Looking for love in all the wrong places

This is Raneem.

Raneem is a blue-blooded product of Darley Stud, a son of successful stallion Gone West out of a mare by The Minstrel, who won both the Epsom and Irish Derbies. He had started out racing at the most premier tracks and with the best of care before slipping down the claiming ranks like so many other Thoroughbreds and disappearing into obscurity. At one point he ended up at the ill-reputed New Holland Sales Stables in Pennsylvania, which has been convicted on numerous animal cruelty charges and remains a magnet for the so called 'kill-buyers' who purchase unwanted horses to send to slaughter.

At New Holland Raneem was purchased by some men from Philadelphia and returned to the races at Fonner Park in Nebraska. After twenty-seven starts with five victories and earnings of just under $100,000, Raneem could run no more. He was promptly retired and shipped back east to New Holland where his fate seemed sealed when he was picked up by a kill-buyer for a nominal sum.

But fate smiled on Raneem that day, as MidAtlantic Horse Rescue workers were also present and quickly stepped in to intervene on his behalf. They negotiated a price for the gelding, and soon Raneem was in Maryland where he put on needed weight and began to learn how to be a riding horse.

He took to this new career readily and it wasn't long before the gelding, described as "handsome and sweet," found a home with a nice woman from New Jersey. But just as quickly, it seemed, his past caught up with him.

Raneem's ankles became swollen and sore with even light riding, and eventually he was retired from riding for good. He was taken back in by the MidAtlantic Horse Rescue where he remains to this day, waiting to be adopted into a loving 'forever' home.

I could write a lot of negative things about Darley (and I probably will someday). I could criticize them for ruining the sport of horse racing by buying accomplished, notables horses and retiring them before their prime -- heck, last year alone they bought and retired Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, Haskell winner Any Given Saturday, and Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic runner-up Hard Spun. (One forum poster summed it quite nicely: "See it. Buy it. Retire it. It's the Darley way.")

Less than two weeks ago Darley also bought out Woodland Stud, Australia's largest and most successful owner-breeder operation for a price tag estimated somewhere between $400,000,000-500,000,000. Now you would think, with all those millions to throw around, the people at Darley could at least take back an unsound horse they were directly responsible for bringing into the world and let him live out his days grazing in a field on one of Darley's many equine properties or at least assist in finding him a permanent home. Large, prominent racing and breeding operations like Adena Springs and Padua have already have had successful retirement programs in place for several years now where horses bred and raced by their establishments are retrained and matched with owners who will provide a dedicated and lifelong home.

It seems like something any decent breeder would do. If you think so too, write to Darley and tell them so.