Page 8 - 8 August 2012

“Every horse I’ve trained for Mari has come from the farm. The family line is her great pride.”
The success stemming from Mari’s commitment to her early bloodlines has brought her great satisfaction. “I’ve never bought a horse,” Barnes said. “Every single horse I’ve trained for Mari has come from the farm. The family line is her great pride.”
Said Wells of Mari’s racing family, “Mari has developed a line of horses that amount to an everlasting legacy.”
CHARITY AND COMPASSION
Mari’s everlasting legacy also includes her charity work, advocating for animals. “I’ve been to many functions over the years with Mari to raise money for animal welfare,” said Barnes. “Not just for horses—also for Save the Greyhounds,
the Humane Society, Purdue’s veterinary school and others. She’s a true animal lover—a saint for animals. She’s got a heart of gold.”
And we already know how she feels about her own animals. “Despite her passion for the game and her love of competition, she’s extremely conservative and insists on absolute care for her animals,” Wells said.
Barnes agreed. “I’ve worked for Mari long enough that if a horse gets sick and I can’t reach her, I know exactly how she’d handle a situation and I feel comfortable doing what I know she’d want. It doesn’t make any difference if you have to drive 500 miles; she’s going to insist that horse be cared for at the best facility in your area.”
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS
Mari loves to watch her horses run. Her latest prodigy, 2-year-old Her Painted Wagon by PYC Paint Your Wagon and out of Mari’s 2003 stakes-winning Holland Ease broodmare Going To The Hague, has won her first two starts this year at Remington Park.
“She was the only one that ran the times that she ran, and that was really nice to hear,” Mari said. “She was so impressive that Connie sent me a DVD of her to play on my TV. We’ve entered her in the Valley Junction Futurity at Prairie Meadows—I’m definitely going out there to see that. She looks like one that’s very, very special.”
Mari also participates in the Indiana-bred program and occasionally travels to Indiana Downs in Shelbyville and Hoosier Park in Anderson, Indiana, to watch her horses run.
And she likes Remington Park in Oklahoma City. “Connie lives about 10 miles from there and Scott Wells has been one of our best friends for years,” Mari said.
She may also travel back to the old family ranch in Wyoming, which her daughter Josie George of Westfield, Indiana, recently bought back for personal enjoyment.
Whatever the future brings for Mari, you can be sure that it will be intertwined with animals and her family—in which order still remains to be seen.
“Mari has developed a line of horses that amount to an everlasting legacy.”
Her Painted Wagon wins her trial to the 2012 Heritage Place Futurity at Remington Park.
Speedhorse Files
Me Gotta Go wins the 1970 Kentucky Quarter Horse Futurity.
courtesy Mari George
Lance Armstrong and Mari George.
courtesy Mari George
Mari George and her grandson Jarrod Krisiloff.
Dustin Orona Photography