The second day of dressage saw some big shooters come in, ultimately placing Mensa G in a tie for 4th place and Here’s To You in 15th. The other off-track Thoroughbreds found themselves anywhere from 35th to 57th place after dressage, leaving for a lot of room to be made up in the following day’s cross country portion. And they did not disappoint. The fastest time on the course for the day was Parker and rider James Alliston. The others to run the course double clear were Pirate, Tsunami, Shiraz, Irish Rhythm, Sir Rockstar and Ziggy.  These fast and clean rounds set the stage for the Thoroughbred contingent to move up in a big way going into show jumping and by day’s end, they had taken seven spots in the top 30. 

Parker and James Alliston had to fastest time overall on cross country day.Four of the OTTB group did not move on to the third day due to on-course eliminations or withdrawals, including the grand 17 year-old mare Expediance. After suffering a freak accident at the Head of the Lake, she walked onto a trailer and was later diagnosed with a fractured foot.  She underwent a successful surgery the following day and a full recovery was expected.

The final day of show jumping proved to be a nail biter for the 11 remaining Thoroughbreds. The course proved very tough on the horse and rider pairs and many had a rail down on the first fence.  These rails proved costly in a tightly contested round and allowed several horses to improve by huge marks.  The only Thoroughbred to make a clean round was Sir Rockstar. That vaulted him from 28th to 19th place.  While the rest all had at least one penalty, like most horses on the day, they still ran clean enough and fast enough to move Pirate and Tsunami in the Top 20.  Down rails cost Mensa G the top 5 spot he held going into the final day, with an eventual finish of 14th. In all, four OTTBs placed in the top 20.  A special mention needs to also go out to Thoroughbreds Imidair and Gin and Juice. While neither raced, they are still both pure Thoroughbreds and did a great job representing the breed by taking 7th and 16th places respectively.

The final placings of the 14 off-track Thoroughbreds that competed in this year’s Rolex can be seen below:

Mensa G-14th

Pirate-17th

Tsunami-18th

Sir Rockstar-19th

Parker-22nd

Irish Rhythm-25th

Ziggy-27th

Houdini-34th

Withdrawn before second horse inspection: Shiraz

Eliminated on Cross-Country: Relentless Pursuit, Madison Park, Collection Pass

Retired on the Cross-Country Course: Expedience, Here’s To You

We want to thank each and every member of Team OTTB at Rolex–the horses, the riders, the trainers, the owners, the groom and all the people that helped these horses find their way from the racetrack the highest achievement possible in their second career. As we say, it “takes an army” and it is amazing what that army can do when we all work together. Well done!

A Tribute to the Rolex 2014 Thoroughbreds:

Thank you to Matt and Wendy Wooley/EquiSport Photos for use of these images.  You can see more on their website at www.equisportphotos.com.