Filly who broke loose on highway survives second terrifying ordeal of weekend

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The two-year-old filly who escaped serious injury after breaking loose on to a highway in Kentucky survived a second terrifying ordeal of the weekend after she was one of seven horses rescued from a barn fire in Ellis Park.

Bold And Bossy, an unraced juvenile trained by Michael Ann Ewing, did not make her debut as planned at Ellis Park on Saturday after unseating her rider, dashing outside the course and running loose on a highway before being caught after approximately 30 minutes.

However, the filly's weekend took another dramatic turn when Ellis Park's receiving barn caught fire during the early hours of Sunday morning.

Seven horses were stabled in the barn at the time of the fire, which has been described as "electrical in nature" and began between 4am and 4.15am central time according to Ellis Park general manager Jeff Inman.

Firefighters arrived at 4.39am following a call at 4.21am and all seven horses were rescued after a quick response from horsemen and the local community.

In a press conference, Inman said: "We had one minor injury to one of our equine athletes, but other than that everyone's safe and sound. That is the most important part of this."

Racing was cancelled at Ellis Park on Sunday but is due to resume on Friday.

"The backside always pulls together," Inman told Bloodhorse on Sunday afternoon. "We still need some receiving spots for Friday's race meet. The horsemen all came up to make sure we cleared space and got bedding for the horses. Just the grooms and everybody running out at four o'clock in the morning to get those horses out… Everybody back there always pulls together, without fail."

The decision was made with Ewing's own vet, Dr. Joe Morgan, to keep Bold And Bossy at Ellis Park overnight to reduce the added stress of being transported back to Ewing's base at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington.

Bold And Bossy did suffer some burns in the fire but is expected to make a full recovery from her two weekend ordeals.

"This morning, we got a call from our vet [Dr. Morgan]: 'The receiving barn was burning down. We know someone got your filly out, but we can't find her,'" Ewing said on Sunday. "We found out she was in Eddie Kenneally's barn. It was very dark this morning to see, but the filly is burned over her neck, shoulders, withers, and back.

"It's amazing, who knew – you think leaving her overnight is for the best, then there is a barn fire. How much worse can it be?"

Recalling Saturday's events, Ewing added: "Remarkably she was not hit, killing herself or anyone else. She grabbed a quarter, but not bad at all. She lost a couple of shoes as she ran more than six miles.

"Thanks to the great community of horsemen and Ellis Park vets and communications directors, people were calling me, letting me know where she was headed. Meanwhile, numerous people jumped in trucks to try and find her."

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