Blair Performance Horse

12/09/2023

😂😂😂😂😂

12/09/2023

The're so Beautiful Angel ❤

12/08/2023

Hello folks. I haven't posted in a little while. I still do lead the Hernando County Pony Express 4-H Club, working on an Equine Judging Team and coaching youth at horse shows.
Have a wonderful day!

11/21/2023

❤️❤️

11/21/2023

11/21/2023

Hahaha

🤣🤣🤣

11/21/2023

best friends🥰❤🐾

11/21/2023

Another day of big news! The Kentucky Horse Park is excited to announce that Accelerate, one of the top racehorses of his generation, will be relocated to the Hall of Champions.

“We are thrilled to welcome Accelerate into the Hall of Champions,” said Kentucky Horse Park President Lee Carter. “Guests of the park will love meeting this Kentucky-bred champion and hearing his story for years to come. It is an honor that Lanes End Farm and Hronis Racing are entrusting Accelerate’s care to the Kentucky Horse Park.”

Bred in Kentucky by Mike Abraham and raced by Hronis Racing LLC, Accelerate defined himself as a top-class, durable and honest racehorse. Purchased as a yearling for $380,000, Accelerate went into training with John Sadler and proved to be a top runner for Sadler in four seasons of racing.

Accelerate will reside at the Hall of Champions with Thoroughbred Roy H, Standardbred Pacers Western Dreamer and Won The West, and Standardbred Trotters Mr. Muscleman and Marion Marauder.

Read more! ➡️ https://kyhorsepark.com/accelerate-relocates-to-kentucky-horse-park-hall-of-champions/

11/21/2023

Day 21 of Cody’s Wish month

06/28/2023

You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours🫶🏻

12/22/2022

Horse Hair Locket featuring hair from Old Friends retiree Lava Man aka "Coach"!

12/22/2022

12/22/2022

Banff Canada after a rain shower,stunning 🌈

12/22/2022

Visitors often ask what the Kentucky Horse Park horses do in the off season. Rest & Relax! The Park boasts over 1,200 acres with plenty of fields for the team to stretch their legs, graze, and play with their friends!

12/22/2022

12/22/2022

😂🤣😂

12/22/2022

Happy Holidays to all!

09/23/2022

Yep. He's gone now and he left high standards for all others.

😍😍😍

09/23/2022

Entries for the AQHA Cowboy Mounted Shooting World Championships are now open through October 4. Learn more and enter ➡️ www.aqha.com/disciplines/showing/shows/cms-world

09/23/2022

😍🤠😍

09/21/2022

This is an original 1904 photo of Sysonby.

Today Sysonby is all but forgotten, but to turf historians he, along with Colin, belong in the pantheon of America’s greatest thoroughbreds.

He had 15 starts and won all save for a loss in the Belmont Futurity to the champion filly, Artful. And that loss was only because he was doped by his groom.

Marcus Daly, who made his money in the Anaconda Copper Mines in Montana, purchased Optime a daughter of Champion Orme and granddaughter of the unbeaten Triple Crown winner, Ormonde in England.

He bred her to Melton, the 1885 Derby and St. Leger winner. Daly died in 1901 and all his horses were brought back to America to be auctioned.

James R. Keene purchased Optime. The resulting foal born at Castleton Farm was named Sysonby for the hunting lodge near Melton Mowbray frequented by Keene’s son Foxhall.

Although Sysonby grew into a handsome c**t, initially he was small, 15.1 at best, and was seen by most as nothing more than a common lop-eared horse.

At first Keene had wanted to cull him and send him to the yearling sales, but was persuaded by his son not to.

Later Sysonby was to be sent to England to race, but James Rowe, the great Hall of Fame trainer, recognized the horse’s potential. He swathed Sysonby in bandages and covered him in blankets insisting to Keene that the horse was too sick to travel.

Because of this subterfuge, Sysonby joined the American stable of James Keene. Rowe was fully vindicated when Sysonby won his first four starts by a combined twenty-two lengths.

His next start in the Belmont Futurity would be his most controversial race. He never fired and finished a lackluster third behind the nice filly, Artful. Soon after the race his groom was sporting a large wad of cash and confessed to doping Sysonby.

The Keene star would win his last start as a two year old and was easily considered the Champion two year old of 1904.

In his first start as a three year old after an eleven month hiatus, he would dead heat in the Metropolitan Handicap spotting top older horse Race King ten pounds.

After that he won his next eight starts capping his season with a victory in the Annual Champion Stakes at 2 1/4 miles over prominent horses Oiseau and Broomstick.

In preparing for his four year old campaign, Sysonby returned from a morning gallop sporting a small bleeding pimple on his neck. The next day more lesions appeared. Soon Sysonby’s entire body was covered with bleeding sores. He was diagnosed with a liver disease and variola, a blood disease. He failed to respond to treatment and died in his stall on June 17, 1906.

Over four thousand people attended Sysonby’s funeral at Sheepshead Bay Racetrack the next day. Later in 1907 his body was exhumed and his skeleton displayed in the Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Sysonby won from five and half furlongs to 2 1/4 miles. He was headed only once and that was with a large pull in the weights. His only loss came from being drugged. He was Champion two year old in 1904 and Champion three year old and Horse of the Year in 1905.

Those who saw him race, like the great turf writer, Neil Newman considered him one of the greatest thoroughbreds to race before the First World War.

Sadly he is a forgotten champion whose brilliance has been lost in the mists of time.

09/21/2022

Sunset was not not messin' around tonight! Here's how it looked at Picnic Island from David Scharf.

09/21/2022

Emma, The Queen’s horse says goodbye to Her Majesty. Holding Emma is Mr. Terry Pendry.

09/21/2022

How are these photos connected? On the left is an image of Queen Elizabeth II congratulating future Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte for his win aboard Fanfreluche in the July 1970 Manitoba Centennial Derby. The upper right shows Fanfreluche as a broodmare. And the photo at the bottom right … well, there’s a story:

Fanfreluche’s outstanding racing career included her victory over 13 c**ts that day at Manitoba, and the following month over a field of fillies in the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga, again under Turcotte. All in all, the Northern Dancer filly finished in the money 19 times in 21 starts, and was Canada’s Horse of the Year and co-champion 3-Year-Old Filly in North America in 1970.

Her greatness as a racehorse continued as a broodmare. Her first foal, by Buckpasser, was L'Enjoleur, who in 1974 and 1975 became the first horse to twice be named Canada’s Horse of the Year. In 1978, she would win Canada’s Sovereign Award for Outstanding Broodmare.

But it was in June of 1977, while in foal to none other than Secretariat (i.e., she was pregnant with his baby), that the most bizarre thing happened: Fanfreluche disappeared.

An elaborate ruse to steal the mare from Claiborne Farm was carried out. It was theorized that the kidnapper had cut through two sturdy wire fences and lured her through the pasture to an awaiting van. State and federal authorities were called in, but there was no ransom letter and no claims on the $25,000 reward money for information leading to the stolen horse.

Several months later, the FBI and Kentucky State Police cracked the case. Acting on a tip, they found that Fanfreluche had been adopted by a well-meaning farmer who lived nearly 150 miles away from Claiborne in Tompkinsville, KY. Claiborne Farm’s website recounts how Larry McPherson found the mare standing in the road in front of his farm. “He took her in, expecting her owners to come looking for their missing livestock. Of course, McPherson had no idea who the mare really was. As the days passed and no one claimed her, she was given the name Brandy and treated like the other horses on the farm. This included giving rides around the property to friends and family.”

An examination of her lip tattoo confirmed that “Brandy” was actually Fanfreluche, and the mare was returned without incident to Claiborne, where she delivered her healthy baby on February 16, 1978. The c**t was named “Sain et Sauf,” French for “safe and sound.”

As to who was responsible for the kidnapping of Fanfreluche, William Michael McCandless was convicted of theft and sentenced to four years in prison. No clear motive was ever established.

Sain et Sauf’s career did not quite meet the expectations that his regal bloodline portended; he won only three times in his 18-race career. Meanwhile, Fanfreluche lived a good life and produced 18 foals, including champions L’Enjoleur, La Voyaguese and Medaille d’Or (the latter by Secretariat), before passing away in 1999 at the age of 32. In 1981, she was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

The intriguing tale remains an interesting footnote in the boundless tales of Secretariat, who lived "sain et sauf" at Claiborne Farm for nearly 16 years, admired and adored by thousands of grateful visitors each year. And, bringing this royal story full circle, one of Secretariat’s admirers was the Queen herself, who visited him at Claiborne in 1984.

09/04/2022

TOMORROW• 10:30 John Henry field at the • Lanham Insulation/Hillcroft face off against Riverview in the 3rd game of the 10 goal Kentucky Open 📸

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09/04/2022

True ❤️

08/31/2020

The Show Team has been working hard this summer and attending the Sunshine State Pleasure Shows series at the Florida Horse Park. Delaney, Robert and Megan swept the ba****ck equitation fun class. And Daniel was the show and series High Point Jr W/J Ranch Horse exhibitor.
Great job kids.....and now fall series in our sights.

06/20/2020

So Summer Horse Camp is done and all my Lil' Buckaroo's are on to other great summer adventures. I'm miss them already and hope they come back real soon.

06/07/2020

We had a great week of horse camp last week and week 2 starts in the morning. A little soggy but lots of fun!

05/28/2020

Buckaroo's and Pony Princesse's alike.
Horse camp time is near. Due to social distancing, spaces are limited but a few remain. And we indeed usually host the Horsing Around Camps for Hernando Parks and Recreation, but since the last minute release by the governor, the enrollments will come direct to me for 2020. 2021 will hopefully put us back on track. Email us at [email protected] for enrollments and other information.

05/21/2020

Summertime means Youth Horse Camp Time!
We're hosting 3 weeks in June and setting all health guards in place. Limited spots available this year due to restrictions. Email today for info and enrollment forms to [email protected].