A Spring Of Hope might not have found the victory column yet, but the two-year-old colt pacer is a winner already, thanks to his connections.
Owner Richard Young has pledged all the profits from A Spring Of Hope’s career to benefit a charity started by his teenage daughter, Brittany. The charity, also called A Spring of Hope, was launched two-and-a-half years ago by Brittany, then 15, to raise money to dig wells for remote schools in southern Africa. So far, the organization has installed two wells and also helped build a school library and medical clinic in Acornhoek, South Africa.
Young, a native of Montreal now living in Coconut Creek, Florida, bought four yearlings last fall with the idea of naming the best of the group A Spring Of Hope. The colt, a $72,000 purchase at the Lexington Select sale, by Camluck out of the mare Kisses N Candy, has two second-place finishes in six races. His earnings are $20,254.
“We didn’t really know which one to name A Spring Of Hope at first,” Young said. “But as it turns out, the one I chose is the only one who’s currently racing, so I guess I did pick the best one.”
Brittany Young decided to start A Spring of Hope after visiting South Africa in 2005 with her mother, Joanne. As a high school freshman, she organized fund-raisers that collected more than $10,000 for the project. Since then, chapters of the group have been started in schools across the United States.
The horse A Spring Of Hope is a half brother to Jr Mint, who won the 2003 Hoosier Cup and earned $778,289 in his career, and Big Hugs, who earned $159,937. His third dam, Shifting Scene, is also the third dam of 2007 Pacer of the Year Tell All.
“He hasn’t broken his maiden yet, but he has talent, we’re sure of that,” Young said. “We’ve just been kind of unlucky. We believe he’s going to be very competitive, at least in the [Ontario] sire stakes program.”
To learn more about the charity, click here.
(HRC)