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First of all, I would like to wish my readers and Camelclutchblog.com staff a very Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays. Whatever you celebrate, I hope you have a great holiday.

Now, as many of my readers know, I have written several blogs about my favorite sport, thoroughbred racing. I have written previews and reviews of the Triple Crown races, and the Breeder’s Cup Championships. I also have written blogs about deaths of horses such as Strike the Gold, and Alydar. I have written about the retirement of Bodemeister, and my encounter with 2011 Horse of the Year, Havre de Grace. Horse racing has it’s ups and downs, but I just love writing about it.

One horse in particular that I have written about frequently is a horse named Paynter. To refresh your memories, Paynter is owned by Ahmed Zayat’s Zayat Stables, and won the 2012 Haskell Invitational after finishing second in the Belmont to Union Rags. Soon after the Haskell, Paynter became very ill, and wound up in a fight for his life as he battled both colitis, and the beginnings of laminitis in three of his four hooves.

Paynter eventually defeated the laminitis and was fighting off the colitis, but was still having fevers. He was sent to the New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania, and underwent a successful surgery to remove a 15 inch abscess from his digestive tract. After his recovery, he went to Fair Hill to recover, and is now up to 1080 pounds.

Well, I have a wonderful update on Paynter. He is going to run again. According to tweets of Ahmed Zayat, Paynter will return to trainer Bob Baffert’s barn on December 29, 2012. (https://twitter.com/jazz3162/status/282630252247789568).  Paynter had passed various tests, and will go back to California to resume training.

If one wants to talk about a Christmas miracle, this is the best example of one. It is absolutely amazing that Paynter, who at one point was near death, is about to embark on a return to the races. People think Broncos QB Peyton Manning or Vikings RB Adrian Peterson are having great comebacks? People should pay attention to this four legged equine.

I went through so many emotions with this horse. On twitter, I was doing everything I could by praying for Paynter and the Zayats. I did what I could to support Mr. Zayat.  This horse really meant a lot to me, and many others. When this horse and the Zayats were having a “bad health day,” we Paynter supporters were not having a good day. When Paynter and company were having a great day, we Paynter supporters were having a great day.  We would put #PowerupPaynter or #prayforPaynter on our tweets.  As Paynter got stronger, the Zayats and we supporters would put #horseofsteel, #hero , and #warrior.

All the prayers, and comforting the Zayats, and each other has paid off. Of course, God and the doctors are the ones who deserve all the credit. Paynter’s strong will to survive also was very inspiring. He even inspired me in my personal life. I am so excited to see him back on the track training. I look forward to seeing my equine hero back in a post parade for the first time in months.

To quote Al Michaels, “Do you believe in miracles?”  My answer: OH YES!

So, let’s POWER UP PAYNTER!

UPDATE:  On Wednesday, December 26, 2012, Paynter and his connections got more wonderful news. On HRTV, Penny Chenery, the owner of Secretariat, announced Paynter as the winner of the Vox Populi Award for 2012, sponsored by Secretariat.com.

Paynter, as well as Shackleford were both added to the original list of nominees as I wrote in a previous blog ( http://camelclutchblog.com/paynter-shackleford-added-to-vox-populi-award-voting/).

As his fan, and speaking on behalf of “Paynter Nation” (coined by one of my twitter followers @QueenofSuites), I am very proud. Congratulations Paynter and his connections.

Terri Bey currently blogs for CamelClutchBlog.com about Wrestling, NFL, and other sports/pop culture related subjects. Her work has appeared in BleacherReport and for F4WOnline.com. Terri can be found here at Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/TerriBey and at Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/giopontifan

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