The winner’s circle at Saratoga Race Course is familiar territory for Thoroughbred owner Paul Saylor.  He’s been there with his Grade 1 winning filly Fleet Indian, with a hard-knocking claimer named Phil the Grip, and with his champion Ashado, who will next month be inducted into Thoroughbred racing’s Hall of Fame.

Later today, though, he’ll be in the winner’s circle not to celebrate one of his horse’s wins, but to honor his daughter’s memory and to raise awareness about Olivia’s Herd, a fundraising initiative of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation named after Saylor’s 21-year-old daughter who died in a fire in 2011. Today would have been Olivia’s 25th birthday. 

Saylor created Olivia’s Herd that year to help take care of older or ill horses that require special care.

“Caring for animals was Olivia’s passion,” he said in a press release. “This day at the races will bring awareness to the mission of ‘Olivia’s Herd’ and the work of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation.”

Continue reading at Forbes.com…

Featured image: Winewitheverything, courtesy of TRF and Olivia’s Herd