McMurphy has some thoroughbred royalty in his veins.
One of four former racehorses found starving and abandoned amid tires and toxic waste near a northwest Miami-Dade canal, McMurphy is a direct descendant of Bold Ruler, the Hall of Fame thoroughbred and Preakness winner.
Recommended Videos
Bold Ruler is most famous as the father of the greatest racehorse of all time, Secretariat. He was also the grandsire of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew (as well as Kentucky Derby winner Spectacular Bid).
Bold Ruler is McMurphy's great great great grandsire. McMurphy, a gelding who last raced in 2011 at Calder, was a modest success at the track with 12 wins, seven places, and seven shows in 67 starts in his career, won 12 races and had seven places and seven shows with $152,200 in earnings. In addition to Calder, McMurphy also raced in Arlington Park near Chicago. You can see his full pedigree here.
McMurphy was the worst off of the four abandoned horses, completely emaciated and suffering from rain rot and bad sores. On this website McMurphy's owner is listed as "Andy Williams" and his trainer as "Andy P. Williams." One should make no inferences based on that information, however, as the horse could have changed ownership more than once before he was found on death's door in the C9 canal basin.
The area is notorious for illegal horse slaughterhouses.