Hollywood Park rescue horse finds himself in the Olympics

Reporting from Rio de Janeiro —  There wasn’t much question about Blackfoot Mystery’s career as a racing thoroughbred.

The big chestnut had three starts at the now-defunct Hollywood Park, finishing at or near the back of the pack every time.

“He was a terrible racehorse,” Boyd Martin says.

But Martin, a top equestrian rider, could see an extraordinary quality in Blackfoot Mystery – the kind of talent that has them both competing for the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The Kentucky-bred horse and its rider arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, more than a week ahead of the eventing competition. Martin talked about their journey at a news conference Sunday afternoon.

Though only a small percentage of thoroughbreds have the speed to win at the track, they are nonetheless strong, talented animals.

And, if they fail at racing, they can be had cheap.

That’s why equestrian riders often keep their eye on racing, looking for promising candidates that might be worth a gamble.

“With jumping and dressage, there’s a natural talent thing,” Martin said. “You can only teach them so much … that’s hard to evaluate when you’re buying a horse off the track.”

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Swimmer Jordan Wilimovsky, photographed under the pier in Santa Monica, will be going to the 2016 Rio Olympics as an open water competitor.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Courtney Mathewson, photographed after team practice at the Joint Forces Training Base pool in Los Alamitos, will compete on the U.S. women’s water polo team. Mathewson, who was part of the 2012 Olympic team that won the gold medal, won four consecutive NCAA titles while playing at UCLA.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Christen Press is a forward with the women’s national soccer team. Press is photographed at Chadwick School, where she is an alum, in Palos Verdes.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Members of the U.S. men’s sevens rugby team (from left) Danny Berret, Folau Niua, Garrett Bender and Martin Iosefo are photographed at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Carlos Balderas, photographed in his family gym in Santa Maria, will compete in the lightweight division in boxing at the Rio Olympics.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Phillip Chew and Jamie Subandhi, photographed at the Orange County Badminton Club in Orange, will compete on the U.S. Badminton team. Chew and Subhandhi are competing in their first Olympics.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Kim Rhode, a five-time Olympic medalist in shotgun, will compete on the U.S shooting team. The Rio Games will be her sixth Olympics. Rhode became the first American individual athlete to win a medal in five consecutive Olympic Games in 2012.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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Zach Garrett, photographed at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, will be part of the U.S. archery team. He will be competing in his first Olympics.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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All-American fencer Alexander Massialas, photographed near Chrissy Field in San Francisco, will compete in the foil for the U.S. team. Massialas, who also competed at the 2012 Olympics, took his senior year off at Stanford to train for Rio and earned a silver medal at the 2015 world championships.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Like a lot of thoroughbreds that don’t pan out, Blackfoot Mystery was handed over to a California rescue center by his owners. Equestrian rider Kelly Prather purchased him for next to nothing.

Thus began the horse’s second career in three-day eventing, an equine version of the triathlon that involves dressage, cross-country and show-jumping events.

Prather brought Blackfoot Mystery back East to work beside Martin, who took an instant liking to the big, gangling gelding with a floating gait.

“Good moving, good jumping horse,” he said.

Martin was looking for another ride – his previous horse had suffered a serious sprain at the 2012 London Olympics, forcing them to withdraw in the middle of the competition.

Prather, it turned out, needed to sell Blackfoot Mystery.

By that time, however, the horse had proved its worth in eventing, so its value had risen dramatically. Martin called upon New York investors and sold shares in Blackfoot Mystery to raise the $300,000 asking price.

“I’d been watching him like a hawk for a year,” he says. “I was very lucky.”

The two have been together only about 12 months, which puts them at a slight disadvantage against duos that have more shared experience. Still, Martin believes he has something special.

“He isn’t the fastest because of the way he’s built,” the rider said. “But he’s a beautiful stamp of a horse.”

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