Last spring, the harness racing world and beyond was captivated by the story of Emprize Hanover, the compassionate broodmare who adopted an orphan foal to raise alongside her own.

Countless stories chronicled the heartwarming tale of the selfless broodmare and her two foals, her own filly and the colt she adopted after his mother died during childbirth at High Stakes Farm near Moffat, Ont. The pair’s stable names were ‘Junior’ and ‘Elena.’ Now the wonderful story has been turned into a book by noted author Victoria M. Howard.

Left: Emprize Hanover stands over both of her foals: an E L Titan filly (foreground) and a Holiday Road colt. Right: Emprize Hanover and her foals (Photos Supplied)

“Last year while visiting my racehorses in Canada trained by Jack Moiseyev (the fiancé of High Stakes’ owner, Joanne Colville), I heard about the story of the orphan colt born at High Stakes Farm who was taken in by another mare who just had her own foal. Being in the business for 35 years I had never seen this happen, so I asked Joanne if I could write the story,” Howard recently explained.

Emprize Hanover's 2017 foal, receiving some love from Emma Christoforou

“I have written other horse books such as Meadow Skipper and Roosevelt Raceway, as well as children's books. Being the romantic I am I penned this book half fiction and half non-fiction. It is a lovely heartwarming story for the whole family.

“Not knowing if these two yearlings will even make it to the races, I wrote the ending as I hope to see it evolve,” she concluded.

Howard will be at Mohawk Racetrack this Saturday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. to sign copies of the book entitled ‘Junior and Elena: A (Horse) Love Story.’