Darby at the Derby

As a young Irish Catholic couple born and raised in the heart of Boston, Kevin and Kate Cleary longed to live as their ancestors had many years before.Lexington, Kentucky, a sister city to County Kildare, Ireland, seemed the perfect place for the Clearys to make their new home. They purchased a small starter farm in nearby Bourbon County named Haven's View. Their teen daughter, Darby, had loved horses since her earliest memory, so to her, it was Heaven's View.On the day of the worst ice storm in the county's history, one of their two mares gave birth to the first foal.Even novice horsemen like Kate and Kevin knew that something wasn't quite right when they discovered the newborn cold and making no attempts to stand and nurse. The family had sunk every penny into this farm and all their hopes were riding on the new foals. As Kate held the tiny new life in her arms, she felt as though she was watching her dreams die along with him. With the country roads iced over, the vet could not help them. All they had to work with was the instructions the vet gave them by phone, a mother's instincts and a girl's love for a colt that she'd already named Darby's Delight.