Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

                            New Lives for Old Horses

                                                     March 2, 2007

Sgt York & his Caretaker

Proving that sometimes it may be better to look good than to pace fast, an eight-year-old pacer named Elite Soul Man today has a prestigious new job, a swanky address and a new name, despite a record of very modest achievement on the racetrack. Elite Soul Man joined the Caisson Unit of the Old Guard at Fort Myer, Virginia, last month. The Caisson Unit consists of dozens of horses, all black or gray, and soldiers that carry the deceased members of the military and high ranking government officials to their resting place in Arlington National Cemetery. The gelding was selected for the Unit by Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Jeremy Light over 20 other horses for the eventual role of "Caparison horse," the riderless horse that walks behind the casket of deceased high ranking military members as they are carried to their graves.

Horses are given a military name when they join the Unit, and Elite Soul Man will now be known as "Kennedy," after the late president, who was also a Navy officer. Kennedy will serve as back up to another Standardbred with the military name of Sgt.York (registered name Allaboard Jules) who is now the riderless horse and served in that duty for the funeral of President Ronald Reagan. Sgt. York is now 16. The Unit also is home to a third Standardbred named Decision Street, now called Omar (after general Omar Bradley), who pulls the caisson.

Kennedy was given to the Army by trainer/owner Lisa Staten, who is based at Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, Maryland, just a short drive from the Caisson Unit's stable at Fort Myer. Staten leased the black gelding starting in October 2006. While it was her intention to race the horse at Rosecroft, it became apparent when he entered her stable, that he would not hold up to that work.

“He just wasn't physically able to go fast miles,” Staten said of the horse, which had 122 starts and 20 wins in a four-year career, but not a single start for her stable. “Rather than punish him, I wanted to try to find him a home. I talked to the old trainer and the owner wanted me to Amish him, but I just couldn't do that. We fed him for three months while I tried to find somewhere for him. Some people would have just raced the horse, but I couldn't. I was afraid he'd break down in a race.

“My husband (Kelly Staten) kept telling me, ‘We can't keep feeding this horse.’ I just kept looking for somewhere for him, and then I picked up the brochure in the first part of December.”

The brochure, which Staten saw in the race office at Rosecroft, advertised for horses to be donated to the Caisson Unit. For her determination to find a dignified new career and home for Elite Soul Man/Kennedy, Staten was awarded the 2006 Burke Award by the Standardbred Retirement Foundation.

Staten and her husband train a small stable of nine horses at Rosecroft Raceway. The horses they train are modestly talented and earned less than $45,000 throughout all of 2006. Staten thought “Soul Man” might have a chance with the Army because he's “just black as can be, built pretty good, average sized and has just a few patches of white on his back feet. He's a sweetheart, a big baby; you can do anything with him.”

Light came to the Rosecroft backstretch to inspect Elite Soul Man and then picked him up to begin his training in mid-January. Staten was elated at the good fortune of Elite Soul Man and relieved that he'd found, as Light told her, “a home for life.”

“This is the first time a horse has left my barn that I didn't cry, because I knew he was going to such a good place,” said Staten.

Kennedy is living in the Caisson Platoon's historic stables, cared for around the clock by a cadre of specially trained soldiers.

“It's really a museum that contains horses,” said Light, who commands the Unit. “The main barn has 32 oak box stalls, brick floor, and tongue and groove walls.The barns date back to 1896 and were build for the cavalry to protect Washington, DC.”

The stables are open to visitors every day of the year from noon to 4 pm. There is a small museum within the stables that explains the history of the unit and tradition of the riderless horse. Light reported that Kennedy received a military haircut, as all the Caisson horses have a roached (clipped) mane and forelock.

“He has adjusted very well and loves being in the main barn,” Light said. “He follows me around in the barn if I let him loose. We have started his preliminary ground work for the cemetery.”

Light estimated that Kennedy will serve at his first “mission” as the funerals are called, before the end of March.