HE IS the Hampshire racehorse who is set to become a star after being forced to give up the track.

Spangles’s racing career ended after he was found to have a severe back condition but now he is the (long) face of a stage play.

The 10-year-old thoroughbred, who lives near Romsey, was roped in to help publicise An Italian Straw Hat, the comedy which will play at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton this week. 

The Maskers Theatre Company, who will bring the French play to the stage, made Spangles a star after choosing him for a one-of-a-kind photoshoot. 

The Southampton-based theatre company performed with Spangles in one of the most famous scenes of the play.

Clive Weeks, web designer and photographer for the Maskers, said: “Spangles has been lovely. He was very friendly with us and tried to do what we asked him to do. He definitely is a star.”

Spangles was asked to run in the field and pretend to eat a straw hat - a key incident at the start of the play which sets of a chain of comic events.

“Of course we didn’t make Spangles eat a real straw hat. We made a proper one for him with the hay that he usually eats but he only decided to eat it when he went back to the stables. He was really fun,” Clive said. 

Spangles belongs to Megan Karina-Stephenson, a 19-year-old from West Wellow, who bought him five years ago when his racing days were over.

he rode him until a vet discovered that his vertebra were damaged due to being ridden when he was too young. 

“Megan was thrilled when we asked her to borrow Spangles for the photoshoot. She loved the idea of Spangles being a star,” said Clive.

The pictures featuring Spangles will be now be displayed at the Nuffield Theatre while the play is running. 

Ruth Kabble, marketing manager for The Maskers, said: “It was the first time we worked with a real animal and Spangles because has been brilliant. He loved having his picture taken.”