From Rags To Riches

In April 2009, Rag Sheet was one of 177 malnourished and diseased Thoroughbreds found malnourished and diseased at the Center Brook, New York, farm of Ernie Paragallo. A 9-year-old gelding who had raced only twice at Aqueduct in 2004, Rag Sheet was found lacking food, water, veterinary care, and human compassion.

Fast forward 18 months and Rag Sheet has come full circle.  The gelding flourished under the care of Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and was recently adopted (along with former Suffolk Downs claimer Cool Tales) by John Allen of Charlottesville, Virginia.

Rag Sheet is healthy and happy, living with a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains on 12 acres of pasture where he is at liberty to graze and play.

“I’m so excited for Rags,” says the TRF’s Julie Walawender, who helped reschool Rag Sheet as a riding horse. “He really came alive once he left Center Brook.  It was truly an honor and blessing to work with him.”

After being retrained, Rag Sheet was one of several horses showcased for adoption at the TRF’s October ‘Art At The Barn’ fundraiser Montpelier, Virginia.  Allen, who calls himself an intermediate western rider, was a guest at the auction.

“We went to the art show and met TRF volunteers and staff, including (Montpelier farm manager) Kim Wilkins,” Allen said. “The horse I owned for 25 years recently just passed away and I explained to Kim that I was looking for in a trail horse.  She recommended Rags and Cool Tales, both of whom I ended up adopting.”

Rag Sheet is a son of top stallion Indian Charlie. Meanwhile, Cool Tales, a gelded son of Tale of the Cat, won three of 19 starts. After starting his career in 2008 as a 4-year-old at Gulfstream Park, Cool Tales ended his career last summer with his final seven races at Suffolk Downs.

Allen could not be happier with his new friends.

“It can be tough adopting a horse…sometimes people tell you what you want to hear,” Allen said. “But I knew with (the TRF) they’d give me the real deal. There’s no incentive for them to mismatch you with a horse. The TRF couldn’t have been more accommodating in trying to get me the right horses. And I’m really happy to have them.”