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00:00Hara Lee and Thatcher Street first met at the Ian Wilkes Barn in 2014.
00:07When it came time for the Graded Stakes winner to retire a few years later, he had a forever
00:11home with his exercise rider.
00:13This year, the pair is preparing for the Real Rider Cup, and we dropped in for a visit during
00:18one of their practice sessions.
00:21This is Thatcher Street, we just call him Thatcher around the barn, and we first met
00:26in Ian Wilkes Barn, I guess it would have been in probably 2014.
00:32He was the first stakes horse that I rode on the track, so he always had a special place
00:38in my heart.
00:39And then whenever it came time for him looking for a new home, I just knew that I wasn't
00:43going to be able to give him up, so he came home with me.
00:46I got him in 2018, in the fall, and we went ahead and did the retired racehorse project
00:54in the fall of 2019.
00:57So we were top five in the field hunter division, and we got the top amateur.
01:01Ever since then, he's just been kind of hanging out, and we've been taking it easy, and now
01:06we're looking to get back into showing.
01:08So Thatcher actually got to do the Real Rider Cup a few years ago during COVID, and Brian
01:14Hernandez, who rode him during his races, actually rode him in the Real Rider Cup then.
01:20Aftercare has always been really, really special to me.
01:22I get horses off the track all the time and find them good homes, and so I just really
01:28wanted to support that and give back and just show my support for all the aftercare programs.
01:38This is actually Private Island, which is Thatcher's little brother, and I was actually
01:44going to take him to the retired racehorse project last year, and in the meantime, I
01:50ended up finding him a lovely home with JC.
01:54He is one of many of the horses that I've actually found a home for.
01:58Their brains are just, it's so hard to describe to somebody that has never been around an
02:04off-the-track thoroughbred how much they're exposed to on the track.
02:07I mean, a lot of people, they get a bad rap of being crazy or high-strung, but there aren't
02:12many other breeds of horses that are exposed to people cheering and yelling and umbrellas
02:18and strollers and just all the little stuff, so when they come off the track, they probably
02:23have one of the soundest brains that I've ever seen in any horses.
02:27I know that these two for sure, just based on their breeding and just being around them,
02:33they were both like that, but I can say that most, 90% of the horses I get off the track
02:38are the same way.
02:39I always say that I love a horse that can take a joke, where I don't have to be the
02:45most on-point rider, but they'll make you a better rider just because they'll let you
02:51get away with it, but they'll also let you know whenever you mess up.
02:54Badger has a home at my farm for life.
03:00He's earned it.
03:01He's been really good to me, and I just always have fun anytime I'm on his back.