'We're grateful she's alive' - horse causes chaos after escaping on to highway

A two-year-old filly scheduled to debut in the first race at Ellis Park in Kentucky on Saturday escaped serious injury after unseating her rider, dashing outside the racetrack, and running loose on a highway before being apprehended.

Bold And Bossy, a first-time starter for trainer Michael Ann Ewing, ran through a variety of different areas surrounding Ellis Park for approximately 30 minutes.

This occurred after jockey Miguel Mena came off the filly when she was fractious in the post parade. Mena was uninjured, Ewing said, and rode in other races Saturday.

Bold And Bossy was scratched from the first race, a maiden $30,000 claimer that was otherwise conducted without incident.

Video of Bold And Bossy running down the highway was captured on a cell phone by at least one passerby and uploaded to social media.

Ewing said: "Oh my god, we're so grateful that she's alive, that she didn't get hit by a car, that somebody didn't hit her and hurt themselves. It was just one of those freaky, crazy things.

"Believe it or not, she lost some shoes, and she grabbed a quarter badly. But it doesn't appear that she needs stitches. Nothing is broken."

Ewing said horsemen and other concerned individuals followed the filly in an attempt to bring her to safety. Fellow trainers Wes Hawley and Jack Hancock were among those that helped attend to her after she was caught by "a gentleman and his wife," Hancock said.

"When we got to her, we took the tack off," Hancock noted. "I had a lead shank with me and put the shank on her. We checked her out pretty good while we were there. Superficial cuts, a little bit of blood. But all in all, she was in great shape for what happened."

"Of course she had blinkers on, too. Which didn't help the matter," the trainer added. "She couldn't see anything beside her, so that made it a little worse trying to catch her. I've been here all my life and I've never seen one to do a run like this, not that far and not that much highway. They usually don't go over the levee."

Credit: Cullen Stanley

Hawley said he was driving into the backstretch when he saw the loose horse and followed. He took the blinkers off the horse when he got to her.

"I just did what anybody else would have done under the circumstances," he said. "I mean, that's all I could do."

Hancock said local police and the sheriff's department arrived, and a police officer had a gallon of water. They gave her water out of their hands and put water on her head and back. The horsemen there kept her moving until a horse ambulance arrived.

Ewing said the state veterinarian, who arrived with the horse ambulance, immediately started treating the filly.

"Wes and Jack said basically she was worn out and was begging for someone to catch her," she said. "She was slowing down and saying, 'help me.' Which they did. They were so great. I do have to say, the racing community is so great."

Speaking via telephone from her base near Lexington, Ewing noted on Saturday afternoon that Bold And Bossy was in an Ellis Park stall, receiving fluids. She said her onsite assistant and Ellis Park veterinarian reported the filly was "really dehydrated and severely tied up."

Ewing said Bold and Bossy would return to her stable at The Thoroughbred Center after being given time to recuperate at Ellis Park. She said the filly would continue to undergo veterinary examination and would be given adequate time to mentally and physically recover from Saturday's incident.

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