Magna Fortuna, a nearly 3-year-old gelding, ran his first race Dec. 26 at Hawthorne Racecourse, coming in ninth in a field of 12.

His 16 owners include Cynthia Cherry-Schif of St. Charles, who said she never dreamt she would be part-owner of a racehorse, let alone one of such a grand lineage.

“I volunteer at the Illinois Equine Humane Center,” Cherry-Schif said. “I was involved with horses 20 years ago [and now] that my son is in college, I said I just want to be with horses. I don’t care if I have to shovel … and carry water buckets. I just want to be around them ... My husband said, ‘Don’t you come home with a horse.’ ”