MAKING OF A MIRACLE © BENOIT PHOTO; ANNE M. EBERHARDT (INSET) BY LENNY SHULMAN either owner Rick Porter nor trainer Richard Man- della is a stranger to winning top-shelf races. Under Nhis Fox Hill Farms banner, Porter has campaigned such grade I winners as Horse of the Year Havre de Grace, Hard Spun, Jostle, Joyful Victory, and Round Pond, among others. Mandella, enshrined in the Hall of Fame for having scored in virtually every major race on the Southern Califor- nia circuit, won four Breeders’ Cup races in one day in 1993. So what caused the emotional celebration in the winner’s circle after the Brazilian import Bal a Bali took the American Stakes (gr. IIIT) May 9 at Santa Anita Park wherein Porter said, “Mandella gave me such a hug I thought he broke a few of my bones.” Why were veterinarians across the country on pins and needles awaiting that race’s outcome, some too nervous to watch? Bal a Bali is a horse that has touched many hearts in his lifetime, including those of his caregivers who, in the past year, brought him back from the brink, a case of laminitis so dire that Dr. Vernon Dryden, a podiatry specialist at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital who helped treat him, said, “It’s miraculous that this horse came back as Bal a Bali’s comeback good as he did and won that race.” Miracles are in short supply, both inside and outside the world from laminitis 18 / BloodHorse.com / JULY 25, 2015 / TheBloodHorse / BloodHorse BalABali.indd 18 7/20/15 12:18 PM of Thoroughbreds, a fact appreciated in that was impressive, but so was the ask- antine facility in Florida, he had a hug between Porter and Mandella in Arcadia, ing price: $2.5 million, which I wasn’t scrape on a hind leg that was swelling. Calif., a continent away from where Bal a Bali’s going to pay.” Fulton called Dr. Scott Hay, whom he story began in 2010. Fulton called Porter subsequent- had known when Fulton was training Julio Bozano is a Brazilian banker routinely ly to tell him that Novis had a deal at Hialeah in the 1970s, and Dr. Hay listed by Forbes magazine as one of the world’s with Besilu Stables for Bal a Bali sent Dr. Heidi Thomas to the quaran- wealthiest men. His Haras Santa Maria de Ara- that looked solid, but involved an ex- tine station to look at Bal a Bali. ras raises Thoroughbreds on farms in Argenti- change of some 2-year-olds. Porter “The horse was standing and didn’t na; Ocala, Fla.; and Brazil and has bred graded thought that arrangement could blow want to move,” Fulton said. “I’ve been stakes winners such as Anh Duong, Wallenda, up, which it did. Then Team Valor in the business long enough to know Strong Contender, and Safari Queen. The op- International got involved in nego- what that means, so we got a doctor to eration imports shuttle stallions and in some tiations for Bal a Bali, but those, too, him right away.” cases buys stallions outright. Bozano bought never came to fruition. Said Dr. Thomas, “He was not in the mare In My Side out of a dispersal sale “The saga continued for awhile,” distress but was starting to have feet from Stud Rio Aventura, and bred her to Put It Fulton said. “This was not an easy issues when I first saw him. There Back (Honour and Glory—Miss Shoplifter, by deal. In the end Rick stepped up and was a pulse in the foot, and he was Exuberant), a North American runner Bozano made a very fair offer.” showing signs that laminitis was had brought to Brazil to stand stud. “I told John I’d give the man $1.5 about to happen. I felt that critical The result of that mating was a solid colt that million straight up,” Porter said. “He care was important at that point, and Bozano’s wife named Bal a Bali. The weanling’s called me back five minutes later so we had him sent under quarantine conformation was eye-catching, according to and said, ‘You’ve got a deal.’ So that conditions to Palm Beach Equine Dr. Joaquin Alda, a veterinarian who helps was that. The deal was made July Clinic (in Wellington, Fla.) to get him raise the farm’s young horses and oversees 16 (2014), and he was shipped to the 24-hour care so that we could try and their sales prep. Bal a Bali had a calm, serene personality and was easy to handle and, along with the farm’s other colts, was offered for pur- chase at the operation’s annual yearling sale. There, Bal a Bali was purchased by Alvaro Novis and broken at his Stud Alvarenga. Novis is a successful Brazilian businessman who owns a sizable stable of Thoroughbreds in Brazil but doesn’t race outside the country. He found a good one in Bal a Bali, who won his first race at 2, won a stakes event in his second race, and a group III in his third race. From January—March 2014 Bal a Bali won the three group I races that compose the Brazilian Triple Crown, then added the Grande Premio Bra- sil Stakes (Brz-I), a Breeders’ Cup “Win And You’re In” race. “The horse did everything he could do in Brazil. After the 3-year-old season, the purse money isn’t much and it gets to a point where it makes sense to move the horse along,” said COURTESY WESTON DAVIS bloodstock agent John Fulton. Fulton has spent At left, Bal a Bali winning the May 9 American Stakes at Santa Anita in his North 45 years in the horse business as a groom, American debut; inset, Dr. Vernon Dryden of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital; trainer, breeder, owner, and agent, and has above, Bal a Bali in his cold water spa at the Palm Beach Equine Clinic been doing business in South America since 1983. One of his partners, Alberto Figueiredo, United States July 30.” avoid the kind of outcome that is all was well-acquainted with Alvaro Novis and the The financial deal may have been too common.” three men met at the Grande Premio Brasil. over, but the saga of Bal a Bali in North Fulton credited Dr. Thomas for “Mr. Novis confirmed that he was willing to America was just beginning. Porter that crucial decision that helped save sell the horse, who had added value being that brought in his friend Anthony Man- Bal a Bali. he was Breeders’ Cup eligible,” said Fulton. ganaro, owner of Siena Farm near “That was a telling moment,” said Fulton and Porter had done business on sev- Paris, Ky., “for a leg,” or one-quarter, Fulton. “Getting him to that clinic was eral occasions, so when Fulton told the owner he of Bal a Bali. The two men had become key to a positive outcome. At Palm had a horse that was off the charts, Porter was good friends, developing initiatives Beach Equine they picked up the ball anxious to see the tapes of Bal a Bali’s races. they believe can help the Thorough- and ran with it, doing an unbelievable “I’ve bought horses from John for a long bred industry. But their dream of see- job of staying on top of it and doing time, and I trust him completely,” Porter said. ing Bal a Bali in last year’s Breeders’ what was best for the horse. And my “When I asked him the price on this one, he Cup ran out immediately. hat is off to Rick Porter. He did every- told me to watch the tapes first. The horse When Bal a Bali arrived at the quar- thing he could and spent whatever it JULY 25, 2015 / BloodHorse.com / 19 BalABali.indd 19 7/20/15 12:18 PM MAKING OF A MIRACLE took, not knowing if the horse would race again or even live. This is a testament to an owner who really cares for the horse. You want to give a horse like this every chance, but he went above and beyond.” Dr. Wes Davis, a surgeon with experience working on foot problems, caught the case at Palm Beach Equine Clinic. Bal a Bali was still under quarantine conditions, so the clinic had to set up a makeshift quarantine facility in an isolated corner of a barn. “He wasn’t too bad when he got here, but he got progres- sively worse in the next few days,” Dr. Davis said. “He was in pain, and so we got aggressive in his care in the initial phases. He got anti-inflammatories immediately.” COURTESY WESTON DAVIS Up at Siena Farm, Manganaro reacted quickly to the Dr. Wes Davis and Dr. Carla Muñoz with Bal a Bali bad news. Several months earlier he had installed a cold at the Palm Beach Equine Clinic water spa at the farm and was impressed how much it was helping his horses. “For the past decade Rick has been very forthcoming with fans “We talked to Dr. Dryden at Rood & Riddle about put- through social media and the website,” said Fox Hill’s Victoria Keith. ting Bal a Bali in the spa and he thought it was a good “We had already posted about Bal a Bali’s purchase and arrival in the idea,” Manganaro said. “I started calling across the coun- States. We knew people would start asking about him at some point, try and luckily found one in Florida that they were able to so once we knew we had a significant issue, we posted about it.