barn fire

Many will recall the peculiar story of Bold and Bossy (Strong Mandate), the unlucky filly who got loose before her juvenile debut at Ellis Park last summer and was caught over 30 minutes later after making it to the interstate and crossing state lines only to be involved in a barn fire the very next morning. Now, her trainer Michael Ann Ewing hopes that soon, people will remember Bold and Bossy for something more. Almost a year after that ill-fated weekend in Henderson, Kentucky, Bold and Bossy is not only...

A lightning strike ignited a fire which claimed three horses at a Lexington barn owned by trainer Wesley Ward. The trio included Strike the Tiger (Tiger Ridge), who gave Ward his first victory at the Royal Ascot meeting when he won the 2009 Windsor Castle S. Also killed was the 5-year-old maiden winner Modesto (Uncle Mo) and a Hootenanny 2-year-old gelding. "The investigators just left and they determined that lightning hit the main service pole and it sent all the electricity right to the box in my barn and caused...

A season to leading Indiana sire Ready's Image, who stands at Swifty Farm, will be auctioned off to raise money for the recovery efforts after the barn fire at Springcliff Farm.It will be auctioned off during the Indiana Thoroughbred Owners' and Breeders' Association Annual Banquet at Indiana Downs Jan. 15. All proceeds from the season auction will go to Springcliff Farm. Anyone interested in bidding on the season to Ready's Image, but cannot attend the ITOBA Banquet, they can contact Michael Lauer with a maximum bid by calling: 502-639-1536 Other...

Springcliff Farm, a leading facility in Indiana specializing in foaling and boarding of mares, was reportedly destroyed by a fire early Thursday morning. Owners Christine and Vince Cagle were in the process Thursday of alerting owners and clients to their loss as well as coordinating with surrounding farms and veterinarians to place horses who survived. A final count of the number of horses who were killed or injured has not yet been determined. A cause has also not yet been confirmed--South Central Indiana experienced high winds and dropping temperatures in...

Ellis Park plans to honor Marvin Prado and other backstretch workers involved in rescuing six racehorses and one stable pony during a fire in the track's receiving barn last Sunday. They hope to do so during this weekend's races, contingent on the availability of Prado, whose daughter was born two months premature the day after the fire and is still hospitalized. The barn was engulfed in flames in a matter of 20 minutes and those on the scene say the man of the moment was Prado, with assistance from fellow...

Racing was cancelled at Ellis Park for Sunday after the track's receiving barn caught fire and burned down in the early morning hours. No humans were in the barn at the time and reportedly all seven horses stabled there were able to be rescued by nearby grooms. "Thankful to say that the three horses we had in the receiving barn at Ellis Park were removed safely by a couple grooms on the backside," trainer Jason Barkley tweeted. "Can't thank them enough for jumping into action and saving our horses as...

The morning after a fire in barn 60 at Belmont Park which claimed the lives of two of his horses, trainer Wayne Potts made an emotional post on Facebook identifying the two horses as graded stakes winner American Sailor (City Zip) and Beastie D (Verrazano) an unraced 3-year-old who was a $15,000 OBS Winter Mixed Sale purchase earlier this year. The 9-year-old American Sailor won the GIII Troy S. at Saratoga, crossing the line second, but moved up to first upon the disqualification of Imprimis (Broken Vow). "I wanted to...

A fundraising campaign has been established to help the family of Fairmount Park jockey Elizabeth Thurman after a 12:30 a.m. fire on Sunday killed three horses and destroyed a barn and shed at the family's home in Belleville, Illinois. There were no human injuries and the family's four dogs escaped unharmed. The house, which is about 12 miles south of Fairmount, also suffered damage, according to KSDK-TV. The horses were described as "young" but were not identified by breed in news reports or on the funding page. They were named...

After suffering every horseman's nightmare, a barn fire that claimed the lives of 15 horses, Clovis Crane, who consigns 2-year-olds as Crane Thoroughbreds, is looking towards the future and feeling extremely humbled by the support of the Thoroughbred industry. "I can't tell you how humbled I am," Crane said. "This has been an unbelievable time in my life. Prior to the fire, we were rolling along and were on cruise control, training and getting ready. In the blink of an eye, everything was turned upside down." Crane was able to...