#HORSERACING: A PIC BY MRWILL’S “PRINCESS DIARIES” – JULY 2018

Goodbyes are always a hard thing. Amidst all the bustle of the Queen’s Plate Festival this past weekend, we sent-off our dear Princess, A PIC BY MRWILL to begin her new life outside the Racetrack.

Some of you might remember Emily Fisher (@EmiFisher) who helped take care of Princess late in her two-year-old season. We played dress-up for Halloween together! Back then, she befriended Miss Emily‘s star athlete, multiple stakes winner Don’s Folly (Dons_Folly on Facebook), who went on to be crowned 2015 & 2016 Royal Winter Fair Thoroughbred Stallion Grand Champion as an eventer.

Princess and Miss Emily, Halloween 2016 

After announcing her retirement in May, Miss Emily offered kindly to take ownership of Princess right away after a few options were examined for her aftercare. She has been a daily part of Princess‘ day, visiting her often in-between runs in her work day on the backstretch at Woodbine, coming with cuddles and treats. We know that Princess will be living her best life possible and be cared for with the special attention and love she deserves. She won’t be far from Woodbine, which makes it easier for us to visit her and we love this.

Miss Emily says: “I am beyond excited to have Princess join our family, I cannot thank John and Cathy enough for entrusting me with her rehabilitation and her life after racing. She has had a few setbacks, but I believe that she has a bright future ahead of her and I can’t wait to see what this girl is capable of! We have a long road ahead of us but it is looking bright.  She handled her move so well and has settled into her new home. I have nothing but positive thoughts about how she will come out of this. There will be big things in this Princess’ future.”.

Motherhood definitely is in the books next for Princess after she gets the rest of the year to focus on healing, although her being developed into an eventer is a possibility too given that she has the perfect composition and demeanour for it. Whatever path fate leads her, we are thrilled for it and we will be there for her every step of the way with all our support.

Don’s Folly and Miss Emily 

We’ve also expressed interest in sharing some of the future breeding costs together with Cathy, Princess’ previous Co-Owner, to pair her with an Ontario stallion. Believe me, we could go on all day about who would make the perfect father – the possibilities are infinite! Of course, Don’s Folly also is looking to establish himself as an Ontario stallion too and we would be happy too to see Princess be the mother of his first foal. There are several options, but all this is contingent on Princess‘ recovery and we place her wellness first.

We had one last hurrah at Woodbine with Princess this weekend and she was thrilled to get a visit from one of her biggest fans, Sean (@SPNation74) who was visiting from Massachussetts for the Queen’s Plate Festival.

 

Sean x Princess:

 

Some Snaps:

 

We also are thrilled for Princess‘ family at the John Ross barn and Aheadbyacentury on their fantastic second-place finish in the Queen’s Plate. He is all business and they all worked so hard for this!

 

See some Snaps of Princess’ goodbye to Woodbine. She got the quick go-ahead from Doctor Pete and boarded the truck like a true professional. Miss Emily and her friend Miss Chelsea came ready with Princess’ favourite haynet and some aromatherapy fly spray to keep those flies at bay.

 

While we’ll miss seeing Princess in her stall at Woodbine, this is only the beginning of forever for Princess and we are excited for her! We got so choked-up seeing her drive away.

Miss Emily checked-in with us last night to let us know that Princess has settled in nicely at her new home, “She’s great! She has settled in like a champ, cleaning-up her feed tub no problem. She had a sponge bath yesterday and will probably get another one today!”. That’s our Princess!

 

We’ll continue updating you on Princess‘ journey:

Twitter: @apicbymrwill
Facebook: /apicbymrwill
Instagram: @apicbymrwill

 

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)