallop him! He was literally the horse that when you went in and looked at your set list and had him, everyone else went, 'Oh man, you got Ninety today!' Everybody wanted to ride him because he was such a lovely gallop. He was very easy. Everybody got along with him.”

Ninety One Assault thrived on his annual trips home to Louisiana. He won seven times during his five seasons in NOLA, including two editions of the Louisiana Champions Day Turf S. and the 2020 renewal of the Dixie Poker Ace S. The bay made his final start at Pimlico in April of 2021.

“He developed a little bit of a suspensory issue when he was coming back in 2021,” Wolfendale said. “He had already had ankle surgery at that point too. Tom decided that he wasn't going to push on him to get him back as a 9-year-old [in 2022], so that is when we decided to retire him.”

The lifelong horsewoman continued, “It is very expensive to keep horses in Long Island and we didn't live where we do now, which is 10 minutes from the farm. So at first, we sent him to Kentucky with Jamie Hernandez. She turned him out for six months to recover from the suspensory issue. She started him back in early March of this year and did a lot with him. She took him to shows and took him to lessons every week, so he got a nice, well-rounded start and education. I figured I could afford to keep him in Saratoga and, weirdly, have the time there because we had a split schedule with the [NYRA] T.V. [show]. Then we moved to the North Shore and Boo got to come with us.”

Ninety One Assault has been as much of a pleasure to handle in his new career as he was on the racetrack and has transitioned beautifully, according to Wolfendale.

“I've mainly had the war horses throughout my career,” she said. “It is so individual and depends on their personality as to whether the transition will be easy or not. He was an easy racehorse to handle and ride, so the transition was pretty easy for him. The things it sometimes takes a while for racehorses to get used to, like cross ties and mounting blocks, he took to with no problem.”

She continued, “As far as riding him, he is so smart and wants to please. He loves when you tell him he's a good boy. If you show him something once and he messes it up, he is not likely to mess it up again. He's just that kind of horse. Tom and I always joke that he may not come from much pedigree wise, but he is the star athlete, straight A student, prom king-type. Boo has a lot of class to him and he makes all of us happy. The girls can go out and graze him and stuff like that and he is very respectful to them too.”

As for what's next, Wolfendale hopes to take her trusty mount to the show ring, if she can find the time between assisting her husband with his racing stable and working as one of NYRA's on-air analysts.

“I've been taking lessons,” Wolfendale said. “He has been responding so well to that. I think we could get to the point where maybe next spring we could go to shows and be competitive in jumpers or eventing.”

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Cash prizes of $2,000 per division were awarded to the 26 divisions offered, which included hunters, jumpers, dressage, combined tests, Western dressage, English pleasure and Western pleasure.

The winners and reserve champions for the T.I.P. Championships, as well as high point award winners, can be found here.

“This past weekend was a true celebration of the Thoroughbred and its potential to thrive in careers beyond the racetrack,” said Kristin Werner, senior counsel for The Jockey Club and administrator of T.I.P. “This show would not have been possible without the equestrian community's support of T.I.P. and the effort of the team at Stable View, who helped make the event a success.”

T.I.P. also announced that it has attracted more than 40 horses from 16 states for its inaugural Barrel Racing Championships, which will be held on Wednesday, October 13, and Thursday, October 14, as part of the Retired Racehorse Project's Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium. The event is being held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, and will offer thousands in prize money and additional prizes for the top horses.

The T.I.P. Barrel Racing Championships are sponsored by The Western Thoroughbred, a grassroots organization that recognizes the contributions of the Thoroughbred to the Western horse industry and celebrates the achievements of Thoroughbreds in Western sports.

To qualify for the championships, a T.I.P.-eligible Thoroughbred must participate in a show offering T.I.P. high point awards, classes, or divisions in the applicable discipline beginning August 1 of the prior year through July 31 of the championships year or participate in the T.I.P. Performance Awards in the applicable discipline. Horses shown at a horse trial or combined test can also qualify for the championships through the show jumping phase.

To be eligible for T.I.P. shows, a Thoroughbred is defined as any horse that has been registered with The Jockey Club or a foreign Thoroughbred stud book recognized by The Jockey Club.

Created and announced in October 2011, T.I.P. recognizes and rewards the versatility of the Thoroughbred through sponsorship of Thoroughbred classes and high point awards at sanctioned horse shows, performance awards, and non-competition awards. In addition to the complete schedule of T.I.P.-sponsored shows, other information about the program is available on the T.I.P. website. Those interested in T.I.P. can follow the program here.

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When asked why she enjoys the breed, she says she appreciates that they are innately wired to please. Once a Thoroughbred understands what is being asked of them, she says, most want to work with their riders. The key to successfully retraining them is patience, she says.

Once Caitlin determines an OTTB is safe to ride, she will placea pole in the ring and ask the horse to walk over it to determine if he is bold or overwhelmed, which will factor into how he is trained. Once the horse is ready to begin jumping, she doesn't train a Thoroughbred any differently than she does any other breed.

Caitlin reminds riders that a Thoroughbred was first trained for speed and that a forward, galloping Thoroughbred hunter can be lovely to watch if trained to relax and jump correctly.

Caitlin says she has seen more Thoroughbreds in the show ring, and more groups and individuals advocating for their return. She expects the Thoroughbred classes at horse shows to get more competitive.

Read more at The Plaid Horse.

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Despite the challenges and travel restrictions resulting from COVID-19, 31 competitors from 14 different states converged on the Kentucky Horse Park for the TAKE2 Finals. Satins Angel beat all comers. The handy mare took a nearly impossible inside line that shaved a few seconds off her time in the jump-off to seal the victory; it mirrored the dramatic turn her life has taken since she was found at the Sugarcreek Auction in Ohio four years ago.

“She suffered such abuse, but she still tries so hard to please,” Alexa said. “When I asked her to make that inside turn, she said, 'You're crazy, but I'll do it for you.' And she did. If I could, I would give her my heart. I know that's so corny, but she means everything to me.”

Bred in Louisiana, Satins Angel raced with some small success as Queen Satin. She won three times and ended her racing career in 2013 at little known Mt. Pleasant Meadows in Michigan. That's when things started to go wrong for her.

“She stopped racing because she was a bleeder, and when she left the track she was passed around and was nearly sold for slaughter,” Alexa said, a catch in her voice. “She was beaten so badly she still has the scars on her face. It was awful.”

But luck was with Satins Angel, who was rescued from the Sugarcreek Auction and sent to the barn where she would finally cross paths with Alexa. The connection was instantaneous. Before long, Satin belonged to Alexa and the two were on the road to show jumping glory. Their success took time and hard work and something else that Alexa learned from her equine soul mate.

“I've learned a lot of patience from Satin, that's the biggest thing,” she explained. “When I first got her, you couldn't touch her, you couldn't go near her head. Even now, she really doesn't let anyone else touch her. But when I'm there, with the vet or the blacksmith, she is so much better behaved. She trusts me to do what's best for her. She knows I will never put her in harm's way.”

Thanks to Alexa and to trainer Angela Moore, Satin not only believes in her people, she believes in herself.

“I taught her to have confidence,” Alexa said. “She will jump anything. She doesn't stop and she doesn't spook (knock on wood!). When she is in the arena, she has that attitude – 'look at me, I'm awesome.' When she walks out after she wins, she knows it, and she wants to be the center of attention. She's definitely a queen.”

Satin embodies the best qualities of the Thoroughbred.

“Thoroughbreds are amazing animals,” Alexa said. “People try to label them, that they can only do so much, that they need so much maintenance. Wrong. Thoroughbreds can do anything. I love their heart, their passion and their drive, I love how much they want to give back and please their owner. I want people to know that, I want to spread the word.”

Alexa believes that the TAKE2 Program is doing just that.

“I love what TAKE2 is doing for racehorses, for Thoroughbreds,” she said. “TAKE2 is getting the word out about just what Thoroughbreds are capable of doing. They have so much more to give when their racing careers are over. And I am hearing it more and more – people find out about these classes, they see the money you can win and the fun you can have and they say, 'I need to get a Thoroughbred, I need to get a horse off the track and do this.' There's an excitement to being part of the TAKE2 Program, and the word is getting out there. I love that.”

TAKE2 President Rick Schosberg added, “We are thrilled to see horses like Satins Angel succeed in our program, because they put the spotlight on the mission of TAKE2. We want to promote the work of Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance-accredited organizations affiliated with racetracks around the country that provide a safety net so that what happened to Satins Angel will not happen to other horses. We want all our horses to have happy and healthy lives when they leave the track.”

Read more here.

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