Racehorse Bucks Her Jockey, Gallops Kentucky Highway to Endure a Barn Fire

There's the Kentucky Derby, and then there's the mad Kentucky highway dash that a 2-year-old filly named Bold and Bossy made this weekend. She threw her jockey during a race Saturday in Kentucky, and then escaped the race park for a 30-minute gallop along a highway and an interstate before eventually getting corralled into a barn overnight.

Then, that barn caught fire, leaving Bold and Bossy with burns on her neck and other parts.

She's recovering now.

"Just by the grace of God, she was not hit," said Michael Ann Ewing, the horse's owner. "Thank God she was not hurt or caused someone else to be severely injured or killed."

Bold and Bossy was tracked down and given 30 liters of fluid to help rehydrate her after the trot along U.S. 41 and Interstate-69. This location is just south of one of the many Ohio River bends that form the border between Kentucky and Indiana.

The horse was making her first race at Ellis Park in Henderson, Kentucky, which is three hours away from her training site, according to Kelsey Wallace, one of the trainers. During the race, she threw jockey Miguel Mena and bolted over a levee and began trotting alongside vehicles on I-69.

It took a posse of trainers, police, the local sheriff's department and other horse enthusiasts to eventually bring Bold and Bossy to a halt after her bold and bossy jaunt.

"The racing community is so great," Ewing said. "The staff, trainers and assistants — people I didn't even know — jumped in their trucks or golf carts and there was a massive search for her as soon as she went running."

Bold and Bossy, who was wearing blinkers so she could only see straight ahead of her, eventually tired, allowing the chasers to corral her. A nearby training center allowed the horse to bunk there in a barn overnight so she could rest, and not have anymore trauma for the day.

But that's when the fire started.

"Kelsey was unprepared to stay overnight, but she said she thought it would be better to keep Bossy there to settle her overnight before giving her more meds and taking her back," Ewing said. "She sat with her until later in the evening and they checked on her again and again before she finally went to her hotel room. Then she calls me at 5 a.m. to say the receiving barn had burned down."

Ewing said "They're assessing her lungs and putting more fluids into her and they're going to evaluate the burns. It's really hard to tell how bad they are going to be. You could see dimpling under the cream," Ewing said, adding that Bossy would be in an air-conditioned stall for a few days. ... They'll just do everything they can for her for a couple of days, then we'll reassess and see what the game plan is."

It looked like Bossy had lost a couple hundred pounds, according to the Washington Post, but she was still in good spirits despite her harrowing experience.

"I think she's just exhausted," Ewing said. "It's no exaggeration, she looked like she'd lost 200 pounds. She was still all tucked up, and sweet as pie."