Spare a thought for the Little Sisters of the Poor who have spent three decades providing housing to elderly persons who do not have the means to live on their own.

Courtesy of a recent donation from Susan and Andy Beadnell in Warrensburg (USA), the nuns were recently made the proud owners of a thoroughbred weanling filly.

Unfortunately, whilst the nuns had no shortage of lawn on which to graze the filly, they did lack some practical expertise (and facilities) to raise a future race horse.

The 6 month old filly, named 'Poor Little Sister' was auctioned yesterday at Saratoga racecourse by the New York Breeders' Sales Co. The filly raised US$8,000 and as registered breeders the Little Sisters are also entitled to up to 20 percent of the horse's winnings in the future.

It would appear however that no-one explained to the Sisters that vendors should not, perhaps, raise multiple bids on their own horse to inflate its price (even in the interests of charity) - an article in the Post-Star reports that:

Sister Frances MacKay of the Little Sisters of the Poor order said when the bidding stalled at about $3,000, she took action - unwelcome by the auctioneer and sale sponsors - to raise the stakes.

"The bidding slowed down, so I stood up and raised my hand a couple of times to make sure the bids continued to go higher," she said. "They told me to sit down, or I'd own it. We had so much fun."

I can only imagine that there will be quite a few prayers featuring one horse in particular being offered in future years!