Welcome to my journey to the Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover. It sure looks just a little bit different for me this year, and I’ve been doing this competition annually since 2015. Meet Capture The Magic (Uncaptured—Magical Holiday, Speightstown), known around the barn as “Houdini,” a beautiful dark bay, appearing black, 4-year-old stallion. Regretfully he has already lived up to his name a time or two, but we will dig deeper into that in a bit! 

I first fell in love with Houdini when he was purchased from the Ocala Breeders’ Sales June sale by my best friend Jade Favre. She is known for listing some 600 horses annually straight off the backside for trainers, but she is also an integral part of the Jeansonne Racing team with her fiancé Justin Jeansonne. She saw Houdini’s amazing walk and decided that he would be a lovely addition to their 2-year-old string. However, it quickly became apparent within the first month of his training that she had accidentally purchased a sport horse rather than a racehorse. 

Jade had been posting many videos on Facebook of “Magic” at that time, and he had already drawn quite a following with his flashy movement and ridiculously uphill canter. I was among his fans and had visited him many times on the backside and watched him gallop for team Jeansonne. They made the call after his fourth published work that there was no point in trying to push this large 2-year-old colt who was showing little talent to race. I was thrilled to get the text that he was going to come be a part of my Royal Fox Stables string in Nebraska!

Even as a 2-year-old, Houdini sported a very mature body with huge bone structure. People are always drawn to a super fancy trot, but I always buy the walk and canter, because those are the hardest gaits to alter and improve. This boy had one of the best Thoroughbred walks I had seen and a canter that was difficult to sit on at first because of his powerful hind step and push. Although he looked very physically mature, I thought it would be in his best interest to have a very light 2-year-old year to grow, as I had big plans for him in the future as a sport horse. 

I had originally planned to get Houdini going as a 3-year-old, with the thought he could possibly be ready for the 2023 Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover. Just as I was ready to get him going in late February 2023, he decided to attempt escaping over the 5.5-foot fence of his turnout pen, crashing and landing on the iced-over road that runs through the farm. He broke both of his medial splint bones and produced a small chip on his knee. My veterinarian husband and I were hopeful the splints would be OK once set, and the chip was outside the joint space, so we planned to just let that all heal naturally.

He had a handful of light rides until mid-summer, when it became clear the splints were going to need surgical intervention, and as long as he was going under for that, we also decided to grab the small chip in the knee at the same time. That ended his 2023 riding season and our 2023 Makeover hopes. That was definitely OK, because as a 3-year-old he wasn’t going to be missing much and it was another great opportunity to let him grow up!

The qualifications for the Makeover stipulate that entered horses can’t have started training for their second career, other than a maximum of 15 rides, earlier than the December before the competition, so as long as Houdini spent 2023 relaxing and recovering, which he did, he was still eligible for the 2024 edition, so we set our eyes on that.

We decided the best time for him to have surgery would be early fall, once the flies were gone, so he wouldn’t be stomping at them as he recovered. This was also helpful as he was able to participate in his stallion inspection for the Westfalen Verband NA warmblood registry. He was accepted and licensed with them, which is super exciting news in that they thought he was as special as I did. 

As a breeding stallion, we really hope he will provide a strong Thoroughbred influence in the warmblood registries to give more run and endurance for the cross-country phase of eventing. After passing the inspection in October 2023, both conformationally and under saddle, surgery came next!

Surgery was successful and uneventful. Houdini was compliant and healed well with no complications. It’s always a worrisome to have a 3-year-old on stall rest because you don’t know just how they will handle it. But this sweet and goofy boy was happy as long as he was fed cookies and had a buddy inside to keep him company. 

When January came around, Houdini was cleared for riding and really, finally, starting his off-the-track training. I have been basically just looking at this gorgeous creature for a year and a half without really being able to do much with him, and it was torture. I had sat on him 13 times prior to this, just enough to know how special and fun he was going to be. I rode him a bit in January, and then we headed from Nebraska to Aiken, South Carolina, where I winter with my program.

To my surprised and delight, when we got there he rode off as if he had not just missed the past 18 months. I started with the knowledge that he really only had a handful of months under saddle, as he had only been at the track six weeks before he made his way to me in Nebraska. I was so impressed with his balance and self-carriage. 

In hand he can be a bit spooky. He is willing to try and go where you ask but natural bravery to something out of place on the farm can worry him. Given that, I was ready to have to sit some serious moves in Aiken, but once I was up on him, his confidence soared. He picked up the jumping quickly—and really, really seemed to enjoy it! I have purchased many stallion hopefuls to add to my program, and thus far they either are incredibly balanced on the flat but lack natural instinct over a fence, or tend to be super intuitive over fences but tough and excitable on the flat. He is the first one that has come through that seems to possess both right off the bat.

We spent the next two weeks putting more tools in the box. I took him everywhere I could and showed him all that I could while we were down there. As someone who lives in the Midwest and is accustomed to traveling four hours just to school cross-country in my normal season, to have the option of about 13 cross-country schooling options within 15 minutes of my South Carolina base is amazing. I have a season pass to The Vista Schooling and Event Center, which is about 10 minutes from the farm, and we went over several times a week. Often we’d flat in the cross-country field to get used to the excitement that surrounds the jumps and the atmosphere. Sometimes we went simply to walk to the water. Showing horses things often, with as little pressure as possible, makes everything soak in easily and without stress. It sure worked for him, and he grew up so much just in the time we were down there. 

I am so grateful to Meaghan Burdick of Marinovich Eventing for her endless lessons and support in Aiken. Even as a professional, having a coach is important, and bringing these horses along is not just a one-man show. One of Houdini’s highlights in Aiken was Competing in the Young Event Horse series and getting a qualifying score for the East Coast YEH Championships. In a sea of warmbloods, he was in first place after the dressage portion, receiving 8’s on his gaits.

It’s certainly is a big undertaking to campaign a stallion, but this horse has such a kind and quiet demeanor that he makes it much easier. People that meet him can’t believe it when I tell them he’s ungelded, and I sure plan to keep it that way. So far he has been a super ambassador for his breed, demonstrating that even when you’re big, fancy, young and a Thoroughbred, you can also still be relaxed and nap alongside the ring while you wait for your turn to go. That doesn’t mean that we didn’t have any antics here and there, but then again I would expect that with any athletic 4-year-old. I like my horses to have a voice and an opinion. It’s important that they like their jobs, and that we are partners. I want them to be able to express themselves. 

It’s been such a pleasure so far to start this journey with him. My biggest thanks go out to Jade Favre for trusting me with his care and allowing me to own this magnificent creature.

Brit Vegas is a professional trainer who specializes in restarting Thoroughbreds for equestrian sports, such as eventing, show jumping, fox hunting and other English disciplines. She owns and operates Royal Fox Stables in Southeast Nebraska with a winter base in Aiken, South Carolina. In addition to campaigning her own horses through the intermediate level of eventing, Vegas also retrains and sells between 50 and 70 Thoroughbreds per year and has competed in the Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover each year since 2015, with multiple top-five finishes in eventing, show jumping and field hunters. In addition, she manages a sport horse veterinary practice for her husband, Dr. Adam Gengenbach.