OTTB: Desperate Measures

This is a story about a flashy chestnut thoroughbred by the obscure stallion Lucky Pulpit with a white face and white socks. Many may think that is the description of the great champion California Chrome, recently retired to stud at Taylor Made Farms in Kentucky.

On the contrary, this is a tale about a Manitoba-based mare, born at the same farm as ‘Chrome’ but making her mark in the world of racing in a different manner.

Desperate Measures has been a star in her own right by helping her owner Jan Melnychuk return to the saddle after a horrific accident and influencing the formation of the retired racehorse listing group Final Furlong, based in Winnipeg.

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Bred by Harris Farms in California, which stands Lucky Pulpit, Desperate Measures began her racing career in 2010 for her breeder. She won two of her first three races and was claimed for $40,000. Her racing career took her through many tracks in her home state and while she continued to have winning efforts, she also slid down the claiming ladder. She landed at Winnipeg’s Assiniboia Downs via New Mexico in 2013 where she won a race in August for the bottom claiming price of $2,500.

Fate intervened as Melnychuk was touring the Assiniboia backstretch when the race meeting was ending early that fall, with a friend who was looking for polo pony prospects. Melnychuk, a horse lover and avid rider, had given up riding herself, having broken her back schooling a green horse several years earlier.

“We walked in every barn and looked at every horse available,” said Melnychuk. “Nothing stood out to me, they all were just as great as the next horse, so I urged my friend to pick any of them.”

“There was one last barn, we were exhausted and I had seen enough horses, but we thought ‘why not?’. When we [were] getting to leave that barn too, a young groom wanted to us look at another horse.”

That was when Melnychuk met Desperate Measures.

“This gorgeous blaze and pink nose pops out to say ‘Hi’. Well, I grabbed her face and started kissing it. My friend said the mare reminded him of a chestnut mare he used to have (and didn’t like) and he could not understand how I could lose it for this mare when we had seen so many that morning that just made me yawn.”

Desperate Measures played and grabbed Melnychuk looking for attention. After leaving the barn that day, Melnychuk, who had never owned a horse, knew she wanted to take a chance on the mare.

The next day, the friend bought Desperate Measures and later sold the mare to Melnychuk, who gave her the fitting nickname of Faith.

Desperate Measures has also been the driving force for the growth of Final Furlong, located on Facebook, founded by April Keedian and Emily Johnson and powered by Melnychuk.

“It’s amazing to see the amount of homes we have been able to find for retired horses. They have been sold all over Canada and now to the U.S. because of the posts we do. It’s all funded out of pocket for the love of OTTBs.”

With Melnychuk’s photographic eye, the listings page for Final Furlong tells you everything you would like to know about horses up for sale or adoption. Hundreds of racehorses are enjoying track retirement in new careers because of Final Furlong, and in part, Desperate Measures.

“That mare has changed my life, she is bombproof and gives me confidence,” said Melnychuk. “She’s given me riding back. I almost gave up the greatest passion of my life because of fear, and because of her I can do it again.”