King of Prussia Is The Epitome Of Giving

The holiday season is the universal time of giving. Genorosity and kindness are widely associated with this time of year. With the retirement of Princess of Sylmar in September, King of Prussia Stable, so vastly spoken of for their class and sportsmanship over the past couple years, slowly dissolved from the talk of the racing public. Although King of Prussia currently has no horses in training, Ed Stanco has continued to work his good natured magic from behind the scenes. In typical fashion, the ever benevolent King of Prussia Stable once again helped another dream come true.

I became friends with Dana Steidle this past year. Dana, such as myself, is a huge fan of Princess and runs the Princess of Sylmar fanpage on Facebook. I’ve come to find Dana with an unwaveringly kind personality and growing love for the sport of Thoroughbred racing. For the majority of her life Dana has lived with Charcot Marie Tooth, a form of muscular dystrophy that affects the nerves in the hands and legs. CMT causes weakness and pain and makes tasks such as walking, and sometimes even moving in general, difficult to accomplish. Her blog “Here I Am, On My Way” describes what it’s like to live with CMT.

Dana first saw Princess of Sylmar through her TV screen the day of the 2013 Kentucky Oaks during a time when her disability was giving her great difficulty. Taken back by her beauty she watched the chestnut filly roar to victory at her longshot odds. Though it wasn’t until the Alabama that Dana’s love for Princess really began, and following that victory at Saratoga she began following the filly more closely and set up a fanpage for her on Facebook. “Princess of Sylmar came into my life when I needed something positive,” Dana said. She said she loves the sport of thoroughbred racing so much because the horses are able to run so beautifully, something her disability forbids her to do.

And so, in 2014, Dana made it her mission to find a way to attend one of Princess of Sylmar’s races. She made and sold bracelets to help raise money throughout the year to fund her trip. Princess’s retirement came before Dana had the chance to attend one of her races, but that didn’t stop her. It was then that Ed Stanco, Taylor Made, and Ashford whipped together a trip for Dana to meet Princess before she was sold the following month. Dana and her mother drove from their home in Texas to Lexington, Kentucky where Dana finally had the chance to meet the horse who changed her life on October 10th.

Dana got to visit Ashford, WinStar, and attended her first horse race at Keeneland aside from meeting Princess. She said her times in Kentucky were some of the most magical in her life. “Following Princess and the world of horse racing has changed my life so much. Not just in the opportunities it has given me, but in the way its changed who I am as a person,” she wrote in her blog.

But that wasn’t it. King of Prussia currently has two yearlings on Sylmar Farm, one a sibling to Princess. In early December Ed Stanco and Sylmar Farm officially registered the only sibling ever to carry the purple and blue silks of King of Prussia Stable under the name “Steidle”, after the girl who inspired us all.

Dana is just as much as a member of the King of Prussia team as the rest of us. I can’t express how incredibly happy I am that she was given the chance to meet the horse who changed her life and who she loved so dearly. She deserved it more than anyone else. King of Prussia is the gift that keeps on giving. Both Dana and I have had dreams come true thanks to the copious generosity of the individuals at King of Prussia Stable and they are ultimately the epitome of giving.