A casual trip with a neighbour to Woodbine Racetrack inspired Penny Conrad to talk her husband Manfred into buying a broodmare so she could try her hand at breeding horses. It proved to be a sound investment. Only seven years after the purchase of their first thoroughbred, the Wellesley, Ont., couple has bucked the longest of odds; the Conrads’ homebred three-year-old colt, State of Honor, will compete in the daddy of all horse races, the Kentucky Derby, on Saturday at Churchill Downs. “You can’t imagine this happening at all,” Penny Conrad said. We’re so excited.”State of Honor, an amazon of a colt produced from one of the Conrads’ first mare purchases, State Cup, is a 30-to-1 long shot for the Derby but is also considered the early favourite for the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine in July.

Source: thestar May 03, 2017 22:18 UTC