It’s Christmastime, and that time of year where you’re full of hope and promise; the time where you reflect on your past and look forward to your future while gathering with your family. Joe and Linda Ward reflected on the horse TELLEM GOODBYE, who they refused to say goodbye to prematurely.
Tellem Goodbye at Beulah Park
TELLEM GOODBYE was eight years old and ready to make his 93rd career start on March 13, 1992, at Beulah Park in Ohio. Joe Ward was helping another trainer and taking TELLEM GOODBYE to the paddock when he noticed something was off. He was poorly groomed and very skinny. When he asked the trainer, his reply was, “It doesn’t matter. He is going straight to the slaughterhouse after the race.”
Joe Ward wasn’t going to let that happen. This horse was a fan favorite and didn’t deserve that. He tried all the time and around the track was known as a hard knocker. At that point he had 13 wins, 10 places, and 15 shows.
Joe Ward told the trainer to take the horse to his dad’s (Jerry Ward) scrap yard to weigh him and he would pay him for the horse. Joe and Jerry ended up purchasing the horse for around $600, the same price the horse would have sold for to be slaughtered. Joe and Linda had a house and a stable where the scrap yard was located on Jerry’s property. All three of them would take care of the horse.
Nobody had to say goodbye, as TELLEM GOODBYE would be given the nickname around the stable as Big T. Joe, Linda, and Jerry took great care of him and soon he started to look great again. The only problem was that it seemed like Big T was getting bored on the farm. Since he looked great and seemed to be bored with farm life, they decided to return him to his happy place: the race track. On MAy 28, 1992, TELLEM GOODBYE returned to his favorite race track, River Downs. He was definitely a fan favorite there. As a 2-year-old, he won the Coney Island and won a few other big races at River Downs. Everybody knew who this horse was and was so glad to see him back racing.
He would end up racing another 34 times after his comeback and would add another 4 wins, 4 places, and 4 shows to his resume. He raced 127 times in his career and finished in the money in 60 of those races. He was an old-fashioned type of horse, one that would race a lot while loving it and he always tried his best.
River Downs, now known as Belterra Park, was his favorite track by far as he won 16 of his 17 career races there. His only other win came at Beulah.
Tellem Goodbye and Linda Ward
Linda Ward mentioned how much TELLEM GOODBYE loved River Downs, “He loved it. If you hauled him in and unloaded him at River Downs, he was so happy. He would trot, dance, and carry on. If you unloaded him at Beulah or another track, he instantly knew he was not at River Downs and was just as sad. He would walk with his head down.”
The horse was quite the character according to Linda Ward, “You could put him in the ice tub with no halter or nothing, just hang a hay bag from him and he’d stand there for hours. He could also be a handful as he was tough to gallop on the track. He was fast breaking out of the gate as he was always on the lead. Jockeys would tell you that you better have a handful of mane when he broke or he’d leave you in there.”
Joe Ward added, “TELLEM GOODBYE had the most heart of any horse that we’ve ever had. There was no quit in him as he gave 100% every time he hit the track. He was the fastest out of the gate of any horse that we’ve ever seen. Even the riders would tell you that.”
There was a TV show in Canada done about him called The Complete Writer. Linda Ward summed this story up the best, “Horse racing needs more stories like this. We care about our horses more than the public knows.”
