King Alain (Click here for Past Performances)

"King Alain" was better known as "Shine" and no one knew his true history or pedigree until recently. He is living out his days at The Golden Carrot, where Casey O'Connor cares for 32 other mostly elderly horses, a number of them ex thoroughbred racers. Neigh Savers is committed to helping with the care of these geriatric horses. King Alain has no sponsors so through The Golden Carrot and Neigh Savers networks we are actively looking for someone to step up for this horse.

King Alain's Story by Casey O'Connor, CEO & Operator, The Golden Carrot

"With the help of Neighsavers' Karin Wagner, we have now identified "Shine" as King Alain. You may recall that King was boarding at a facility where Marsi Marsh (former supporter) saw the owner repeatedly feed horses on either side of his stall, leaving King hungry and agitated. She requested, and was given, King to be her own. Unfortunately, Marsi was just a beginner, and King was "too much" for her, or her trainer to handle. So she reached out to The Golden Carrot, and he came to live here several years ago. We found "Shine", as he was called then, had a sweet baby face and the manners to go with it, but a hip so damaged that he had uneven development of his muscles from one side to the other, and a dragging step. Yes, he is a little 'hot' as some OTTBs can be, a little timid and spooky but not at all mean, and with a kind nature. With his disability, and 'hot' nature, we expected we'd never be able to use him for any riding - and were glad to see him hook up with Victor and Sunny in the herd.

Reading his tattoo and looking at his markings which are quite distinctive, Karin determined that "King" is 22 years old, Kentucky Bred, with lifetime earnings of $77,147 in 17 of his 62 starts, 5-4-8. It doesn't sound like a lot of money for that many races, until you realize he earned from 1989 to 1993 - more than 15 years ago - in today's dollars, it might be four times that! I will be trying to reach his breeder and trainer to see if they can tell me more about him, and will update you if successful. The list of jockeys who rode King is impressive - Solis, Valenzuela, Desormeaux, Pincay and others. Not just every colt gets jockeys like those. Knowing him as I do now, I wonder if all along he had the injuries to his hip which resulted in his ending up here. He rallied again and again, but had so many many unsuccessful starts where he "weakened", had "gradual fade" and "trailed throughout". He tried so hard .... I am so glad that he ended up here. And that kind of effort shows every day when he does his best for me anytime I ask. That hip injury may never be something we can fix - efforts at massage and chiropractic have so far only had temporary results. It could be that all those tries caused damage that may never heal. I can only hope that King Alain will find his own sponsor, and live a few more golden years here in payment for his efforts."