Taylor's Special found, pensioned

Taylor's Special, a millionaire and winner of the 1984 Blue Grass Stakes, has been pensioned to the Old Friends retirement facility in Midway, Ky., after being found abandoned at a farm in Washington state.

The 24-year-old Taylor's Special was last listed by The Jockey Club at stud in Alberta, Canada, but more recently he had resided at a farm in Granite Falls, Wash., owned by an elderly couple, according to the rescue group Hope for Horses. The organization's executive director, Jenny Edwards, said that after the couple died, the farm had been sold to a developer. According to Edwards, a caretaker at the property had abandoned the horse in a pasture.

An anonymous source who alerted Hope for Horses to Taylor's Special's plight last September estimated the stallion had been abandoned for about six weeks, living off pasture grass and rainwater. His identity confirmed via his tattoo number, he arrived at Old Friends on June 15.

Taylor's Special won 21 of his 41 starts, including 13 stakes, for earnings of $1,065,805. His top runner as a sire was Lies of Omission, winner of the Grade 3 Polynesian in 1996.