It may still be news to some that Golden Receiver, who came out of retirement earlier this year, has been racing for charitable causes since returning to the track. Last week, a story about how the 10-year-old gelding is making a positive impact in people’s lives flew under the radar, to an extent.
WBNG-TV published an item last week about how the connections of the accomplished brown gelding recently donated $5,000 of Golden Receiver’s purse earnings to Shawn Tarbox Jr. and Shawn Tarbox Sr., residents of Vestal, New York that lived very close to Windy Hill Farm.
Both Shawn Jr. and Shawn Sr. lived in a rental house that bordered a part of the paddock at Windy Hill. The report explains that a May 21 fire occurred at the rental home. The matriarch of the family, Nicole Tarbox, and three of her children – Evyn, Mya and Mariah – lost their lives in the blaze. Shawn Jr. was able to get out alive. Shawn Sr. was working in Pennsylvania at the time.
"He really has just given so much to us that it was time for him to give back," Allie Berube, Golden Receiver 's trainer, told WBNG-TV.
The $5,000 that was donated came from Golden Receiver’s May 31 win at Vernon Downs. He has since raced three times and banked a total of $2,500 in earnings.
The report explains that the Tarbox children used to visit the horses at Windy Hill Farm and feed them carrots.
"People usually have a passion for horses," horseman Fern Paquet Jr. told the news team. "You either have it, or you don't. And, I don't know too many people that don't."
Golden Receiver is owned by the Our Horse Cents Stables of Clifton Park, New York and the Golden Receiver LLC of Binghamton, New York.
(With files from WBNG-TV)
Related Stories
• Golden Receiver Racing For Charity
• Golden Receiver Out Of Retirement
• Golden Receiver Retired