New Zealand eventing horse has ties to Bluegrass

Like the rest of her New Zealand team members, Caroline Powell has a country full of diehard eventing fans eager for any news of her efforts at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

In addition to her home support, however, Powell recently discovered why there may be a certain local contingent also crossing their fingers for her and her mount, Mac MacDonald.

Powell's 12-year-old gelding comes from a family with direct ties to Three Chimneys Farm, one of the more prominent operations in the Bluegrass.

Mac MacDonald, a Thoroughbred and Scottish sport-horse cross, is a son of Blaze O' Gold, who was born and raised at Three Chimneys and was himself a son of the farm's late stallion Slew O' Gold. Mac MacDonald's granddam, Lady Be Mine, who produced Blaze O' Gold, was also a daughter of My Advantage, one of Three Chimneys' original foundation mares.

Last week, Pat Melville Evans — who co-owns Mac MacDonald along with Powell — paid a visit to Three Chimneys to get a sense of where their high-spirited gelding came from.

"He's got a bit of an attitude, which I've now heard is somewhat common in that sire line," laughed Powell, who was in 27th place after the first two phases of the three-part competition. "This is really the first time he's done a competition of this level. It's quite a big step up for him, but it's good.

"He's not a natural big mover but he tries hard. It's more in the attitude and producing in the three days, not just the one day."

In addition to his local heritage, Mac MacDonald also boasts the kind of feel-good tale even casual fans can get behind.

As a 3-year-old, the chestnut gelding suffered a broken split bone in a hind leg that nearly resulted in him having to be euthanized.

Though it took about a year for the feisty competitor to be fully sound again, he has progressed steadily through the ranks. Powell and her mount came in fourth at the three-star Branham Horse Trials in June and 13th in the three-star Hartpury International.

"You know, he's a funny horse because we never really expected him to do novice, and then he did novice and we really didn't expect him to do intermediate and he did that," Powell said. "He's just gone on and on. At age 12 we're still figuring out what he can do."

This story was originally published October 3, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "New Zealand eventing horse has ties to Bluegrass."