Track Owner Buys 17-Year-Old Thoroughbred Rather Than Race Him

HENDERSON, Ky. (AP) - Seventeen-year-old thoroughbred "Alpena Magic" has retired again.

The gelding was sold from owner Kenneth Robinette to Ellis Park track president Ron Geary yesterday. Geary then scratched Alpena Magic from a four-thousand-dollar condition claiming race for safety reasons.

Geary says it's time for a new career for Alpena Magic.

Trainer Bill Hicks had already retired the horse once in 2005, but began working him out again this spring thinking that retirement had made Alpena Magic depressed.

The horse won 16 races and more than 200-thousand dollars during his career. He will now serve as an "equine ambassador" at the track, working with children as part of the track's Early at Ellis program.

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