Lainey Ashker knew there was something special about Patch since first seeing him in a photograph. This is a story of "nags to riches." Color it red, white and blue. In two weeks, a 7-year-old gelding named Anthony Patch (aka Alex) will be representing the U.S. on one of the world's shiniest equestrian stages - at an Olympics test run in Hong Kong.

If not for the keen eye and warm heart of Lainey Ashker, he might have had a one-way ticket to the glue factory."We saved him from the meat market," Ashker recalled of a 2004 experience on a farm in Northern Virginia.For a bargain-basement $2,500, Ashker bought Patch, a "retired" Charlestown, W.Va., racehorse with a hyper personality, and helped transform the 16-hand bay into a possible Olympian.

"Right now, we're on a long list. But if we do well in Hong Kong, our chances skyrocket," said Ashker, 23, a graduate of the Steward School and the University of Virginia. She was speaking of her "chances" of being selected for the'08 Summer Games in Beijing.

Ashker, who grew up on Crow's Ear Farm in Goochland, first saw Patch in a photograph. She spotted something in him others didn't. She acted just in time. His previous owners had labeled him "unridable," and his days were numbered. "He was wild - so wild we could hardly get him in the trailer," she recalled. "But you could see how talented he was."

Once the horse was given a new home in Goochland, he underwent a major change in temperament."I think we figured out what his problem was - he was scared to death - simply terrified - of cattle; and they were all over the place [at his previous stable]," Ashker explained.

The team of Ashker/Patch will be one of two representing Uncle Sam in China on Aug. 10-12. They were selected based on a yearlong accumulation of points at various shows around the country.

WHY HONG KONG? For equestrian events, host nations hold a "mock Olympics" one year before the actually competition. It is to determine if the conditions - weather, stables, surrounding environment, etc. - are suitable for a world-wide accumulation of horses.

Horses aren't always as quick to acclimate themselves to new surroundings as people. The mock run is to work out the "bugs."Patch will be shipped to Hong Kong via FedEx with a weeklong layover in London.

Patch makes one request: no cattle, please.

( courtesy www.inrich.com )