Camp Hope, a 3-year-old son of Summer Front who made it to the winner’s final round on both the opening and closing days of Keeneland’s fall meet, will take on Class I company in Saturday’s Hollywood Derby in Del Mar. Intern Kenny McPeek carries the silk of Walking L Thoroughbreds owner, but his earnings go toward the important establishment he’s named after.
An intensive residential program in Houston, Texas, Camp Hope provides treatment for veterans with trauma and PTSD. The facility opened in 2012 and has since attracted more than 1,600 veterans.
“Camp Hope is PTSD America’s residential program,” explains Program Executive Director David Maulsby. “We bring in combat veterans from every era of war and every branch of the military. This is a peer-based program and lasts about six to eight months, although it can sometimes go up to a little more than a year. Everything we do is completely free for our veterans and their family members. It’s all about changing the trajectory of their lives and trying to stop the increasing suicide rate in our military.”
Scott Leeds, founder of Walking L Thoroughbreds, was drawn to support Camp Hope through his racing stable when he learned their goal was to reduce an average of 22 veterans going missing each day by suicide.
“The simple task of Camp Hope is for that number to become 21 or 20 or any number closer to zero than 22,” says Leeds. “Their goal is for these people to live a life free of whatever problems they may have. It’s about being able to go to the grocery store without worrying about something in the trash going to explode. You listen to these people tell their stories and it just makes you want to do more. ”
Residents of the Camp Hope facility celebrated when Hope Horse Farm won at its launch last October and draw attention to his name when he made it to GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile 2020, but they had to wait almost a year for him to get their next win.
David Mausby (far left) with Camp Hope staff and residents | Photo courtesy of PTSD Foundation
The game changed this summer when the foal moved onto the turf. After finishing in third place against Saratoga and the Kentucky Downs, Camp Hope beat the subsidized company more than five stages on Keeneland’s opening day and then won a second straight three weeks later at Bryan Station S.
The next morning, the residents of Camp Hope gathered for their weekly Sunday morning meeting. When the group sat down, Maulsby started playing video Camp Hope’s victory from the day before.
“I didn’t tell them what was going to happen,” Maulsby recalls. “I just said, ‘Hey guys, here are some great friends who are helping share our story and they’ve named their horse in honor of what’s happening here.’ When Camp Hope left, it was quite noisy inside the multipurpose building. They’re excited to see someone realize what’s going on here and want to tell the story to the rest of the world.”
Camp Hope’s residential program has seen a significant increase in attendance since the outbreak of the pandemic. In early 2020, their average occupancy is 65 residents. Today, that number has grown to 95.
“Many veterans who come to VA are asked not to return because they are closed for anything other than an emergency,” says Maulsby. “So our numbers go up not just with our visitor numbers here, but with our outreach programs.”
Maulsby shared the story of a recent graduate who visited the facility during the height of the pandemic. The Vietnam veteran has struggled with addiction and self-medication for five decades and is receiving help from the VA in his home city until they close.
“When they told him not to come back, he reformed. It was the only coping mechanism he had. About three weeks later, he had to be taken back to the hospital because of his addiction and because he committed suicide.”
A hospital staff member told the veteran about Camp Hope. After participating in the program for more than a year, he was only able to return home.
“He is connecting with family members who never wanted to be a part of his life because of his behaviors,” Maulsby said. “It is exciting to see that joy back in his life and to see family members return to his life after three broken marriages over the years. He’s rebuilding those connections, and he just goes to Camp Hope for all of that. ”
Despite the increased number of residents, the facility felt the impact of the pandemic when it was forced to cancel its annual sponsorship events last year.
Leeds explains: “Camp Hope is run primarily through fundraising events rather than the plethora of nonprofits that may have had the funding to keep up with the lack of events. “These people have had to scramble to find other ways to raise funds. Everyone who works here works seven days a week and that’s not all success stories. A veteran just graduated and this is his fourth time there. But they kept opening the door and saying, ‘Yes, we’ll try again.’ For the fourth time, he spent eight months there and finally had his success story.”
Leeds and his wife Dana first got involved in Camp Hope and the PTSD Foundation through their Colt Fighting Seabee (Summer Front), winner of GIII 2019 With Prediction S.
Camp Hope residents receive training in behavior modification, emotion management, anger management, and workforce development | Photo courtesy of PTSD Foundation
“For both Camp Hope and Fighting Seabee to be winners, we know the business and know that there is a very small percentage chance that it will happen, so there will be karma when we choose. those two horses [to race for a cause],” said Leeds. “The amount of money they make is huge and adds to what we already have for Camp Hope, but their ability to successfully use it to get the message across is the biggest benefit to me. Now that Camp Hope is being ranked, the opportunity for wider media exposure to share that this horse has an interesting name is for a reason. “
Leeds says that between Camp Hope and Fighting Seabee, more than $40,000 has gone to Camp Hope and the PTSD Foundation, including $13,000 from Camp Hope’s consecutive win at Keeneland last month.
“Going into the tournament at Keeneland, we expected him to win, but we didn’t expect him to win by five games,” he said. “The timing was right to put him in the race for a place on closing day. The horse has matured considerably as a year has passed and our biggest concern coming out of Bryan Station is that there are no grass races at Churchill Downs and we don’t want to slow down on one. The horse is in such a trench. We think the Hollywood Derby is a really good venue. It’s a step forward, but we’re pleased with how he’s put together. “
Leeds added that the trainer-jockey connecting Kenny McPeek and Brian Hernandez, Jr. shared his confidence in entering class I.
“Kenny’s response was this is the best form this horse has ever been in,” says Leeds. After the last race, Brian said he had a lot of horses under his feet, you can see this with the way he finished the race. Miles and an eighth are not a concern as he won the allowance at the same distance. I think it’s a good way to end the year. The way this pony has matured and with the surface changing, there are plenty of opportunities as we look ahead to its 4 year old campaign. ”
Walking L Thoroughbreds has been in the Thoroughbred business for less than a decade, but Leeds shared that it recently ventured into the game’s livestock sector with an ownership stake in the stallion in Lane’s End’s first crop. . The best.
Camp Hope takes the first bet in Bryan Station S. | Coady
“We have made the decision that for anything we own in relation to The best– the horses we breed for racing, any foals or foals we sell – proceeds will be shared with the PTSD Foundation. We like that because it’s something that will continue to dedicate ourselves to where we don’t need to choose a particular horse. Now it will be any horse that comes across The best relation.”
For Leeds, the pull to support these organizations came from his grandfather, both World War II veterans. Through exposure to the work done at Camp Hope, he says the programs become even more meaningful.
“Up until the day my grandfather passed away, the thing he was most proud of outside of his family was the time he served our country,” Leeds said. “World War II veterans don’t even know what PTSD is, but I do know for a fact that it was something that affected my grandfather for the rest of his life. I know if he knew what we were doing and what was happening at Camp Hope, he would want to talk about it with everyone he knew. It’s a little piece of land nestled in the suburbs of Houston, but to see what’s going on there, if we could tell one person every chance we got, I’d do it. These people touch your heart, know what’s going on there. It’s just a really special feeling.”
The holiday season is a busy time at Camp Hope. Volunteers arrived with dozens of smoked turkeys and twice as many freshly baked pies. Hundreds of gifts were wrapped and delivered to veterans’ families back home.
However, it is almost inevitable for a veteran to show up on their doorstep on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day.
“It was heartbreaking to watch,” Maulsby said. “You think, ‘How dark is your life when this is the day you leave your family and go on a show where you’ll be away from them for six months to a year?” But on the brighter side? of that, they are starting on that day the work that needs to be done to change the trajectory of their lives”.
“Some pretty amazing things happen on these 5 acres,” he continued. “We have a great community that supports us, and they understand that it takes more than a bumper sticker on your vehicle to support our military.”
For more information about Camp Hope and the PTSD Foundation of America, click here.
