Life After Racing – The Story of Intrepidus and Joe Baxter

Sunday July 17^th at Kensington Racetrack marked a special day for one Nova Scotia horsemen as he was reunited with a horse that he purchased from Ontario in the fall of 2015 and brought to Nova Scotia to race. Intrepidus would make his first start at Truro Raceway with Joe Baxter at the lines on November 1^st, 2015, in a qualifying race. The horse was twelve years old at the time. He would continue to race successfully for the Baxter stable for the next three seasons in Truro. During that time, the pacer would amass a total of seven wins from sixty-one starts with Joe driving the pacer himself a total of seventeen times.

On December 31^st, 2017, at the mandatory retiring age of fourteen, Intrepidus would close out his career in winning fashion in his final parimutuel start in line to Joe Baxter with a 2:06.4 score. The search for a suitable retirement home for the horse would see him travel from Truro, Nova Scotia to North Wilshire, Prince Edward Island where he would move into the care of Heather Gamester on her family’s farm.

Intrepidus adapted well to life on Prince Edward Island and became a mainstay on the matinee racetrack circuit for Gamester. Travelling between all five of the local tracks over the last seven years, Intrepidus would continue his winning ways in retirement with several championship titles.

Fast forward to this past Sunday in Kensington, where Intrepidus with Baxter in the bike showed the crowd that age is only a number. The horse at the tender age of nineteen went behind the gate and finished third. In doing so, he became one of the oldest horses to compete in a card of matinee racing on PEI. The wonderful care he has received in his retirement is testament to the fact that horses can go on to have a successful career after racing. He may not have won the race, but it is safe to say that the veteran pacer is still as competitive as ever.