When Limani competes in the first race during the Aiken Fall Steeplechase at Ford Conger
“It will be really great,” she said. “It will be like he’s my child, and he’s graduating from high school.”
Haslup, a vice president at Meybohm Realtors, likes to find Thoroughbreds that are struggling to succeed at racetracks and prepare them for new careers. Since the 1970s, she has turned approximately 50 into show horses, steeplechasers or foxhunting horses.
“I think a horse needs a job,” Haslup said. “If they are retired sound from the racetrack and they have ability, it’s good to figure out what they can excel at.”
Haslup got Limani through trainer David Donk. The gelding was by a successful sire, Harlan’s Holiday, but he won only one of his nine races in New York.
“He wasn’t performing up to expectations, but he was a quiet, well-mannered horse with a wonderful personality,” Haslup said. “He had a lot of class and endurance, but he didn’t want to run as fast as he needed to.”
Limani arrived in South Carolina in September 2012. Halsup worked with him at Red Top Farm in Johnston at first and then at Greystone Farms in Beech Island.
“I started slowly with Limani to get his mind off of racing,” Haslup said. “I taught him the basics of walk, trot and canter.”
Then Haslup showed Limani how to jump and took him on long rides cross-country.
“The more I trained him, the more I realized that he loved being in the company of other horses and loved going cross-country and jumping natural fences,” Haslup said. “The whole key to doing this is finding out what a horse is going to be best at.”
Haslup took Limani to steeplechase trainer Richard Valentine in Camden in March 2013. Later, the bay gelding was sold privately and ended up in the barn of another steeplechase trainer, Britt Graham.
Earlier this year, 5-year-old Limani finished fourth in a 2-mile race over jumps.
During the Aiken Fall Steeplechase, he will be in a 2¼-mile race over jumps.
“I’ll be there, and I can’t wait to see him,” Haslup said. “I’ve heard that he looks like a different horse. He’s matured and filled out a lot.”
Dede Biles is a general assignment reporter for the Aiken Standard and has been with the newspaper since January 2013. A native of Concord, N.C., she is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
