Psst! Don’t tell anyone, but “Joe the Horse” is here
You’ve heard of “Joe the Plumber.”
Now there’s “Joe the Horse.”
He’s otherwise known as Alysheba or simply “America’s horse” — the world’s third richest Thoroughbred, with purse earnings of $6,679,242.
On Thursday, it was announced that the Kentucky Derby winner, who has spent the last eight years in the royal stables of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, has been sent to live at the Kentucky Horse Park as a gift from the king.
Alysheba is now in Kentucky at an undisclosed location and will be taken to the park north of Lexington for a public reception on Oct. 31.
During the months it took to put the deal together and for Alysheba to go through quarantine to enter the United States, the 24-year-old Thoroughb red was referred to simply as “Joe the Horse” by park staffers to keep his identity and itinerary confidential, says Horse Park Executive Director John Nicholson.
The code worked until early Thursday when turf writers got wind of the secret and the park announced that the champion bred by Preston Madden at Hamburg Place in Lexington was returning to the Bluegrass.
“It’s the kind of fairy tale ending that every champion – every horse – deserves,” Nicholson said.
