Thoroughbred racehorses that go on to second careers are unique in that they have two retirements in their lifetimes: the first from the track and the second from the show ring. Thoroughbred Legends, a new EN series presented by Cosequin, seeks to honor off-track Thoroughbreds that went on to accomplish great things as upper-level eventers and now enjoy a second retirement in their golden years. If you know of a great Thoroughbred for this series, tip me at [email protected].
Carrick, left, and Sloopy enjoying their retirement in Southern Pines.
At 21, Sloopy shares a pasture with Carrick, a fellow successful and now retired upper-level eventer at John and Ellen Williams’ farm in Southern Pines, N.C. Always overshadowed by Carrick, who served as the selectors’ first choice when it came time to choose horses for teams, Sloopy quietly accumulated solid placings with John at major events like Rolex and Burghley during his career, earning himself the 19th spot on the USEA’s most recent High Scoring Horses list. While he never truly stood alone in the spotlight, Sloopy made a name for himself in his own right, serving as a textbook example of just how suited an off-track Thoroughbred can be to a second career in eventing.
Sloopy raced 43 times under the Jockey Club name Sloopy’s David (Two Davids X Nearly Sloopy, by Military Bearing), accumulating eight wins and more than $50,000 in earnings. John and Ellen purchased him in 1999 in partnership with Bob Boeckman and Mary Delton as a 7-year-old from Jan Byyny, who had him for several months after he came off the track in Tampa Bay. “John clicked with him as soon as he met him,” Ellen said. “I was not as sure about him at the start, but John was. I don’t think Sloopy would ever have done what he did without John. They just had such an incredible partnership. Sloopy would do anything for him.”
Just one year after John and Sloopy began their partnership, Sloopy stumbled in the water complex at Stuart Horse Trials in 2000 while running the intermediate division. “He went down and completely removed the front of his knee,” Ellen said. “It was like someone took an ice cream scoop out of the flesh down to the bone. I remember thinking when I saw the injury that he was not going to survive, and if he did, he would certainly never compete again.” But Sloopy recovered beautifully from what appeared to be a career-ending injury, coming back mere months later to win the Camino Real CCI2*.
Sloopy continued to persevere through the knee injury, piloting John to 18th-place finishes at Burghley in both 2003 and 2004, as well as a 10th-place finish at Rolex in 2006 and numerous other top placings at three-star events. The injury ultimately triggered arthritic changes in Sloopy’s knee, and he underwent surgery after Fair Hill in 2007 to remove bone chips. “The surgeon said we might have a pasture sound horse after that if we were lucky, but he couldn’t promise anything else,” Ellen said. In typical Sloopy fashion, he rallied back to compete again, this time with Lizzie Snow in the irons for her first intermediate at Lumber River Horse Trials in 2008, which they won.
Sloopy concluded his eventing career one year later, going out on a high note with a win at Five Points Horse Trials with Lizzie in the fall of 2009. Since then, he’s been living the good life in Southern Pines, getting “fat and happy” and becoming “absolutely feral,” as Ellen fondly describes him. “He has little interest in doing anything civilized,” Ellen said. But after all he accomplished, Ellen agrees Sloopy deserves a grand retirement.'”The number of three- and four-stars he did — many of them long format — was impressive,” Ellen said. “He also won Best Conditioned at Fair Hill and Foxhall, all with a heart murmur. He never quit trying even in awful conditions, which is probably a Thoroughbred trait.”
