Back To Blue: The Return of The Estate

Pictured: Blue Cross Estates on an early April afternoon. While a large portion of the stable has fallen into disuse due to dwindling numbers, the Estate still proudly boasts a total of sixteen active racers, brood mares, and weanlings.

Back To Blue: The Return of The Estate
Written for The Eighth Pole
Featuring Rosaline Myers


"The Glory Days"

It was over seven months ago that the racing world watched with baited breath as the newest "blue darling" of Blue Cross Estates, Wishing For A Heroine, took on favorite and G1 Crowned Queen in the Shining Stakes, the first race of the Triple Sprint Tiara. With the young Everyday Hero filly having only been at the time a G3, she was clearly the underdog, and no one expected her to win. Yet after a grueling five furlong speed dual, win she did, romping her way to victory by the length of her neck. "I remember us being so excited," Rosaline Myers, 29 and now the owner of Blue Cross, commented. "We had just bought her from Witch Creek, and we had still been hesitantly testing her out. We sent her to the Shining Stakes for experience, nothing more. We weren't expecting her to cross the wire first. But she did, and we realized we had acquired something really special." Yet the feel good and hopeful vibe that the dark bay filly had instilled within not only Blue Cross, but fans of the racing world, would not last, as Blue Cross would fall off the map by the end of August. Following the absence of the Estate, a massive sale would be conducted of the Cross stock, stripping away all of the Estate's past work.

With Blue Cross Estates now on the rebound, this journalist begs the question that has until now gone unanswered. What happened behind the closed doors of Blue Cross Estates?

"An Untimely Demise"

"In truth," Rosaline Myers began, "I didn't realize what had happened until it was too late." Up until late August, things had never looked better or brighter for Blue Cross. August Week One racked up over six consecutive wins for the Estate, and to name a few, seen within Flashpoint in the Independence Day Stakes, Divided Notion in the Harbinger Stakes, and Apollo Bear in the HOTY Turf Stakes. Cross stock had never pulled a better performance, and they were swiftly gaining the admiration of not only fans, but their peers within the racing world. Yet things had already started to go wrong. "It wasn't right," Said Myers, her eyes downcast, "He[Oliver Myers] wasn't right." Rosaline went on to explain the changes that went through her father, starting with a lack of appreciation for wins, and eventually leading to a complete and unsettling change in personality. "Every morning he would get up and help feed the horses, or go down to the track and watch some of the early morning workouts. But then he started sleeping in later and later, and eventually he just stopped getting up at all." Where Oliver Myers had once been seen at every race involving Cross stock, his presence soon became a rarity, with him even skipping out on Apollo Bear's fantastic run in the GHF Turf Stakes. When he started to be unable to recognize even familiar surroundings, it warranted a visit to the family doctor, who immediately diagnosed him with Alzheimer's. "After that point, it turned from a gradual decline to a complete recession. He started become dangerous. He would forget where and who he was, and would mistake staff at Blue Cross for trespassers. Once, we found him getting frustrated with Agorion, after forgetting he no longer worked with dressage horses. He was trying to get the poor thing to do flying lead changes." From there, it became pretty clear that he could no longer exist safely within the confines of the Estate. "We did leave knowingly," Rosaline Myers admitted, "But not willingly." They returned to Oliver's home time in Louisiana, where for a short time the small family found solace and relief in the familiarity of close family and friends. The relief was not to be long term, and after a matter of months, the need came for Oliver to be placed into a home, where he could receive the care he needed. "That was when we agreed to sell the horses," Rosaline explained, "It was an expensive living arrangement, but one he deeply needed. He was starting to fail at even recognizing me, and I had no idea how to deal with it. It was recommended by his doctor that he be moved to a privatized and specialized facility, where his individual needs and requirements could be monitored and addressed twenty-four seven. We sold everything but the estate, all of our brood mares, studs, active racers, even the weanlings." Rosaline admitted that it was one of the most difficult decisions she had ever made, but a highly necessary one.

       

  

Pictured: Cross Stock horses Criss Cross, Agorion, and Saving Sanity all hit the Wire track for the first time in seven months. Aboard them are jockey's Madeline Walker,
 Jaimie Sandler, and Stanley Newton. It is the great hopes of everyone at BCE that these horses will help in taking fundamental steps towards the recovery of the Estate.

"The Recovery"

Obviously, the story doesn't end there, as in late March Blue Cross released it's first statement in regards to it's return, and made it's first public appearance on the Wire track with familiar three year old's Agorion, Criss Cross, and Saving Sanity. Upon their return, the Estate has also picked up the four year Dreaming Of Glory from Grayson Meadows, the three year old Ghostly Girl from Valkyrie Stables, the five year old returned Barely Legal from Intrepid Racing, and perhaps the most thrilling acquirement, Wishing For A Heroine, who was graciously returned to Blue Cross by Witch Creek Stables.  Blue Cross also snagged two new juveniles from an off shore sale, a bay colt called Song Of Ascent and a black filly named Snap Daddy, and while they lack the esteemed pedigree of most of the two year olds that run the Wire tracks, BCE has great hopes for them. "We think they've got the right stuff," Rosaline said earnestly, a smile on her face, "They have a long ways to go, but they have truly excellent potential."

However, what prompted Rosaline to return in the first place?

"It was when my father stopped being able to recognize anyone at all. I would come everyday at the same time, and everyday he would tell me that I was kind to humor an old man, and that my parents must have raised me well to result in such a good spirit," Rosaline allowed, though her words were somewhat staggered. "I had turned on the TV to watch Apollo Bear, actually. He was running in the Cavallo Cup, and I had been keeping up with all of the Cross Stock, so I naturally immediately wanted to see how he was doing. He ran a second place finish, nothing special, but when it was over my father turned to me with a big smile and said 'That used to be my horse, you know. And you should have seen him run.'" Following the conversation with her father, Rosaline made the decision to return to horse racing. "It's what he would have wanted. He loved horses more than anything, they were his entire life. It would bring him nothing but sadness to see his life's work ruined. So we're going to rebuild, and it might take a week and it might take a lifetime, but we are going to make sure Blue Cross does not go unforgotten."

   

   

Pictured: The four weanlings Samaritan Hero, The Innocent Gale, Immortal Embrace, and Beyond Constellation.

"A Look Into The Future"

As part of the invitation extended by Rosaline, she took me out to the brood mare barn for a special tour of what Blue Cross considers to be it's pride and joy, and greatest accomplishment. What we were greeted with was four fuzzy foals, frisking about within the dark green paddocks of Blue Cross, closely guarded by their mothers. "Here they are," Rosaline said with a chuckle as she opened up the gate and the four tiny little horses stopped their gallivanting to observe us, "Our entire legacy, all contained and assembled and distributed between four bite sized foals with longer legs than they know what to do with," She said, affection clear in her voice as the brood mares stopped their grazing and meandered over to her. "We are extremely fortunate for the kindness of our colleagues, without them our return would have been impossible." Blue Cross was forced to rely upon neighboring stables due to the sale that led to the loss of their entire breeding program. "We specifically want to thank Witch Creek Stables, Fire Stone Racing, Valkyrie Stables, and Grayson Meadows for being kind enough to allow us to mix and match with their breeding programs, so that we might be able to come back next year and the year after that even stronger than the year before."

As we watched the foals frisk about within their grassy enclosure, and the far off sounds of a workout on the dirt track carried over on the wind, one thing became clear. Blue Cross Estates is most definitely back, and little will be able to stop them on their ascent back to the top of the racing world.

  
Pictured: Oliver Myers and Apollo Bear after the GHF HOTY Summer Turf Cup, the first big win the colt ever secured for Blue Cross.

In early March, Oliver Myers was found dead in his bed, his body unable to resist the awfulness of his disease. This article, and the entire operation of Blue Cross Estates, is dedicated to his memory and the fantastic work he put into the creatures he gave his life to: The gorgeous and undeniable awesomeness that is the horse.

Oliver Myers is survived by his daughter, Rosaline Myers (29) now the full owner of Blue Cross Estates, and his adopted children Luke (18) and Lucy (17) Gallows.

In Loving Memory of Oliver James Myers
Taken Too Soon
1946 - 2015