Buying an unraced, unbroken thoroughbred at auction is its own special type of thrill; the hope of just winning a race with that horse, maybe a few, or even a stakes race, mixed with the gamble that virtually anything can go wrong before they even get to the track.

Imagine, then, the odds that one Ontario horse owner would go to the biggest yearling sale in the world, Keeneland September, sift through 3,000 pedigree pages, find a handful to look at, buy a different one altogether and end up with a Canadian Horse of the Year.

Not only did Jeff Begg purchase such a horse for $75,000 (U.S.), he shared the gal with two good friends and one of America’s top horse owners.

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