Remembering Fortunate Betty

Today is the Gr. 3 Hollywood Prevue Stakes for two- year- olds at Hollywood Park, and in 1993 that race was won by a colt named Individual Style, who went on to be one of the best in California that season. Individual Style’s dam was Fortunate Betty, who was one of the retired matriarchs of Tranquility Farm. When friends came to see multiple stakes producers like Fortunate Betty and Victorian Heiress they would joke about paying admission to the “California Bloodstock Museum ”, and they were not too far off the mark. Retiring broodmares is difficult.If they go out of production early in life there are sometimes still options for them to be used as a pleasure horse, but the better they are at producing runners the later in life they will usually be retired. Mares like Fortunate Betty, Victorian Heiress, and Invited Guest were all in their twenties when they arrived at Tranquility Farm. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if breeder’s associations set aside a portion of the breeder’s awards to help retire these elderly matrons that need a non-profit to care for them in their golden years? That’s just me talking.
Fortunate Betty lived to the age of thirty-two and had a wonderful retirement with us.She was devoted to her little band of mares, and no-one ever had a better friend than Betty. This weekend Tranquility Farm will hold our annual STALLION SEASON AUCTION,and one of the fine stallions donated is Individual Style, who is throwing some very good runners in Arizona. Betty would be pleased. I guess what goes around, comes around.