Son Of Tiznow, Unraced And Sold For $1, Achieves Pinnacle Of Eventing Sport

Phelps spent his first six months away from the racetrack primarily living outside and occasionally being ridden in the paddock.

“We restarted him our way, and when he did his first tiny little event, he was just very simple,” O’Connor said. “I didn’t know how athletic he would be, and he wasn’t that great of a mover, but he just kept on giving us more.”

Two years after O’Connor brought Phelps home, he invited a young rider from the West Coast named Mia Farley to come train at his farm. O’Connor suggested she take on Phelps as a project horse. Farley competed with Phelps at novice level in 2019, and had moved him up to the two-star level by the following summer.

“He kind of just kept going up the levels,” said O’Connor. “Mia’s done a fabulous job with him over the years. After the first couple times at the preliminary level, we could see that it wasn’t hard for him; he just understands it. I guess I never really thought he’d be at this [five star] level, but he just kind of keeps doing it really easily.”

The only thing that isn’t necessarily easy for Phelps is the sport’s final phase, show jumping. In his first foray at the five-star level, last fall at Maryland, Phelps’ speedy cross country round moved him up to third place before the final phase. On Sunday, however, Phelps knocked two rails in the show jumping and wound up finishing fifth.

“He’s getting stronger,” O’Connor said. “A Thoroughbred jumps slightly differently than the typical warmblood; they jump more off their front end. He wants to be careful, but he needs to have the shape to be able to do it. He’s a professional’s ride, in that sense. He’s not hard to ride, but to be clean, he needs to be in the exact right place at the jump and be in the right rhythm. Luckily, Mia is good at that!”

Phelps and Farley will compete in the first phase, dressage, this Friday at 1:24 p.m. Eastern, and are scheduled to contest the second phase, cross country, on Saturday at 2:50 p.m.

O’Connor said that watching his horse compete at the top level is a thrill unlike anything he felt in the saddle prior to his retirement.

“I really do enjoy being part of Mia’s career,” he said. “It’s another special level, and it’s nerve wracking because you really want it to go well, but supporting these riders is a great joy of mine.

“The cross country course at Kentucky is more technical than what he saw last year at Maryland, but I think that was one of the hardest five starts that I’ve seen in a number of years. We know now that it is within his capabilities, whereas last year we were hoping that he was capable. If she can give him a good ride and have a good plan, well, anything can happen out there.”