Racehorse escapes for highway run, survives barn fire

Aug. 23 (UPI) -- A horse preparing for her first race in Kentucky escaped for a 30-minute run on the highway -- and survived a barn fire just hours later.

Horse trainer Michael Ann Ewing said the equine, Bold and Bossy, was preparing for her first-ever race at Ellis Park in Henderson on Saturday when the horse in front of her started bucking, causing Bold and Bossy to fall and get back up without her rider, Miguel Mena.

Ewing said the 2-year-old horse fled onto Highway 41 and ended up running on Interstate 69 and Veterans Memorial Parkway for about 30 minutes before a couple of witnesses and police were able to stop the animal and calm her down.

"They dumped water on her," Ewing told NBC News. "Gave her water out of their hands. Unsaddled her."

He said some of the witnesses who helped capture Bold and Bossy had chased her all the way from Ellis Park.

"The racing community is so great," Ewing told The Washington Post. "The staff, trainers and assistants -- people I didn't even know -- jumped in their trucks or golf carts and there was a massive search for her as soon as she went running."

Ewing said Bold and Bossy's next round of excitement came only hours later, when she was spending the night in an Ellis Park barn that caught fire early Sunday.

Ewing said an "unknown hero" rescued Bold and Bossy and six other horses from the burning barn.

He said the horse was taken to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, where she was treated for minor burns to her neck and withers.