Page 12 - April 2007 The Game

12 The Game, April 2007 Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
The Unbelievable Story of Believable Copy
Above & Far Right: Believable Copy, with Annamieke and Bob at the tribute to
Lalita Ontiveros right
As I drove to the Uxbridge farm of Annemieke and Bob Dean, I just assumed I was on my way to do a pleasant, but typical story of a woman who loved horses. Little did I realize the emotional sledgehammer I was about to be hit with.
Annemieke and Bob run Roseville Stables where they breed a few horses and help young people learn to ride. The first thing you should know about Annemieke is that she is desperately in love with horses.
“I’m a horse nut,” she says laughingly. That would explain why some of the horses on their 50-acre farm serve no purpose but to be comfortable and safe.
Through a friend at Colebrook Farms, Annemieke was given the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of breeding racehorses on a small scale through a foal share agreement. She was offered one of five mares. “So Dominant Copy came to live with us and she was pregnant with her 2001 foal who was Believable Copy and she had her yearling Miekeal at her side.”
When it seemed unlikely that Miekeal would handle the stress and demands of the racetrack, Annemieke decided he was better living with her, so she traded her half share in Believable Copy for a full share of Miekeal. For a while that seemed to be a perfect arrangement.
Miekeal was trained to be a show hunter.
“He’s moving up the ranks,” says Annemieke proudly. “He showed in novice last year and was champion in the Central East Division of the Trillium show circuit. He’s ridden exclusively by our daughter, Allison Posen, who owns him now. His show name is Charisma and it suits him well since everyone loves him.”
And because Colebrook Farms is close to the Deans’ property, for a while it was a simple matter of dropping in for a visit to see how Believable Copy was doing. He was thriving in his beautiful new surround- ings.
“Unfortunately, I never saw him run,” she says. “He had 30 starts and he won at least one at Woodbine. One day I called Colebrook and I was going to go see him and he wasn’t there. Whoever I spoke to said he’d been claimed and they didn’t know who had claimed him. This would
have been in 2005.”
For about a year, Annemieke carried
around a lingering curiosity about Believable Copy. In 2006 however, her intellectual itch had become a full blown rash. Even she admits it was a little over the top.
“The summer of 2006, I really did become obsessed,” she confesses, “Every spare minute I was on the internet, googling Believable Copy. I don’t know why, to tell you the truth. I guess because he was five, his career might be coming to an end and I wanted to make sure he was ok. But early on, I did find out that he was in Nebraska, running for $2500 claimers.”
Through the internet, Annemieke found a news story in the Independent that told her that Believable Copy had won a race at a small track in Nebraska. Annemieke discovered there were three racetracks in that state.
“I started leaving messages at the back- stretch of all these tracks,” she says. “Unfortunately, I just didn’t hear back from anyone.” It was at this point, late summer of 2006, that, by degrees, she began to fear for the life of Believable Copy.
“When I found out that he was running for those low purses, I thought, ‘he’s in trouble. He’s at the end of his career.’ I’ve learned enough about horse life in general that once horses come to those lower level races, then they’re at risk. I felt that no horse that I brought into the world could come to that kind of an end.”
Turns out that Annemieke’s worst fear was becoming Believable Copy’s reality. She had no idea how close he came to a horrible demise.
“I kept sending messages. I eventually found who was riding him, but for weeks, never the name of a trainer or the name of an owner. I finally did get the name of a trainer and the name was Ontiveros. I didn’t know if it was male or female and shortly after, I googled that and I came up with an obituary for a horse trainer called Lalita Ontiveros. Around the same time I got the name of Tracy Van Horn as the owner.”
Annemieke began leaving messages for Tracy Van Horn at all the little Nebraska tracks. She heard back from one backstretch
worker who told her that Tracy Van Horn wasn’t around, but his brother Stacy Van Horn, a veterinarian, was occasionally there.
“Three days later, on September 6th, Stacy Van Horn phoned and said, ‘why are you calling about Believable Copy?’” says Annemieke. “When I told him why, he said it was amazing.”
Van Horn gave
Annamieke the
news which started
out bad and got
worse. Believable
Copy had been hurt;
he’d torn his suspensory ligament and would never run again and the plan had been to sell him for meat but that Lalita Ontiveros had saved him.
“I found out much later from someone who knew her, that the trainer Lalita Ontiveros was literally screaming, kicking, crying on the ground begging to no avail,” says Annemieke, her voice filled with emotion. “So she finally just got a lead shank, got on the truck and got him off.”
We can only speculate what Lalita Ontiveros, known as “Lu” was thinking. All evidence indicates that Ontiveros was dirt poor.
“She had no money. I mean trainers at that level of racing, nobody’s making any money,” says Annemieke. “Lu found the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in Oklahoma, run by Leslie Hubbell. Leslie said, ‘Of course, we’ll take the horse,’ and he was transported there by Stacy Van Horn and Lu sent them a cheque for $150. It was the last money she had and she sent it for Believable Copy’s upkeep.”
At this point Annemieke Dean pauses to collect herself, then she continues.
“Two days later, on August 24 she committed suicide. She hung herself.”
Lalita ‘Lu’ Ontiveros was 38.
Stacy Van Horn told Annemieke, “Ma’am that horse of yours is a good horse and a classy individual and that little girl loved him. She could save his life even though she couldn’t save her own.” He got Annemieke the number of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and said Lu would be happy if she’d
known Believable Copy was going home. “I got hold of Leslie Hubbell and we had a good cry together and she said she would love to send him home to us,” says Annemieke, her voice full of emotion. “He didn’t get home until November. In the meantime, we put up a little memorial for Lu and my daughter, Allison and her husband Aron had a fundraiser for the “Believe Fund’. Believable Copy’s plight brought to light the fact that many of these Nebraska horses were going for slaughter. My daughter had a yard sale and a silent auction and raised about $2000. To date Leslie reports that the TRF has saved eighteen horses in Nebraska and it all
started with Lu and Believable Copy.”
The TRF managed to get free rides for Believable Copy as far as Kentucky and the Deans sent $500 to the Oklahoma TRF to cover Believable Copy’s transportation the rest of the way home, but Leslie Hubbell called to say she and her husband were personally picking up that expense. The
$500 was then considered a donation.
I met the famous Believable Copy and he was, as promised, gentle, curious and friendly. As I stroked his handsome head, I observed that he looked fit and had a full shiny coat. I had one more question for Annemieke. She and Bob drove to Perry Transport in Nobleton on November 12 to be reunited with Believable Copy as he concluded his long journey from Oklahoma through Kentucky and back to Ontario. I needed Annemieke to tell me what it was
like the moment she saw her horse again. “He was covered in mud, just caked on. He was skinny and he was muddy,” says Annemieke, “We recognized his face. He has a kind eye. Everything he’s been through – he’s been at Woodbine, Fort Erie, Ohio, Illinois and three different tracks in Nebraska - and he’s gentle as a lamb. He’s still playful, still kind. He hasn’t been embittered.” Annamieke takes a moment
while her tears well up,
“He knew when he walked off the trailer
that he was home.” - PG
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