Ex-Aidan O'Brien Royal Ascot winner rescued from neglect making remarkable recovery
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A former Aidan O’Brien-trained Royal Ascot winner who was rescued after being discovered in an emaciated state on a farm in the US is making a remarkable recovery. The 13-year-old War Envoy raced 12 times for the Ballydoyle trainer when owned by the Coolmore partners and Joseph Allen, winning the Britannia Stakes at Ascot in 2015.
He ran his last race for the stable later that year at the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar, where he finished last in the Dirt Mile at Keeneland. He stayed in the US where he subsequently raced for Wesley Ward before being sold at auction in 2016 for £120,000, continue his racing career for trainers Shelbe Ruis, Craig Dollase and finally Mick Ruis.
He made his final appearance for Ruis Racing at Santa Anita in 2017 after which he became a stallion. Last month he was among 13 horses discovered on a farm in Kentucky in a poor physical condition and taken to safety by the Kentucky Humane Society Equine CARE [Connect, Assist, Rescue, Educate] in Simpsonville, a charity dedicated to helping horses in crisis and transition.
In a Facebook post at the time, the charity said: “How a horse can go from a Breeders’ Cup entry, flying around from the US to Ireland and England and back several times and receiving the best of care…to this situation starving in a cold mud pen waiting to die, will never cease to be tragic and baffling.
