THE RIDERLESS HORSE AT REAGANS FUNERAL
We are so proud----this is a horse that FH's family used to own in Rahway, NJ (they owned a few race horses)....
Former Jersey pacer to be Reagan procession's riderless horse
By STEVE STRUNSKY
The Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. - On Friday, a retired New Jersey standardbred will replace Smarty Jones as the most-watched horse in the country.
Sgt. York, the name the 13-year-old horse has gone by since he was accepted into the military in 1997, will serve as the riderless horse in former President Ronald Reagan's funeral procession, walking behind the caisson bearing Reagan's flag-draped casket.
Before his military career, the solid-black pacer was known as Allaboard Jules, racing at Freehold Raceway and Yonkers Raceway and other tracks in the mid 1990s, said Ellen Harvey, a spokeswoman for the United States Trotting Association.
Sgt. York will symbolize the death of the 40th U.S. president by walking saddled but riderless in the 10:30 a.m. procession in Washington, said Sgt. Leah Cobble, an Army spokeswoman. Six other horses will draw the caisson carrying Reagan's casket.
Reagan died Saturday at age 93.
The racehorse was born April 25, 1991, in Jamesport, N.Y., on Long Island, and was initially owned by a Princeton resident, Harvey said. Allaboard Jules' last owner was This Ones 4 Marvin Stable in Rahway.
In between, Harvey said, the horse ran 23 races, winning five, and earning $14,881 in purse money, over a three-year career that ended at Freehold on Jan. 26, 1996. Allaboard Jules tied for show in his final race that day.
The journey from Freehold to Washington began when Marie Dobrinsky, a New Jersey Racing Commission official, took note of the pacer, Harvey said.
Dobrinsky's son, Sgt. Frank Dobrinsky, belonged to the Army unit in charge of funeral horses, the 3rd U.S. Infantry, Caisson Platoon, at Fort Myer in Arlington, Va.
She knew the Caisson Platoon used only black or gray horses and thought Allaboard Jules was a fine fit.
'She spotted this horse because he's quite handsome. He's solid black, has a good demeanor, was unflappable,' Harvey said.
The horse was accepted in 1997 and has since served in hundreds of military funerals.
'They have teams of horses that pull the caisson, and the initial idea was that he would be one of those horses,' said Harvey.
But during the horse's training, the Army realized the animal's calm demeanor made him suitable to perform duties as the riderless horse.
'They had cannons going off, flags waving in his face, nothing upset him,' Harvey said.
Former Jersey pacer to be Reagan procession's riderless horse
By STEVE STRUNSKY
The Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. - On Friday, a retired New Jersey standardbred will replace Smarty Jones as the most-watched horse in the country.
Sgt. York, the name the 13-year-old horse has gone by since he was accepted into the military in 1997, will serve as the riderless horse in former President Ronald Reagan's funeral procession, walking behind the caisson bearing Reagan's flag-draped casket.
Before his military career, the solid-black pacer was known as Allaboard Jules, racing at Freehold Raceway and Yonkers Raceway and other tracks in the mid 1990s, said Ellen Harvey, a spokeswoman for the United States Trotting Association.
Sgt. York will symbolize the death of the 40th U.S. president by walking saddled but riderless in the 10:30 a.m. procession in Washington, said Sgt. Leah Cobble, an Army spokeswoman. Six other horses will draw the caisson carrying Reagan's casket.
Reagan died Saturday at age 93.
The racehorse was born April 25, 1991, in Jamesport, N.Y., on Long Island, and was initially owned by a Princeton resident, Harvey said. Allaboard Jules' last owner was This Ones 4 Marvin Stable in Rahway.
In between, Harvey said, the horse ran 23 races, winning five, and earning $14,881 in purse money, over a three-year career that ended at Freehold on Jan. 26, 1996. Allaboard Jules tied for show in his final race that day.
The journey from Freehold to Washington began when Marie Dobrinsky, a New Jersey Racing Commission official, took note of the pacer, Harvey said.
Dobrinsky's son, Sgt. Frank Dobrinsky, belonged to the Army unit in charge of funeral horses, the 3rd U.S. Infantry, Caisson Platoon, at Fort Myer in Arlington, Va.
She knew the Caisson Platoon used only black or gray horses and thought Allaboard Jules was a fine fit.
'She spotted this horse because he's quite handsome. He's solid black, has a good demeanor, was unflappable,' Harvey said.
The horse was accepted in 1997 and has since served in hundreds of military funerals.
'They have teams of horses that pull the caisson, and the initial idea was that he would be one of those horses,' said Harvey.
But during the horse's training, the Army realized the animal's calm demeanor made him suitable to perform duties as the riderless horse.
'They had cannons going off, flags waving in his face, nothing upset him,' Harvey said.
