Old Friends, the Thoroughbred retirement facility in Georgetown, Ky., is happy to announce that the gutsy filly, Bold and Bossy, arrived at the farm on July 20, 2023, to enjoy her retirement.
Bred by Richard Snyder and Connie Snyder, Bold and Bossy, who is by Strong Mandate–Happybirthdaybaby, by Successful Appeal, was foaled on May 6, 2019 in Kentucky, and retires with a career record of one win, two thirds, and $21,784 in earnings in six career starts.
However, the story of Bold and Bossy, who is owned by Bantry Farms and was trained by Michael Ann Ewing, goes beyond her short racing career. In fact, her story begins before her first official race when she went on an unexpected adventure.
It happened on Aug. 21, 2021. As she was heading to the starting gate at Ellis Park for her first race as a 2-year old, something spooked her, she started bucking, and threw her jockey, Miguel Mena, to the dirt.
She then began running down the track, jumped a fence, and found herself running out on the highway for a reported 30 minutes, startling many drivers along the way, before horsemen from the track caught up to her, calmed her down, and brought her back to her barn.
However, that wasn't the end of this filly's adventure. Later that night, the barn she was in caught fire. Thankfully, all of the horses in it were saved, however, she was the only horse to suffer some burns.
For many horses, that would have been the end of her racing career. But, this gutsy filly seemed determined to make a comeback, and after some down time, she happily resumed her training.
Finally, almost a year later, on July 5, 2022, she returned to the track for a maiden special weight race at Belterra Park. The fact that she even made it back to race is a great story, but Bold and Bossy went one better, and finished third – in the money – out of eight horses that day.
Then, to add even more to her storybook career, on Aug. 8, 2022, at Thistledown, Bold and Bossy ran in another maiden special weight race and came away with a one-length victory to complete her amazing comeback.
Bold and Bossy ran in four more races after that: one more in 2022, when she finished third in an allowance race on Sept. 13 at Thistledown, and three out of money finishes in 2023. She was then retired.
Her trainer, Michael Ann Ewing, then contacted Old Friends to ask if they could retire her to the farm.
“She deserves a forever home,” wrote Michael Ann Ewing when she contacted Old Friends. “I don't think she can stand up to the rigors of racing mentally and would run at a lower level. I'm not sure that her scarred back would hold up for someone who might want to ride her for a couple hours, so I have not sought out a retirement placing as a future show or just riding horse. She is pretty well known and in the year that followed what she went through; people would just call to stop by and see her. She gained a lot of interest on Facebook at the time with quite a few followers.”
Michael Blowen, President and founder of Old Friends, happily agreed to retire her to the farm, and the filly is now settling into her new life of retirement at Old Friends.
“She is bold, bossy, and beautiful,” said Blowen. “We're very grateful to Michael for allowing us to care for her lovely filly. She's got quite a story and we'll never tire of telling it.”
Read more about Bold and Bossy's trainer in this Paulick Report feature: In Their Care: Viral Filly's Trainer Went From Show Horses To Racing, Keeps Learning
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