At first glance, he was a horse like hundreds of others out there. At nine-years-old, he wasn't competing with the elite in million dollar stakes races. His races weren't being broadcast to the masses and dissected by turf writers. He was simply a hard knocking $5,000 claimer known for giving his all every time and bringing home a check often enough to pay his way.

 

As the old saying goes, however, there was more than meets the eye.

 

B. B. Best was purchased at the OBS February Sale in 2004 for $150,000 and soon started giving trainer Eddie Plesa and owners Bea Oxenberg and Laurie Plesa a return on that investment. The 16.3-hand bay was a three-time stakes winner at two and as a three-year-old finished third in the Grade 1 Florida Derby and Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes.

 

"He was an honest horse and tried every time," said Eddie Plesa. "On top of that, he was just a joy to be around."

 

As the years progressed, B. B. Best remained with Plesa's stable and the trainer's affection for him grew. Each year, the tried and true runner would post stakes wins and placings and was always competitive in the allowance and upper level claiming ranks.

 

Then in 2009, entered for a $32,000 tag, B. B. Best won with ease, but was claimed by trainer Steve DiMauro. Plesa knew DiMauro and got in touch with him immediately.

 

"I wanted to plan ahead for this horse," said Plesa. "I asked if at any time the horse stops running well, I want him back to make into a stable pony or to retire to pasture or whatever he needed. He'd been part of my life for such a long time and I wanted to make sure he was properly retired."

 

DiMauro agreed and offered to write a note with Plesa's contact information on the back of the horse's Jockey Club papers stating that if he is retired or should need a home, to contact Plesa.

 

DiMauro, however, only had the horse for four months before he was claimed away once again, this time for a $22,000 price.

 

From then on, B. B. Best slowly started to descend in the claiming ranks.

 

Sources told Plesa that B. B. Best had been given time off at a farm, but when his bills went unpaid, the farm sold the horse to a trainer at Mountaineer Park.

 

By 2010, B. B. Best was running for tags of just $7,500 to $5,000, yet his lifetime earnings were more than three-quarters of a million dollars and is the leading money-earner out of sire Yes It's True's.

 

That year, several people, including those from Padua Stables, Three Chimneys Farm (home of B. B. Best's sire), and Edward Plesa himself, attempted to purchase B. B. Best and retire him, but his connections made it clear that they preferred to continue to race him.

 

In the spring of 2011, Plesa was contacted by equine advocate Gail Hirt, who informed him that a group was working on getting B. B. Best off of the track.

 

Hirt contacted racehorse owner Maggie Moss to ask for assistance in getting B. B. Best retired from racing. She also contacted a farm called Pure Thoughts, Inc., a Florida-based rescue facility, to secure a spot for him to recuperate, be evaluated by a vet, and hopefully be retrained and adopted out to a non-racing home.

 

Finally, on May 6, 2011, B. B. Best was entered in a $5,000 claiming race and a claim for him was entered by trainer Englehart on behalf of Moss. The hard-knocking, always trying B. B. Best streaked across the finish line 4-1/4 lengths ahead of his closest rival to cap off a stellar career that saw him win 14 of 54 starts and earn $787,761.

 

New beginnings

 

Soon after finishing his last race, B. B. Best was shipped from Mountaineer to Pure Thoughts Thoroughbreds in Florida.

 

"This was my first dealing with Jennifer Swanson and Pure Thoughts and I'm incredibly impressed by the organization," said Moss. "Jennifer is one of the best people I've ever dealt with at a rescue and retraining facility. I'm so thankful Gail connected me with her."

 

B. B. Best had no problem acclimating to life on the farm. According to Swanson, he was a gentleman to be around and slow and steady under saddle.

 

"The day came to get on B. B. Best and … he just stood there like a perfect gentleman and waited for a cue of what to do," said Swanson. "I think he's decided, 'I like this laid back life and I'm sticking to it!'"

 

A few days after B. B. Best arrived, Kelly Farrin was at Pure Thoughts to look for a horse for her daughter. While her daughter fell in love with a 15-year-old mare, Kelly made an instant connection with B. B. Best.

 

"While my daughter was trying out the horse we eventually adopted for her, a horse in the pasture behind me came up and plopped his head on my shoulder. It was B. B. Best," said Ferrin. "When we left, I couldn't get him out of my mind. I told my husband it was like he picked me."

 

This past month, B. B. Best was officially adopted by the Ferrin family and was taken to their farm, where he will live out his days as a riding and companion horse.

 

"I'm so thankful for everyone who helped to get him off the track," said Ferrin. "He will be loved more than anyone can imagine. He's worked hard all his life. It's time for him to be my baby."

 

To learn more about Pure Thoughts Horse Rescue, click here.

 

Jen Roytz is the marketing and communications director at Three Chimneys Farm in Central Kentucky.