OTTB Makes Girl's Dream Come True

Barefoot Mailman (Silver Train) didn't accomplish much on the racetrack, but the now 8-year-old seems ready to do something far more important than winning a horse race–bringing joy and hope to a 15-year-old girl who has been battling bone cancer.

Converted to a show horse and renamed Cos (Cosnochta is the Gaelic word for barefoot), he was given to Madison White as part of the Make-A-Wish Southern Florida program. White had been riding for years but wanted a horse of her own and picked Barefoot Mailman out of a small group of horses that Make-A-Wish said might be available to her.

“He's like a big puppy dog,” White said after her wish came true. “He likes to lick you on the head and ears. He's really energetic and fun to ride and he really makes me happy.”

The story begins where Barefoot Mailman's career ended. In his second career start, he won a Mar. 8, 2012 maiden special weight race at Oaklawn Park for Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farm, but ran dismally next out in an allowance race. Porter and trainer Steve Hobby concluded that the horse didn't have much of a future on the racetrack and it is Porter's policy not to drop his third stringers into claiming races. He would rather make sure they are guaranteed a good home.

Enter Cinthia McGreevy, whose husband, Tom, is the bloodstock agent for Fox Hill.

“Any time they say they're not going to race one anymore, Rick always makes sure they go to a good home,” she said. “I put my hands up and say 'I will take them.' I get them ready to start a new career. We'll try dressage, we'll try jumping, we try to figure out what is the best next discipline for the horse.”

Cos was good at his second career. With McGreevy as his rider, he joined the Take2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program. Take2 was launched by the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association to find homes for retired horses. The program has competitions restricted to off-the-track Thoroughbreds and Cos became a circuit champion. Before being turned over to White, he was in fourth place in the standings for the Take2 Thoroughbred League-Jumper Division.

With his notoriety, he came across White's radar screen and she asked Make-A-Wish if there were any way he could become hers. White was told to come to a horse show in Plantation, Florida, on Mar. 18, but was not told why. The show was stopped and Madison was presented with a priceless gift.

“This is a testament to Make-A-Wish,” said the organization's spokesperson Stu Opperman. “They make dreams come true. It's not a matter of dollars or how big the wish is or any other factors. These kids have been through hell and we're going to bring hope, strength and joy to their lives.”

Under normal circumstances, McGreevy never would have sold Cos, a horse who had a special place in her heart.

“In some respects, this was heartbreaking to me,” she said. “I didn't want to sell because he was too special to me. He got me back. With him, I started riding again after 33 years, back in the saddle and competing again. He is just the sweetest thing.”

But she understood the happiness of a sick child was more important than her own happiness and she agreed to sell the horse to Make-A-Wish. She would not say how much Make-A-Wish paid her for the horse, but said it was a “token” amount and less than what the horse was worth.

To be eligible for the Make-A-Wish program, a child must have a life-threatening condition. That can mean many things, including that they will make a full recovery. Opperman said that White has concluded her chemotherapy treatments and that the outlook for her future is positive.

“It's about the now for her, what this wish means for her, the impact,” Opperman said.

McGreevy will miss Barefoot Mailman, but she doesn't regret for a minute her decision to let him go.

“I had him about three years and he became a big puppy dog for me,” she said. “We did really well together. Now he lives on for another job, to work with a little girl and give her hope and the fight to battle cancer and to be able to come back and show and compete.”