The Deputy Rescued from TX Kill Pen

The Deputy (Ire) (Petardia {GB}), winner of the 2000 GI Santa Anita Derby and second choice in that year's GI Kentucky Derby, was rescued from a kill pen in Texas earlier this month by his old connections, Barry Irwin's Team Valor, Gary Barber and trainer Jenine Sahadi. The 24-year-old, who had stood stud in several states, was reportedly bought cheaply in Iowa and sent to a feedlot north of Dallas, at which point word quickly spread on the internet and made its way to The Deputy's past connections. By utilizing the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance network, Irwin, Barber and Sahadi enlisted Donna Keen to pick up and transfer The Deputy to her TAA-approved Remember Me Rescue in Burleson, TX, where he will live out his days.

“We decided to have Donna quarantine The Deputy for a while, do some diagnostic work including bloods and a fecal and not reveal anything about the rescue until we were certain that he was healthy, as Donna warned us that horses from feedlots can contract diseases quite readily,” Irwin said. “When the tests all came back negative [Wednesday] and the vet-check proved unremarkable, we decided it was time to tell the story, not to portray ourselves as heroes, but to put an end to the salacious, untrue and unfounded tales that had been circulating online. We want to thank those horse lovers who helped us in our endeavors.”

“We are thrilled to have been able to help the original connections and to be able to take care of the horse and share him with visitors to our rescue,” Keen said, “He is, as could be expected, a bit underweight at this time, but when he fills back up and once again looks the part we look forward to showing him off here in Texas. We are very honored and proud to have been selected as his forever home.”

Barber said, “I have always had a soft spot in my heart for The Deputy. He was my first Grade I winner.”

Sahadi added, “He was the easiest horse to be around. All class. He meant a lot to me and my barn.”

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At Almost 20 Years Old, Exploding Star Returns Home

As a yearling, Exploding Star (Exploit) showed all the early potential to become a successful racehorse. Her dam Star Minister (Deputy Minister) won the 1992 GII Cotillion H. at Philadelphia Park and claimed six additional stakes races over her three-year career. Her half-brother, Concerned Minister (Concern), also won several black-type races.

Exploding Star was purchased as a yearling at the 2002 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale by the late F. Eugene Dixon Jr. for $450,000.

After three career starts where she ran in the money twice, Exploding Star retired under the same ownership, and began her broodmare career at Claiborne Farm. She spent nine years at Claiborne, and was then sold in 2014 at the Keeneland November Sale for $18,000.

Six years later, Claiborne found out that this mare, who had once called their farm home, had ended up in the wrong hands and was in a kill pen in Texas. They immediately sprang into action.

Claiborne’s Client Relations and Sales Manager Jill Gordon relayed the story.

“Our assistant broodmare manager Mary Ormsby was made aware that Exploding Star was in a kill pen,” she said. “She was instrumental in organizing and coordinating Exploding Star’s return back to the farm.”

After completing a period of quarantine in Texas, Exploding Star returned to Claiborne Farm this month.

“Although thin, she returned to the farm in good health,” Gordon said. “She is doing well and is putting weight on daily here at the farm.”

Exploding Star will live out the rest of her days in retirement at Claiborne, the farm where she has spent more of her life than any other one place, sharing bluegrass pasture with fellow broodmare retirees and, as Gordon said, “being spoiled by the farm’s staff.”

“At Claiborne, we strongly believe that if you take care of the horse, the horse will take care of you,” Gordon said. “We are dedicated to the horses that we breed and raise, and this mare had strong ties to the farm through the late Mr. Dixon. It made sense for us to jump into action, just as we believe the majority of other operations would have, had they been in our position.”

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