Graded Stakes Winner takes on Real Rider Cup

Watch Graded Stakes Winner takes on Real Rider Cup - thoroughbreddailynews on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00Hara Lee and Thatcher Street first met at the Ian Wilkes Barn in 2014.

00:07When it came time for the Graded Stakes winner to retire a few years later, he had a forever

00:11home with his exercise rider.

00:13This year, the pair is preparing for the Real Rider Cup, and we dropped in for a visit during

00:18one of their practice sessions.

00:21This is Thatcher Street, we just call him Thatcher around the barn, and we first met

00:26in Ian Wilkes Barn, I guess it would have been in probably 2014.

00:32He was the first stakes horse that I rode on the track, so he always had a special place

00:38in my heart.

00:39And then whenever it came time for him looking for a new home, I just knew that I wasn't

00:43going to be able to give him up, so he came home with me.

00:46I got him in 2018, in the fall, and we went ahead and did the retired racehorse project

00:54in the fall of 2019.

00:57So we were top five in the field hunter division, and we got the top amateur.

01:01Ever since then, he's just been kind of hanging out, and we've been taking it easy, and now

01:06we're looking to get back into showing.

01:08So Thatcher actually got to do the Real Rider Cup a few years ago during COVID, and Brian

01:14Hernandez, who rode him during his races, actually rode him in the Real Rider Cup then.

01:20Aftercare has always been really, really special to me.

01:22I get horses off the track all the time and find them good homes, and so I just really

01:28wanted to support that and give back and just show my support for all the aftercare programs.

01:38This is actually Private Island, which is Thatcher's little brother, and I was actually

01:44going to take him to the retired racehorse project last year, and in the meantime, I

01:50ended up finding him a lovely home with JC.

01:54He is one of many of the horses that I've actually found a home for.

01:58Their brains are just, it's so hard to describe to somebody that has never been around an

02:04off-the-track thoroughbred how much they're exposed to on the track.

02:07I mean, a lot of people, they get a bad rap of being crazy or high-strung, but there aren't

02:12many other breeds of horses that are exposed to people cheering and yelling and umbrellas

02:18and strollers and just all the little stuff, so when they come off the track, they probably

02:23have one of the soundest brains that I've ever seen in any horses.

02:27I know that these two for sure, just based on their breeding and just being around them,

02:33they were both like that, but I can say that most, 90% of the horses I get off the track

02:38are the same way.

02:39I always say that I love a horse that can take a joke, where I don't have to be the

02:45most on-point rider, but they'll make you a better rider just because they'll let you

02:51get away with it, but they'll also let you know whenever you mess up.

02:54Badger has a home at my farm for life.

03:00He's earned it.

03:01He's been really good to me, and I just always have fun anytime I'm on his back.