As written for the book “Old and New Friends,” published in 2016 by DRF Press. ELMURST AND FRIENDS – Our Mims Retirement Haven  Elmhurst Dark bay or brown gelding, 1990, by Wild Again – Mimbet, by Raise a Native Hey, there, admirers!  I can see you gawking at my photo, thinking how good-looking I am. I’ve earned my nickname here at Our Mims Retirement Haven – The King of Hearts (although I’m not sure why they sometimes also call me the Clown Prince . . . hmmm). A lifetime ago, I won one of the biggest races in the country – heck, the world!,  the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. I also raced another 50 times and earned just more than a million dollars. Impressed? Nowadays, I only race when I want to, but I know how special I am. I’ve been special from Day 1, with a famous dad named Wild Again (he also won a Breeders’ Cup) and a classy mom named Mimbet. And Mimbet’s mom, my grandmom? The very famous champion Our Mims. I hear Jeanne Mirabito talk about Our Mims from time to time – Jeanne owns this wonderful property where I live nowadays, here in Paris, Ky. She also owned Our Mims for her final years, and she speaks of my grandma as if she were the most special horse ever. She also says I look just like her at times, especially when I act proud. Our Mims’s half-sister Sugar and Spice also lived here a long time ago. After I retired, I eventually ended up at a really nice place in California called Rocking Horse Ranch. It was lots of fun and people were very good to me, but someone there named Sandy Bird thought I might enjoy even more adventures. She learned about the Our Mims facility and gave Jeanne a call in 2011. Of course, Jeanne was thrilled to find out she could give me a home! Lucky me! Quite a few people helped get me from there to here, because transportation is expensive. But with love and just a little bit of fundraising, I rode in a van back to the state where I was born, the Bluegrass State. :: Shop DRF Past Performances, Clocker Reports, Digital Paper, Picks and more I’m a gelding, but I love the ladies and have my harem. Sure, most of them are older, because Our Mims Retirement Haven is known for giving senior equine mares a lifetime home – but so what? They’re still beautiful. I remember Jeanne saying about me, “His head is so big now, he’s so full of himself. I don’t even want to think of what he’d be like if he was a stallion.” I’m not sure what that means, but sounds like I wouldn’t mind trying that stallion thing! I’ve got the moves that the ladies – equine and human – fall for. I use my best “Barry White voice,” people call it – but I just nicker and say hellllllo to the ladies. Why would Barry White, whoever that is, nicker? I also like to nuzzle, and crowd, and tease my friends. I’ll push you around if you let me, and I’ll even steal your stuff, whether it’s a cup of soda or a pitchfork! Or heck, give me a nice young woman visitor, and I’ll try to pull the top of her shirt out with my teeth to look down it. I mean, c’mon, you never know what kind of treats might be down there! But don’t scold me or point a finger at me, darn it. A guy’s got feelings, you know? My stall, like all of the stalls here, is painted with a picture to reflect my unique personality. Mine is – what else? A giant king of hearts painting, like a playing card. It’s justttt right. Since I keep mentioning my ladies, I’ll tell you a little about some of them.  There are a lot more than these, like a mare named Ms. Royal Flagship whom I lead in every night. But this is a glimpse into my happy harem. Missy White Oak Dark bay or brown mare, 1989 by Baederwood – Miss White Oak, by Tarleton Oak Missy White Oak has been here longer than me – she arrived in 2009 – and it seems she’s mellowed out. She’s one of the oldest mares here, after all, 27 in 2016. But until a few years ago, it seems she spent more time on two legs than four. She’s always nice, don’t get me wrong, but she’s really lively and energetic. Way back when, she won a race called the Maryland Million Lassie Stakes, and she raced 37 times – not as many times as me, but still a lot! Missy White Oak’s breeding days weren’t always easy, but she had three foals who lived. One was a Grade 3 stakes winner named Madame Pietra. Her owners eventually weren’t able to take great care of her, I guess, and they were smart enough to contact Jeanne. Lucky me, because Missy White Oak – even if her bay face shows lots of age, including lots of white – is very pretty. :: Bet the races online with DRF Bets. New members get $250 bonus Trail Guide Dark bay or brown mare, 1987, by Our Native – Trail Ride, by Triple Bend It’s hard to believe Trail Guide is almost 30! She a lovely dark bay who looks nowhere near that old.  She even had 11 foals, I heard, including a stakes winner named Georgia’s Joey, but she’s kept her nice figure (nicker). She wasn’t a good racehorse but she has another talent, more precious to Jeanne and the other mares: she can tell when someone doesn’t feel well. Really! If a mare doesn’t feel great, Trail Guide knows before any of the rest of us notice. She starts hanging out and watching out for them – like a warning system. Jeanne sure appreciates that. Jo Jo’s Gypsy Bay mare, 2005, by Johannesburg – Camptown Gypsy, by Miswaki Jo Jo, well, when she arrived, I sure didn’t think she’d be around for long.  She was almost all bones – a “walking skeleton,” they called her, and that was the right description! – after having been abandoned, along with dozens of other horses, not far from here. When Jeanne heard about these suffering horses, she stepped in and became Jo Jo’s guardian angel! Make that guardian angels, plural. For, you see, Jeanne wasn’t sure Jo Jo would survive – none of us were. She barely had the strength to walk, her muscles were so withered. But Jeanne even said that, if Jo Jo died, at least she would die knowing that she was loved. And then Jeanne’s granddaughter Kaylee Brooke, 6, stepped in. She made Jo Jo her special project! It was incredible, because Jo Jo suddenly really wanted to live again. Kaylee made her feel like the most important horse in the world. Kaylee brushed and fed and pet her, and carefully walked her around, and they became best friends. Jo Jo looks gorgeous now, all rounded and happy and as pretty as a horse can be. And Kaylee still helps take care of her. It’s like magic! Exciting Bucket Gray or roan mare, 1989, by Grey Bucket – That’s Exciting, by Crow You know, this is one very lively grey gal – all sass, with big eyes and full of pride. She doesn’t seem to realize I should be in charge! But, really, I can’t tell her story as well as Jeanne does: Vincent and Helen Fariello and their family of four children bought Exciting Bucket and her full sister Oka No Exciting 23 years ago for $2,000 each. “Buckets” raced 92 times…and was able to do so because she was so well cared for. Even after she retired at age 10, she remained with her family. She has been beautifully kept . . . loved beyond measure. Buckets and Vincent, her owner/trainer, were best friends. When Vincent died in January at age 83, Helen took over care of Buckets. Through the incredibly harsh winter we had, Helen went out in the snow and ice to care for her late husband’s best friend. And she did a beautiful job. OH, MY, that horse is well cared for. These are not rich people, but their love of the horse was the more important than money. And when it came to the tough decision to sell the farm, the Fariello family searched for a safe haven for their pride and joy. Helen and daughter Connie would not consider anything less. Buckets came to us with a dowry, her win pictures and items of horse apparel for us to auction to help support her . . . which is MUCH MORE than the owners of some stakes-winning horses whose owners simply discarded them. This is the good part of our race industry. THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD BE!!!! I stand to salute the Fariello family and all they do! Braggin Rights, a.k.a. “Lady Jane” Gray or roan mare, 1996, by Iroquois Park – Jodi Z., by Hard Work I remember Braggin Rights arriving in, gee, 2014. Nobody knew her name – even Jeanne. She looked old and she was very thin. Jeanne knew she was found at a “kill pen,” a place where horses are often sold to be slaughtered for their meat. Someone rescued her, but then they weren’t able to care for her. As Jeanne’s done before – she sure gives her heart to these horses! – she stepped in to help. With the help of The Jockey Club, she learned the lovely gray mare everyone called Lady Jane was actually named Braggin Rights. Her parents weren’t famous – Iroquois Park was her dad, and her mom was a Hard Work mare named Jodi Z. And Braggin Rights wasn’t a great racehorse, but she won one time in 10 starts, so she’s a winner! She had a few babies, including a stakes winner named Vito Filitto. But the last time she’s listed as having a date, in 2012, she didn’t get in foal. And eventually, somehow, she ended up at one of those auctions. She’s earned her bragging rights by being one very lucky lady! Those last two gals of mine are both gray and, I’ll admit it, gray’s not my favorite color. Give me a redhead or brunette and I’ll start that Barry White thing! But I got very sad when two of the haven’s gray mares, Bel’s Starlet and Princess Royale, died not long ago. I checked out Bel’s Starlet’s stall for days and didn’t even feel like eating for more than a week. You get attached, you know? Those wonderful ladies here, well, let’s face it: they’re all mine.  Oh, there’s also a little pony gelding at the Haven – but let’s not talk about Tea Biscuit. After all, he acts all puffy and often leads the way in the mornings – but he’s no me! I’m so happy here at Our Mims Retirement Haven, the long-ago home of my grandma and great-aunt. I know I’ll be here forever, like my lady friends. That’s one of the countless things that’s great about this place – we’re safe and loved here. Is it bad for me to say, “Long live the King”!? :: To stay up to date, follow DRF on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Elmhurst, who has had several health scares, is still King of Our Mims Retirement Haven at age 30. Missy White Oak, the beautiful dark bay with the white-frosted face, died at age 29 on May 13, 2018. Trail Guide, the farm’s favorite early warning system, died four months later, on Sept. 13, 2018, at age 31.  Both mares are now buried in the farm cemetery, along with other former OMRH mares and the farm-sponsored stallion Turkoman.