Not an Ordinary Miracle
For many horses, shattering a limb would certainly put an end to their racing careers, if not their life. If the horse made it back to the races and then shattered another limb, and then returned to the races once again, it would be nothing short of a miracle.
But then maybe it's a good thing that a seven-year-old gelding currently racing at Maywood Park-the appropriately-named Ordinary Miracles-didn't listen to the veterinarians who said he would never race again.
Ordinary Miracles is conditioned by Maywood Park-based trainer Alan Fleisher, 45, a part-time horseman who moonlights as an electrician. The son of Silky Stallone, out of the Abercrombie mare Trixieland is now just three dollars shy of hitting the $100,000 mark in earnings after a career that has seen him shattered both hind ankles.
Fleisher claimed Ordinary Miracles on March 5, 1999 for $6,000 at Maywood Park, when the gelding was just shy of his true fourth birthday (May 4, 1995). By the end of July of that same year, Ordinary Miracles was racing for a claiming tag of $24,000 for the Nugget Acre Stables of Melrose Park, Illinois. In fact, the gelding won on July 30 of that year in a career best clocking of 1:54.3, and finished up the season by earning $39,798 en route to four wins, four seconds and five thirds from 36 trips postward.
The start of the new century looked to be as profitable for Ordinary Miracles as his previous year, as he raced in high claimers and conditioned events. On May 19 he won in 1:55.1 at Maywood as the favorite. However, just a few weeks later tragedy struck.
"He was racing in the Open on a Friday night (June 9, 2000) at Maywood," Alan recalled. "And going around the far turn for the first time, he just made a nasty break. Luckily Dave Magee knew the horse and was able to get him stopped. He had broken his left hind ankle, and shattered the bone all the way up to the hock. Both the track vets, Dr. Paul Smith and Dr. Greg Petkus, came over to my barn after the race and wanted to know if I wanted to put the horse down. I just couldn't do it and decided I'd take him out to the Equine Clinic in Naperville, Illinois the following morning."
Ordinary Miracles was placed in a trailer the very next morning and shipped to Naperville. The veterinarians there, however, told Alan that because of the nature of the injury, that they didn't think it would be safe to operate on Ordinary Miracles for at least three months. The ankle bone had shattered and the break had spiraled up the leg, all the way to the hock.
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