Illinois Equine Humane Center

Hall of Champions

Esther Egg: The Iron Horse

by: Gail Vacca

In recent months, a lot of discussion has taken place about what some perceive to be the ever increasing fragility of Thoroughbred racehorses. Many experts are of the opinion that because breeders tend to lean toward breeding more and more for speed and precociousness rather than stamina and longevity, the modern day Thoroughbred athlete has become increasingly prone to injury and premature retirement.

In a day and age where Thoroughbreds seldom make more than twenty or thirty starts, it is indeed considered a rarity to see horses continue to race much beyond their three or four-year old season, let alone into their teenage years.

One such horse who defied all the odds and proved himself time and time again to be a modern day “iron” horse is a gelding named Esther Egg.

Bred in Illinois by Tom and Robert Dew, Esther Egg, a dark bay son of Secret Hello out of Eloquent Esther (by Apalachee) began his career at Arlington Park in October of 1997. A month later, the two year old broke his maiden in an allowance event at Hawthorne for owner/breeder Tom and Robert Dew and trainer Tom Dorris. Over the next seven years, Esther Egg would go on to win an incredible 19 additional races and earn over $400,000 for several different owner-trainer combinations. To Esther Egg the connections apparently did not matter, he loved his job as a race horse and clearly knew how to win races.

The highlights of Esther Egg’s racing career were many, including a third place finish in the Illinois bred Land of Lincoln Stakes at Sportsman’s Park in 1998. Following a long lay-off after having been injured in late 2001, Esther Egg rebounded for what was perhaps his most triumphant year on the track. By the end of 2002, the then seven-year-old iron horse had won 8 of 18 starts, earned over $80,000 for the year, had only been out of the money in one start, and had four times run Beyer figures of 100+. Incredible!

The next few years for Esther Egg would bring considerably less racing success; however, that didn’t stop him from winning another 9 races and an additional $92,000 by the time his racing career would eventually end. In 2003 Esther Egg forever disappeared from the Illinois racing circuit and wound up slowly spiraling down the claiming ranks, eventually racing in bottom level claimers at Indiana Downs, Ellis Park, River Downs and Beulah Park. By the summer of 2008 it was clear that at age 13 the iron horse had lost his competitive edge and desire to race. By that time, I’d been following Esther Egg’s incredible career for quite sometime, and new that I just had to do something to see to it that this amazing iron horse would be afforded the proper humane retirement that he so justly earned and deserved.

The iron horse comes home…

Sometime in mid-July 2008, after Esther Egg had run another poor race I decided to reach out to his owner/trainer Don Horrell to let him know that there were folks back here in Illinois that wanted to bring Esther Egg home when he was ready to retire. Initially, Mr. Horrell was not receptive to the idea of retiring Esther Egg, but I asked him to keep my number handy and to please call me should the horse ever need a new home. Having been active in rescuing Thoroughbreds from kill auctions and slaughter feedlots for many years, no one understands better than I do just how quickly a horse can go from being a once-pampered race horse to being loaded on a one-way trip to a miserable death at a slaughter plant. I was determined that this would not be a fate that Esther Egg would ever know, if had anything to say about it.

Esther Egg would race one final time on July 30, 2008. He raced poorly once again, and so I decided to give Mr. Horrell another call to see if he was ready to retire the old chap. To my sheer delight, Mr. Horrell was happy to hear my voice on the other end of the phone, and he immediately agreed that the time had come for the iron horse to retire from racing. That was it, Esther Egg’s long racing career had finally come to a close. The final tally: 123 starts - 24 wins, 19 seconds, 18 thirds and over $486,000 in earnings, spanning 11 years of racing! I dare say that one would have to look long and hard to find another horse more worthy of the title “iron horse” than Esther Egg!

Over the course of the next several days arrangements were made for Esther Egg to be transported from Mr. Horrell’s farm in Indiana (near the Kentucky border) back to Illinois. Illinois-based trainer Chris Dorris agreed to pick Esther Egg up at Ellis Park in Kentucky and deliver him to Arlington Park. Aprile Horse Transport facilitated the second leg of Esther Egg’s journey from Arlington out to us at the Illinois Equine Humane Center in Wilmington. Both Chris Dorris and Tony Aprile graciously picked up the trucking tabs, and we are deeply grateful to them for their respective parts in bringing our boy safely home. We are also incredibly grateful to Mr. Horrell for putting Esther Egg’s welfare to the forefront and for ensuring his continued well-being by donating him to the ILEHC.

The iron horse begins anew…

Iggy relaxing at his new home.

When Esther Egg at long last arrived at the Center (while it was only a matter of days, for me it seemed like years!) the first thing I told him was what a fine champion he was, is, and always will be. I explained to him that he had done what probably only a handful of horses in history had ever done. He had survived the test of time and after 11 long years of hard work, it was finally over. He would be free now, to just be a horse.

Along with Esther Egg’s new found freedom and retirement, a suitable barn name was clearly in order. Esther wouldn’t work for obvious reasons (what self-respecting gelding would want to be called Esther?), and Egg just somehow didn’t seem to fit. I don’t know how I got there, but somehow I just began calling him “Iggy.” He seemed to like his new name and within days he would answer back when I called his name. And so then Iggy it is, I said!

For Iggy, 11 years of racing and 123 starts did not come without a price. While for the most part Iggy remains quite sound, his ankles certainly did come with some hard earned “jewelry.” Perhaps the most challenging of Iggy’s injuries is the fact that somewhere around the time he was 11 years old, he lost his right eye to an injury (and subsequent infection) he sustained during a race. It is clear to see when working around Iggy that the loss of vision on his right side causes him some concern, but in true iron horse fashion, he never panics when approached on his blind side, he just simply and quietly turns his head to see what’s there. I’m constantly amazed at the deep trust Iggy has for his human companions. When being lead through tight spaces that might cause another one-eyed horse to panic, Iggy just makes sure to stick tightly by my side, completely trusting that I will not allow him to bump into anything. I find this to be a testament to the kind treatment and good horsemanship bestowed upon him throughout his many years on the racetrack.

So what’s next for Iggy? Well besides hanging out with his pasture buddy, Rodney, and eating everything in sight, I’ve thought long and hard about what would be the best path for Iggy to next travel. Along with the full approval of the ILEHC board of directors, we have collectively come to the decision that the best thing for Iggy would be for him to serve the most essential purpose of further promoting the safe and humane retirement of racehorses. To that end, the ILEHC is very pleased to announce our plans to establish the Illinois Hall of Champions (IHoC) as a permanent part of the Center. We have initially agreed to set aside five stalls for Illinois champions in need of safe haven. As the ILEHC grows, it is our hope that the IHoC will continue to grow as well.

Despite the fact that Iggy never actually won a stakes event, a more deserving Illinois champion we’d be hard pressed to find, so naturally Iggy will be our first IHoC inductee! Please stay tuned…an official ceremony honoring Iggy will be announced at a later date.

It is our hope that Iggy will serve us well as an ambassador and “poster” horse for the ILEHC as well as for the Illinois racing industry. Iggy is proof positive that together we can and will continue to make strides toward improving welfare standards for racehorses both during their career on the racetrack and well beyond into retirement or new vocations. It is our further hope that Iggy, and other Illinois equine stars who will one day join him in our Hall of Champions, will be around for many years to come so that Illinois horse lovers and racing fans will be able to come to visit them and learn how incredibly important it is that we continue to provide for the care and well-being of these incredible athletes once they retire from the racetrack.

In closing, I would like to invite everyone to come out to the ILEHC to visit Iggy and all of our other equine friends (don’t forget to bring carrots and peppermints!). I would also like to mention that you can help us to continue to help Iggy and other horses like him by making a financial contribution to the Center. With your support, we can and will continue to make a difference in the lives of these magnificent animals. For more information on the ILEHC or to make a donation, please visit us on the web at www.ilehc.org or call 815-476-5257. Donations may also be mailed to: Illinois Equine Humane Center, NFP 9N673 Kendall Road, Elgin, IL 60123.