A voice from the grave

I have family members that are really into the supernatural…like astrology, tarot card reading and receiving messages from our dearly departed.

I really never got into that stuff too much and questioned the ability of those that have left this earth in body to communicate with the living…until now.

Yes, I got a message—not from a family member but, rather, just a great friend who passed away in 2017 closing in on birthday number 80.

She was a petite, little thing maybe five feet tall (on her tiptoes) and probably weighed 95 pounds, if that.

She was a spark plug…a competitor…a genuine person you could call the salt of the earth.

She owned a whole slew of harness racing horses for 30 some-odd years, one of which was Northern Companion (Cambest).

I am speaking of Dotti Zarza and, inexplicably, that is from whom the message came.

It came to me sometime tilting toward the latter part of October and the message conveyed was “call the Standardbred Retirement Foundation (SRF) and thank them.”

I really thought little about it—yes, a little strange, I thought—but, after telling my “bride” about it, she reminded me about the others in the family who really believe in this stuff.

A day or two later, I learned that the SRF had saved Northern Companion from a Texas kill pen…and Dotti was the one who “sent” me the message.

Northern Companion was one of my all-time favorites—in fact, not only one of mine, but one of many fans around The Pomp for several seasons.

Howie Klohr trained him for much of his career with Robbie Hoffman handling his lines throughout many of his 228 lifetime starts.

He closed out his career with 53 wins and won $346,519 competing against the best that the South Florida track had to offer.

No horse—standardbred, thoroughbred, quarter horse, to name a trio, deserves the fate of a kill pen when racing days are over.

NORTHERN COMPANION REPLAY

Something has to be done to protect the sanctity of our beloved hoofed friends.

The SRF is just one of the organizations that provides care for horses that need a lifetime sanctuary.

Besides that, the SRF, as do other organizations with the same agenda, provide truly beneficial therapy for children of all ages.

After a trotter or pacer is retired from competition, it’s assumed that the new owners give it a comfortable home…but, realistically, that might not be the case.

Instead, IF they are able to use as riding horses or show horses—Standardbreds are great for that—it’s wonderful.

But we never hear about the horses that are treated as “equipment” and being overworked as transportation animals.

And then, of course, some are sold at livestock auctions for their “final” destination.

SRF doesn’t own a farm and has boarding facilities at well over 30 locations.

They have been a staple for the standardbred for a third-of-a-century and, just in the past five years, have assisted an astounding number of horses—more than 3,000.

Last year alone, they saved over 700 trotters and pacers…tagged for slaughter.

Some of the saved horses now serve, proudly, I might add, on police mounted units in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.

Since their feed bill alone is about $4,000 PER DAY, it’s essential that donations keep a “1:50” pace…and that’s from where about 80% of their funding materializes. Harness racing organizations—like amateur driving clubs—account for about 4% of funding, as does the same percentage from grants. Fund raising events, hopefully, can cover the rest of their needed funding.

Here’s a thought…many tracks known as “racinos” these days, have purses probably as much as 10-15 times what they would be based on pari-mutuel handle.

With purses approaching $500,000,000 in the United States this year, one-half of one percent of that would infuse $2,500,000 to help the cause and provide some salvation to the horses that have poured their hearts out every step of every mile.

Think of it as Social Security for horses.

Put it this way…If a $10,000 purse becomes $9,950, does it really matter?

It does for our retiring horses.

By the way, of Northern Companion’s 53 wins, 14 were in photo finishes…but they don’t compare to the 54th photo finish he won by a nose—when he was that close from going into that kill pen!

by John Berry, for Harnesslink