Overcontrol

[Dahoss9698]

This 5 year old gelded son of Tapit was a $725k 2 year old in training buy by Mike Repole in 2014. He won his debut in December of that year.

Fast forward a few years and last night he finished last in a 5k claimer at Penn National. It was his 8th straight last place finish.

Maybe someone reading this has access to Mike Repole or anyone who could do the right thing by a horse who has clearly soured on racing...before it is too late.

[EasyGoer89]

The trainer Gina Perri seems to have a Facebook page, maybe someone
With Facebook can reach out to her to try and figure out why this horse is still
Running.

[chadk66]

might be trying to solidify his true value for tax purposes

[onefast99]

I'm sure his accountant wrote this one down. Mike is pretty good with retiring them or giving them away once their racing careers are over.

[Dahoss9698]

Maybe I should have clarified. Repole does not own anymore.

Anyway, the horse was entered last Thursday and scratched, luckily. Let's see what happens this week.

[chadk66]

Originally Posted by Dahoss9698

Maybe I should have clarified. Repole does not own anymore.

Anyway, the horse was entered last Thursday and scratched, luckily. Let's see what happens this week.

vet scratch?

[outofthebox]

It was Repole in the first place who dumped this horse for 5k and a 8k pot for win. I seriously doubt he is worried bout this poor horses demise..

[menifee]

I'm always amazed how Pletcher can get these horses to race so well in their debut and then their form goes so far down over their careers.

[Mulerider]

Originally Posted by Dahoss9698

This 5 year old gelded son of Tapit was a $725k 2 year old in training buy by Mike Repole in 2014. He won his debut in December of that year.

Fast forward a few years and last night he finished last in a 5k claimer at Penn National. It was his 8th straight last place finish.

Maybe someone reading this has access to Mike Repole or anyone who could do the right thing by a horse who has clearly soured on racing...before it is too late.

I hate to hear stories like this. If the horse was closer to Texas and I had room for any more, I might seriously consider making the owners a lowball offer for the horse just to get him off the track and out of harm's way. If he's finished last in eight straight races, what do they have to lose except for their feed and vet bills?

I retired doctor I ride with has taken low level losers off the track at LaD and retrained them. They can make fine pleasure horses.

Besides, how many people can say that they trail ride a Tapit?

[classhandicapper]

Originally Posted by menifee

I'm always amazed how Pletcher can get these horses to race so well in their debut and then their form goes so far down over their careers.

I'm not a trainer, but maybe asking a lot of a horse early in his career leads to more early success but more problems later than developing them slowly.

[Dahoss9698]

Update...no starts since the original post in this thread and no works since April 15th. Maybe someone stepped in and did the right thing.

[Overcontrol]

I don't know that anyone will ever read this, but from the day I found and read this thread, I daydreamed of the update I would one day write. This isn't exactly what I envisioned, but nonetheless...

One of my favorite replies was "Besides, how many people can say that they trail ride a Tapit? Me! I can .

We competed under his JC name, but at some point in his life he came to be known as "Carter." To me he was more often Sharky, Ojos Locos, Grumbledore, or just 'hey Bubba.' He was 'rescued' from the track not long after this original post was written, by whom I am not quite certain. He changed hands at least once, maybe twice, before landing with the people who gave him to me. I keep a picture on my phone of what he looked like when the girl(s) that truly rescued him picked him up. She later told me that the only reason he came home with her was that her sister, a former exercise rider at Churchill Downs and the most practical horsewoman on earth, burst into tears when they got in the car to leave after looking at him. They knew what they had on their hands re: bloodlines, but he certainly didn't look like much. He finally won the lottery, first with them and then with me.

When I called to inquire about this *free* horse a vet had mentioned to my employer with me in mind, I was told: "There are some things you need to know about this horse. He has a history of aggression; he cribs; he's sulky, and he had colic surgery 5.5 months ago. He has a forever home with us; he is not for sale because we can't in good conscience sell him to anyone other than a professional, and no professional is going to pay the kind of money we would otherwise sell him for with his history in mind. He needs to find his person, and if at any point it doesn't work out, we will take him back." They forgot to mention his wicked buck . The owner of the farm, himself an accomplished Advanced eventer and the son of two Olympic riders (told you he won the lottery!), once told me that of the hundred+ OTTBS that had come through his barn over the years, Carter had by far had it the worst.

Because this is long already, suffice it to say, Overcontrol found his person. We loved each other bigly-- I've never had relationship with a horse quite like that. He made no bones about who he liked and didn't like, and I'm so grateful that he let me love him. He was my first 'heart horse,' which I always used to think was just a stupid thing ignorant people who anthropomorphized their horses said, but no-- I was wrong. He and I had a 'thing.' Before I watched him watch me, before I heard how he would start looking for me in the afternoons around the time I generally came each day, I used to think everyone was blowing smoke so I'd take him off their hands. That horse carried me, literally and figuratively, putting in his best performance ever on a weekend when I was emotionally and physically drained and probably had no business riding, let alone competing, at all.

We were still putting all the pieces together when I lost him to colic in August '21. I was just starting to really imagine all the things we might do together, the heights to which we would soar. We went for a hack one Saturday, and the next day I took him to NC State out of, what I thought, was an abundance of caution. Hours later, their recommendation was to euthanize him on the table. To say I was gutted doesn't even scratch the surface.

Anyway-- I just wanted to say thank you to the OP, and for all the people in this thread, for giving a crap about him. I haven't gotten through this without shedding a few tears-- I rarely get through a memory of him without tears. He was one in a million.

[RunDustyRun]

Thanks for taking the time to post this...it sounds like Overcontrol couldn't have gone to better owner and and you in turn was rewarded by his presence. Really nice to hear feel-good stories like this.

[PaceAdvantage]

What RunDustyRun just said. Thank you Overcontrol for taking the time to update us all. I'm so sorry you lost him but glad he found you to love and to live out the remainder of his days with you by his side.

[Elkchester Road]

Originally Posted by Overcontrol

I don't know that anyone will ever read this, but from the day I found and read this thread, I daydreamed of the update I would one day write. This isn't exactly what I envisioned, but nonetheless...

One of my favorite replies was "Besides, how many people can say that they trail ride a Tapit? Me! I can .

We competed under his JC name, but at some point in his life he came to be known as "Carter." To me he was more often Sharky, Ojos Locos, Grumbledore, or just 'hey Bubba.' He was 'rescued' from the track not long after this original post was written, by whom I am not quite certain. He changed hands at least once, maybe twice, before landing with the people who gave him to me. I keep a picture on my phone of what he looked like when the girl(s) that truly rescued him picked him up. She later told me that the only reason he came home with her was that her sister, a former exercise rider at Churchill Downs and the most practical horsewoman on earth, burst into tears when they got in the car to leave after looking at him. They knew what they had on their hands re: bloodlines, but he certainly didn't look like much. He finally won the lottery, first with them and then with me.

When I called to inquire about this *free* horse a vet had mentioned to my employer with me in mind, I was told: "There are some things you need to know about this horse. He has a history of aggression; he cribs; he's sulky, and he had colic surgery 5.5 months ago. He has a forever home with us; he is not for sale because we can't in good conscience sell him to anyone other than a professional, and no professional is going to pay the kind of money we would otherwise sell him for with his history in mind. He needs to find his person, and if at any point it doesn't work out, we will take him back." They forgot to mention his wicked buck . The owner of the farm, himself an accomplished Advanced eventer and the son of two Olympic riders (told you he won the lottery!), once told me that of the hundred+ OTTBS that had come through his barn over the years, Carter had by far had it the worst.

Because this is long already, suffice it to say, Overcontrol found his person. We loved each other bigly-- I've never had relationship with a horse quite like that. He made no bones about who he liked and didn't like, and I'm so grateful that he let me love him. He was my first 'heart horse,' which I always used to think was just a stupid thing ignorant people who anthropomorphized their horses said, but no-- I was wrong. He and I had a 'thing.' Before I watched him watch me, before I heard how he would start looking for me in the afternoons around the time I generally came each day, I used to think everyone was blowing smoke so I'd take him off their hands. That horse carried me, literally and figuratively, putting in his best performance ever on a weekend when I was emotionally and physically drained and probably had no business riding, let alone competing, at all.

We were still putting all the pieces together when I lost him to colic in August '21. I was just starting to really imagine all the things we might do together, the heights to which we would soar. We went for a hack one Saturday, and the next day I took him to NC State out of, what I thought, was an abundance of caution. Hours later, their recommendation was to euthanize him on the table. To say I was gutted doesn't even scratch the surface.

Anyway-- I just wanted to say thank you to the OP, and for all the people in this thread, for giving a crap about him. I haven't gotten through this without shedding a few tears-- I rarely get through a memory of him without tears. He was one in a million.

Thank you so much for your story.