I know! I was also today year's old when I found out Toby Keith was a horse owner. Additionally, I was surprised to find out that he had been a horse owner for a while prior to his tragic passing. He has even been submitting race horses since 2001! Keith had hoped to achieve his dream of having a horse in the Kentucky Derby. Render Judgement was the name, and he was all ready to race. Well, until recently, according to Whiskey Riff...
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Toby Loves Horse-Racing
Yeah, I was late to the party, too. Turns out he's owned and operated a place called Dream Walkin' Farms for about 24 years now. And he's entered his horses in all sorts of races across the years.
Additionally, he's been relatively successful with the venture, too. He's achieved 848 victories and over $18 million in earnings from 6,587 starts during the farm's tenure.
Turns out he wasn't just the wallet backing the venture or the name on the billboard either. Toby has been actively involved with most of the goings-on around the farm. Toby attended sales at Keeneland and would actively participate in breeding decisions. This was his baby, and he absolutely treated it as such.
But one wasn't enough. In 2021, Toby partnered with Danny Caldwell to open Country Bro Stables. They also had relative success with this venture, gaining 39 victories from 264 starts, with nearly $1 million in purse earnings.
The Kentucky Derby
Recently, Toby's family was able to announce that Render Judgement was going to compete in the Kentucky Derby. One of Toby's dreams was finally going to be fully realized.
His loved ones took to social media, releasing a statement on his socials saying, "It was Toby's dream....Render Judgment is going to the Kentucky Derby. He worked so hard to finally have one there! Toby will have the best seat in the house to watch."
However, Render Judgement has had a recent setback in his racing prospects. It was discovered that he had a quarter crack on his hoof.
The horse's trainer, Kenny McPeek, has stated that the horse is getting treatment for the ailment. There are a multitude of reasons why a quarter crack happens. Treatments include specialized shoes and patches to stabilize the hoof wall.
While this wouldn't be the first time a horse has raced on a quarter crack, it would definitely make the race much more difficult for the powerful horse. As much as we all want to see Toby's dream become reality, I hope that the horse isn't being pushed too far to the limit.
