Please Repost: Must Read Story From Death's Door to Churchill Downs: The Awesome Hawaiian Story A year ago, my daughter Sarah rescued three emaciated yearling thoroughbreds from a Louisiana kill pen—horses that didn't meet a $900 reserve price and were headed to slaughter. She named them Ed, Edd, and Eddie. They arrived barely clinging to life. One of those horses was improving and after being checked out by Dr. Sutter he determined that the horse could start training as a racehorse. Now known as Awesome Hawaiian. We sent him to trainer @wwaldenracing , who knows something about second chances. Will is a graduate of @StableRecovery1, a Kentucky program started by @TaylorMadeSales that helps people battling addiction rebuild their lives through learning much needed skills in the horse industry. When Will was ready to graduate from the program, he and his fellow graduates were given young horses to train as part of their recovery journey. This year, Will's team won their first Grade 1 race—the highest level in thoroughbred racing. Today at 3:26 PM, Awesome Hawaiian makes his race debut at Churchill Downs in Race 6. Will recently told me: "Look. I want to be upfront with you. For what AH lacks in talent he makes up for in heart. The spot (race) isn't a guaranteed win. This is just a safe pool to jump in and will help us gauge where to go next. Will it surprise me if he wins? No, but our horses generally need a start. I do care for this guy a great deal because of his attitude he brings to work each day. He is lucky to have you because without you he wouldn't have a job and he loves his job." AH may not win today. But he's already a winner. Today we can support him with a small bet and make him the favorite in the race letting the world and the industry know that we care about these animals and more importantly their story. Awesome Hawaiian represents the underdog in all of us. He was literally on the verge of being dog food. He never gave up on himself. Today he represents every horse facing that fate, and every person fighting their own battles. On our farm, we save as many of these animals as we can. On behalf of Ed, Edd, and Eddie—Awesome Hawaiian goes to the track today to inspire all of us that even when the world seems against us, even when we've been written off, it just takes one kind soul to have compassion, one person to believe, and one chance to prove that with the right attitude and showing up every day, we can achieve wonderful things. Thank you Sarah and Will for giving AH a job and something to look forward to each day. Changing lives starts with one person giving another a chance, or second chance. Join us @ChurchillDowns for race Race 6 @ 3:26 PM to get your free Awesome Hawaiian merchandise. All merchandise sells @resracingky always goes 100% to support our aftercare initiative. 🐴 #AwesomeHawaiian #SecondChances #StableRecovery @ChurchillDowns

Some of you may remember some yearlings that my daughter Sarah saved from a kill lot last year. She named them Ed, Edd and Eddie. Well this guy is now named AWESOME HAWAIIAN and he is running in his first race @ChurchillDowns on November 12th. Race 6 for @wwaldenracing Please support him with a friendly wager. We are not sure he will win but we can make sure he goes off the favorite. What a wonderful story it will be if he wins. He has already overcome so much to make it this far.

We are so proud of the work that @StableRecovery1 does in the industry and we are blessed with some of their graduates working on our farm. This is a classic example of the heart of the Taylor family @TaylorMadeSales to parlay their success in the industry into something that not only benefits the industry but changes peoples lives for the better. I am truly inspired.