Regina Welsh calls it "kind of a crazy, long story."
Crazy might be a tad strong, Won Wild Bird's path does have a number of bumps in the road. Welsh has been along for most, but before you start driving you need to hear about her half-brother Rowdy Irishman.
Purchased by steeplechase trainer Bruce Haynes for $1,500 after 17 defeats (in as many starts) on the flat, the son of Erins Isle (Ire) won nine races over hurdles and regularly took on the likes of future Hall of Famer Lonesome Glory and other higher-profile stars. Rowdy Irishman won three of North America's most important steeplechase races -- the Iroquois Steeplechase (1998 and 1999), Temple Gwathmey (1996 and 2001) and American Grand National (1995 and 1997). He also finished second twice to Lonesome Glory in another classic, the Colonial Cup, in 1995 and 1997. He raced in 26 Grade 1 steeplechases and earned more than $650,000.
He was so good and so loved that Haynes and his wife Anne bought his dam, the Topsider mare Rowdy Bird.
Now 22, Won Wild Bird was bred in Florida by Anne Haynes. The daughter of Wild Wonder never raced on the flat. Bruce Haynes sent her out for her debut in the Gladstone Hurdle Stakes for 3-year-olds at Far Hills in October 2005. She was pulled up. In 2006, she traveled to starts at Atlanta, Tryon, Nashville, Lexington, Middleburg, Great Meadow, Aiken and Camden and made eight starts with Haynes' sons Russell and Will doing the riding. The formula remained the same in 2007, with 10 races from Florida to Maryland and a conversion from hurdles to timber but still zero wins.
Before he could bring her -- and a stable full of others -- back for the 2008 season, Bruce Haynes suffered a heart attack while in the field at the family's Bristol, Tenn., farm and passed away at 46. His loss shocked all corners of the sport -- Anne, Russell, Will and their brother Aaron for sure but also fellow trainers, owners and the long list of race meets Team Haynes frequented.
"Bruce would load up his stock trailer with his horses in Tennessee, and those suckers would run their hearts out and get back on the trailer that same day and go home," Welsh said. "His horses were all historically very hard-knocking. Having worked for Bruce Miller over the years -- he had a few of Bruce Haynes' horses that he bought along the way -- I know they were all super. Bruce Haynes was a good horseman with a good eye."
Mike Berryman helped Anne Haynes and her sons with the horses that first year. Won Wild Bird ran three times, the last a halfway promising third at Callaway Gardens in November. She ran three times in 2009, once for Welsh and twice with Anne Haynes as the trainer, and moved to Welsh for good in 2010.
By spring 2011, the gray mare was a well-seasoned 9-year-old maiden but she broke through in the allowance timber at the Grand National meet in Maryland, winning by 71⁄2 lengths for Welsh and Pink Ribbon Racing. She tried the Maryland Hunt Cup a week later, but parted company with Kristin Fischer at the eighth fence. Two starts later, Won Wild Bird and Richard Boucher won the Radnor Hunt Cup timber stakes. The success came with a cause.
"I put together a group of women -- Pink Ribbon Racing -- and our goal was to support breast cancer," Welsh said. "We were donating any money that she made that year to breast cancer causes."
Back for more and racing for new owner Walter Pinkard Jr. in 2012, Won Wild Bird lost her first four starts but went out with another stakes win in the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup in November. The 4-mile win in the mud left her with a bowed tendon, however, and a new direction.
Won Wild Bird retired to Hope Birsh's Jack's Hill Farm, where Welsh has kept her horses for more than 25 years.
"She was a lovely horse to ride -- very uncomplicated," Welsh said. "Straight rubber bit, easy to gallop, great eye, amazing jumper. Really kind."
While she didn't buck, kick or bite, Won Wild Bird had one quirk, which occasionally surfaced during her racing career. She would randomly freeze and refuse to start. It happened once on Welsh's watch.
When that happened, "a Mack truck could not move her -- forget it."
Welsh eventually figured out a way to fake out the mare.
"What you had to do was pretend you were getting off," she said. "Kick your feet out of the irons, swing a leg over so just your belly was touching the saddle, and then she'd start to walk. Then you'd jump back in the tack and go. You just had to keep her moving."
Welsh also mentioned the mare's extreme love of water. It proved useful during her racing career; she swam a lot while in training. And today, "no water trough is safe when she's around. She tries to get in them and splash you, even in her old age."
In 2014, Won Wild Bird broke her accessory carpal bone while in the field overnight, necessitating a lengthy period of stall rest. She was a model patient and even served as an impromptu bridesmaid at Welsh's wedding that summer.
"Our wedding was at the farm, and Bird was the only horse in a stall," Welsh said. "So the barn was kind of the buffet line, and there she was."
After the convalescence, Welsh noticed another peculiarity. Standing in the field, the mare would close her eyes, her knees would buckle and she would begin to sink to the ground before catching herself and jolting awake. Veterinarians diagnosed her with narcolepsy.
In 2017, Won Wild Bird had her first foal -- a colt by National Anthem (GB) named Natty Bird. Bred back to Nina and Tim Gardner's stallion in 2019, she produced a filly, Chirpy Chirp, in 2020.
"I had always ogled Nina Gardner's racehorses, because they breed such lovely ones. They had National Anthem, a graded stakes runner on the turf," Welsh said. "Everything that she had by him was a winner, either on the flat or over fences. Or they became really nice upper-level event horses."
Since the Gardners didn't advertise the horse, Welsh approached them about breeding to him.
"I have two foals by National Anthem," Welsh said. "Have they done anything? No."
She hopes to start both over jumps. Natty Bird showed little in three starts on the flat, and Chirpy Chirp remains unraced. Both reside at Jack's Hill Farm with their dam.
While she deserved a hassle-free retirement, Won Wild Bird's troubles weren't quite over. In early 2022, she became neurological and underwent a protocol for EPM. Somewhere along the line, she broke a hip, most likely during a narcoleptic episode.
"We started doing everything we could, and as soon as we started her EPM treatment, she improved," Welsh said. "It was like night and day. She is just so gritty and tough -- you can't deny a horse like that the chance. She has such will."
Welsh's 7-year-old daughter, Imogen Weaver, has never known a day without Won Wild Bird -- whose roles now include helping raise Shetland Pony weanlings -- and regularly leads the mare around the farm. There are "a ridiculous amount of ponies" on the farm, but Won Wild Bird is Imogen's favorite.
"She gives me cuddles," she said. "And I've had her a really long time."
