By Darla L. Pickett
Staff Writer

MADISON $ The young horse that had to be put down after she collided with a police cruiser early Wednesday morning might have been destined for great things.

The three-year-old registered thoroughbred carried a bloodline that went back to Man o' War, an ancestor of Seabiscuit, chronicled in the movie by the same name, according to its owner.

Kim Norris' horse, named Morning Star's Jubilee, had just started her training before it ran into the cruiser and broke its leg at 1 a.m. Wednesday, she said.
"Her mother was actually right there standing on the other side of the fence," said Norris, who with her daughter, Kendra de la Cruz, run Morning Star Stable on Old County Road.

Morning Star's Jubilee had been designated as a "missionary horse," Norris said.
"When we sold her next year, the money was to go to a missionary (Onesimus Project) in Africa that works with street orphans $ many of whom are suffering with AIDS," Norris said. "We expected to receive from $10,000 to $12,000 for her when she was sold."

Her daughter, de la Cruz, said she went to college with a friend who is a missionary with the Onesimus Project, an Assemblies of God Church program in Lalongway, Malawi, Africa.

"I try to teach the kids about supporting causes, so I had dedicated this horse to that project," she said. "We were going to breed her when she turned four; we had already paid the stud fee."