Hard to stand a gelding at stud, though. 
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he’s not much on paper because Keen Ice is a relatively young sire who had a ton of competition when he went to stud with much shinier stallions, standing for pennies at a farm that in recent years does not stand much in the way of desirable. He has a little too much inbreeding for my taste but hey, when its successful its line breeding!
I always loved Keen Ice. He was a good racehorse who was sound and hit the board consistently.
The thing about Keen Ice, though, is he didn’t win a lot. He was usually top 3 or 4 in the nations’ biggest races. His entire career he only won twice.
He does not have a lot of progeny running thus far and I am not sure how many mares he covered but there is more desirable stallions in his crop that took all the interest (American Pharoah, Frosted, Honor Code, Arrogate, California Chrome, Gun Runner).
Hopefully this win will give Keen Ice the mare crop he deserves and in a few years we have another exciting sire to talk about.
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That is a false equivalency. This man was acting in self-defense. And his job was literally to catch the horse. The coach who punched the horse was just having a f!cking hissy fit. How ridiculous that you compare these two.
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Some horses get caught up in the excitement and heat of the moment.
Firenze Fire decides to bite Yaupon…
French filly Palomba goes after the jockey on her rival (smart - he can’t bite!) …
Chilled was DQed for interfering with his rival Zimmer…
Parish Hall says - You Shall Not Pass!!
The classic photo of Great Prospector going after eventual winner Golden Derby…
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Reading your post took me right back to this moment. I was bringing my perfectly mannered, gentlemanly OTTB gelding in with his new field mate, a recently retired OTTB. I guess my horse Soonie was feeling territorial or possessive or something, because he lunged suddenly at the new horse…and missed. Hard.
Soon immediately recognized the mistake, but it frightened him, his jaw locked, and he ended up picking me up by the shoulder blade.
As a card carrying member of the “I Got Picked Up By A Thoroughbred And I Didn’t Have A Good Time” Club, my feelings to the outrider and props to him for being a champ.
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Maybe not the Anti-Baffert but the type of connections every outsider needs to see of this sport. No stable of multi million dollar horses picked out of the premier sales. No Billion dollar clients. No Shedrows packed with 100+ horses to oversee and manage, or lackthereof.
Just a group of small town people who had, by some small miracle earned some Derby points with a third place finish. The entire Kentucky Derby is focused on class and elegance and elitism and “Blue Bloods” (Human and horse). People buy their way into the derby by purchasing the best 2 year olds for huge sums of money and paying the elite 10 trainers and jockeys available while the stands are filled with the mega-rich. Others buy into the top horses to get a shot at the biggest stage. No one ever gets a shot at this like the elite group does. No one. And then stories like Mine that Bird and Rich Strike come along.
Horse racing needs more of this. Jockeys like Sonny need more chances like this. I know all roads point to the Preakness but I honestly think the Belmont is better suited for this horse.
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Wow. What a wonderful interview. He seems like a great guy, great person, and true horseman.
Thanks for sharing it!
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His job in this particular case is not to catch the horse. The horse was not running out of control, it was not loose and riderless. It did not need to be “caught.” His job was to lead/escort the horse back so that Andrea whats-her-face can interview the jockey.
Read my post again.
I did not compare the actions of the two people. I compared the reactions of the public.
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Is this why so many carousel horses always look so angry?? Are they modeled off racehorses?
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I thought the trainer said he has more than 100 horses in his operation. According to his website, his farm in Lexington has 160 stalls.
He might not have 100 horses running at the top level, but it sounds like he has plenty of horses. Good for him.
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Here is the interview with the trainer this morning on the Today show.
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And a total N00b question; what is the ring going through the mouth? Is that part of the bit?
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Yes, that is a ring bit. Fairly common for racehorses, it gives more control than a regular snaffle. The ring doesn’t actually “do” much, but prevents the nutcracker snaffle action to some degree, and puts pressure on the jaw/bars instead.
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Interesting! Thanks for the explanation 
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I remember being very relieved that Yaupon hangs his tongue out the near side. If he’d had it hanging out on the off side it would have been horrific.
Omg. That would have been a very bad day. 
I’m confusing Mine That Bird with the horse, whose name I can’t remember, that won the Derby and ended up as a gelded pony. What was his name?
Many years ago, I had one bite my arm so hard that I had bruising almost from my wrist to my shoulder. And that was with six layers of clothes on in the winter. Thank goodness it did not happen in the summer! Lol.
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I wonder what his stud fee will be for next year. I think I saw somewhere that he’d been standing for $7500? Some number like that.
Speaking of which. Does anyone happen to know what happened to the stud fee of the sire of Medina Spirit?
