Rejected Foal On Way to Happy Ending in Britain

A filly in Britain whose first days of life took a frightening turn may be out of the woods thanks to an unlikely nurse mare—her great-granddam, who stepped in to serve as a surrogate after the filly was rejected in the days following her birth.

The first foal out of 2019 Ladbrokes Prestige Stakes (G3) winner Boomer, this chestnut daughter of Lope de Vega  seemed well on her way in the world a few days after foaling, said Andrew Black, who owns Chasemore Farm where the filly was born. Boomer was an excellent mother—until she wasn't.

"She was a fantastic mom and did everything we would want her to do and appeared very interested in the foal for about two and a half days," Black recalled. "And then completely out of the blue for no reason anyone could understand, she completely rejected the foal and became very dangerous. She picked her up by the neck, threw her across the stall, and kicked her. It was quite shocking, and a very dangerous situation."

Although the farm team tried to reintroduce the foal after treating the mare hormonally, Boomer was having none of it. 

"We separated them, we injected her, and tried to reintroduce the foal, but that clearly didn't work," Black said. "It was a highly charged situation, so we just had to move the foal away, and (the foal) was very, very down. It was a long time before we were even able to bottle feed her. We tried to cheer her up and got her the teddy, which she seemed to like. For a few days we were bottle feeding her; she did take it after a while, while we got a foster mare ready."

Three lines back on the page and over in a nearby paddock was the 22-year-old Veiled Beauty, living her first season as a pensioner but about to be called into duty. The producer of five winners, including group 1-placed group 3 winner The Cheka  and group 2-placed Wall of Sound  (who produced group 3 winner Boomer), Veiled Beauty's first season without a foal of her own saw her nevertheless end up with a foal by her side.

What a difference a few days makes. A foal, rejected by her mother, has been adopted by her great grandmother who we had retired from breeding last year; but she still seems to have a strong maternal instinct and can run plenty of milk. pic.twitter.com/BdfoWD44Ja

— Andrew Black (@bertthebold) January 27, 2022

"Veiled Beauty has been an amazing mare for us over the years and is a really, really good mom," Black said. "We retired her last year; she could have gone on but we just felt like it was a good time to retire her. We kind of assumed she would just live her life out on the farm. It felt like she was the most obvious candidate as a foster mare."

Veiled Beauty began treatments with a hormonal injection to induce lactation Jan. 24, the same day the incident happened, and was introduced to "Baby Boomer," as the farm staff calls the filly, as soon as her milk came in.

"Then it was a question of would she take to the foal, and would the foal take to her," Black said. "That went incredibly well, and I'm touching wood as I speak to you because it could go wrong, but I don't think it will. I think this has gone extremely well so far. They seem to have formed an incredibly good bond incredibly quickly. The mare is very laid back and has taken a lot of interest in the foal, and the foal is in love with the mare."

Farm staff will continue to supplement the filly with bottle-feeding to be sure she is receiving enough nutrition as the mare's milk continues to come in over the coming days.

Another one - mother love... pic.twitter.com/ywRyG8Goh4

— Andrew Black (@bertthebold) January 27, 2022

Black revolutionized the gambling industry together with Edward Wray when he founded Betfair, the world's first online betting exchange. Chasemore Farm is a project he took on along with his wife Jane Black, developing a 340-acre stud operation over the rolling hills of Surrey. With 35 mares on the farm, 28 of them belonging to the Blacks, the farm will foal out around 30 foals this year. Three have been born so far, with "Baby Boomer" providing enough excitement for the entire season. 

"I love the racing game," said Black. "I hadn't been a breeder before; I hadn't grown up with anything like that. I was probably more than anything else a punter. Nonetheless, I've always followed the horses.

"I think breeding is very similar to betting so when you're looking at a mare and deciding which stallion to take her to, I think the analysis is very similar to backing a horse in a race. I've always been into pedigrees anyway so I make all of the decisions on mating and that's all I do. The rest of it is done by other people here who are more expert than me. My wife and I run it together so we're involved … My wife is quite good with the hands-on aspect and foals out a few. It's a lifestyle for us and we really enjoy it. We enjoy all aspects of racing; we breed to sell and we breed to race."

"Baby Boomer" is not the first Chasemore youngster to make headlines over a foaling story. In 2016 their homebred Arthur Kitt  was born by emergency C-section and had to be resuscitated multiple times on the night of his birth, then was raised by a nurse mare. He went on to win the 2018 Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot, finished second to Too Darn Hot  in the 188bet Solario Stakes (G3), and was fourth that year in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) at Churchill Downs, cheered on by many fans. 

"That was our dramatic story," Black said, but now "Baby Boomer" has added another to the books. The tiny chestnut has gained a following through social media after Black shared a photo on Twitter of her curled up with her teddy Jan. 25 and then Thursday posted a video of her galloping circles around her new mother.

"It's actually genuinely moving to see them together," Black said. "There's a lot of drama in this business, and most of it's bad. When something bad happens and you still get something positive out of it, that's just wonderful. Everyone gets excited about that."