HOUSTON – “Mattress Mack,” otherwise known as Jim McIngvale, proudly showed a photo of one of his race horses.
He has owned and raced horses for years.
He used to have 30 horses at the now-evacuated San Luis Rey Downs in Southern California. When he heard the barns had burned and the horses evacuated, his heart melted.
“They opened the stall doors and let them all out. They all ran down the track, ran around the track, and then came back to their stalls. They, like, committed suicide. So it was horrible,” he said.
More than two dozen horses died.
Hundreds of others and their keepers quickly relocated.
McIngvale found the grooms a place to sleep.
“Unfortunately (fire) killed several of the race horses and all of the track people that live in the track that take care of the animals moved to Del Mar. So they needed mattresses so I called our Sealy guy and we got them mattresses.”
The mattresses started arriving over the weekend. More will arrive this week.
“We delivered like 60 mattresses on Saturday and we’re going to deliver another 50 or 60 tomorrow. I’m a big animal fan. I love race horses, love the grooms who take care of those horses, the least I can do,” McIngvale said.
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McIngvale’s generosity made headlines around the world as he opened his furniture stores as shelters during Hurricane Harvey.
"The best thing about Hurricane Harvey was it brought us all together. Democrats, Republicans, we all came together to help people. And I think if we do more of that we will have a better place and less problems,” he said.
Now more than 100 of the people who care for the evacuated horses will have a place to sleep.
“God bless those animals that suffered that horrific fate and all the people of California that suffered that horrific fate. We know what it’s like,” McIngvale said.