By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea Two major questions arise when horses first retire from racing: where will they go, and who will fund the next chapter of their lives? For individuals not cut out for the breeding shed, welcomed home to a private farm, or placed into a program to be purchased for a second career, the future can be dicey, especially since these horses are no longer earning a paycheck. While...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea "Thoroughbreds are too high-strung." "Thoroughbreds have horrible habits from being in so many places." "Thoroughbreds are too big and can't make tight turns." Those quotes are just a sample that riders of off-track Thoroughbreds have heard while revealing their mounts' former lives. But those who know the truth about riding OTTBs are trying to change that perception of the...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea The Pennsylvania chapter of the Communication Alliance to Network Thoroughbred Ex-Racehorses (CANTER) recently awarded $500 scholarships to three off-track Thoroughbred owners in the Mid-Atlantic region to further promote their riding and training education. The awarded funds for the Becky Julian Scholarship are to be used for training purposes, including riding lessons, clinics...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea If you're an owner or trainer in Maryland with a racehorse that needs to retire and you have no connections in aftercare or other equine disciplines, where do you turn? A new organization is aiming to be the answer. The Maryland Horsemen's Association, the Maryland Jockey Club, Maryland Thoroughbred Breeders Association, local jockeys, and other racetrackers saw a need to help...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea An initiative launched by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation gives donors an opportunity to help provide for the care of a former racehorse while getting the feel of horse ownership without the added responsibilities. If a donor chooses to become a sponsor, which starts at $250, the TRF will send regular updates on the horse and may allow visits as well, depending on the...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea The Little Red Feather partnership has been at the forefront of innovation for Thoroughbred ownership groups. From launching in 2002, the group now has more than 300 active partners, has successfully crowdsourced a winner through their LRF Thoroughbred Fund , and now is stepping into aftercare. Through a new 501(c)(3) organization called Little Red Feather Cares launched in...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea Just as most of us horse-crazy people have done, Jeff Tow-Arnett found himself enamored with an off-track Thoroughbred named "Noah" after seeing an online listing. "I read Noah's biography and I said, 'That's the horse I want. I don't need to read (about any others), that's the one that I want,'" Tow-Arnett said of Nowhere to Hide , an also-ran in the 2009 Kentucky Derby Presented...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea Geno's Bambino is being fine-tuned by his owner Kate Anderson for the upcoming Arapahoe Park meet. But the 6-year-old Decarchy gelding is doing more than just breezing like a typical racehorse in training. Anderson and the Golden Creek Equine staff have been training "Geno" in classical dressage and even experimenting with some trail work when he's not at the track. "I took...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea An hour after Always Dreaming crossed the finish line first in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), the colt's trainer made an announcement about his Derby prize, a new Ram truck. "I will definitely take the truck because it has significant sentimental meaning to me," Todd Pletcher said. "But I'd like to donate the value of the truck to Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea On the first Saturday in May in 2006, crossing the finish line 8 1/2 lengths back from the ill-fated Barbaro , a grey runner ran across the wire of the 132nd Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) at Churchill Downs . In Pennsylvania, Gail Thayer was watching the race, not knowing that one day the horse she saw run third would one day be in her barn. Around three years...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea Bridging the gap between racing and riding has always been a key component to successfully moving retired Thoroughbreds off the track and into new homes. Since not all racing owners and trainers have the ability and time to track down potential new owners for their former charges, and not every area is serviced by an aftercare organization, where can they turn? The Retired...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea Dreams of conquering a four-star course or cruising around a show ring aboard a stylish, square-kneed hunter, ending the day with a plethora of blue ribbons, are familiar for many equestrians. Of course, the ribbons and glory came from spotting the perfect diamond in the rough—a strikingly beautiful Thoroughbred who just didn't want to run and was retired sound and ready to...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea While ending up in the winner's circle is ultimate goal for Thoroughbred owners, one partnership tries just as hard to find homes for former charges once their racing days are over. Ten Strike Racing—which is run by Marshall Gramm and Clay Sanders, plus 25 other partners—campaigns graded stakes placed Allied Air Raid and already counts more than 80 wins since officially combining...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea For the first time, Thoroughbred aftercare will have a deserved spotlight in a part of the larger international racing conversation. Coinciding with the Pan American conference in Washington D.C., the newly established International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses (IFAR) May 17-18 hopes to highlight many topics including the promotion of Thoroughbreds in second careers...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea When Thoroughbreds reigned supreme in the hunter-jumper ranks, the road from racetrack to show ring for horses was mostly through connections made with people who knew their way around the backside. As the dynamics of aftercare and sport horse purchasing changed in the age of the internet—and with the rise of many aftercare organizations participating in retraining—the path...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea Soon after multiple graded stakes winner Kid Cruz was pulled up in a claiming race at Aqueduct Racetrack March 19, his breeder, Machmer Hall's Carrie Brodgen tweeted : "Just got the call, Kid Cruz is coming home! He has a tendon, but will be fine. Gelding, vacation and 2nd career next!" Kid Cruz winning the Dwyer Stakes. Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand Brodgen, who...
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Since launching tours in 2015, Horse Country has given the public an opportunity to see inside Kentucky's top breeding farms where Thoroughbreds are foaled and raised—but now they are adding another location to show what happens to Thoroughbreds once their racing careers are finished. Starting March 18 through the "Meet The Neighbors" tour, the Maker's Mark Secretariat Center (MMSC) will be opening...
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Annora, a 6-year-old daughter of Nobiz Like Shobiz, stood quietly in the aisle of the Kentucky Equine Humane Center barn as she received treatment through a Cytowave Equine blanket on her back, and began to doze off. ...
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A group of off-track Thoroughbreds in Sydney, Australia has found a second career not too far from their first one. The Australian Turf Club's Mounted Security Division, which was formed in 2010 to patrol race days and other events at the four area tracks, uses former racehorses as their mounts of choice. ...
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As the 2017 Thoroughbred Makeover is shaping up to be the largest in its relatively short history, Erin Shea of BloodHorse talked to RRP's president, Steuart Pittman, about the effect the event has had on the off-track Thoroughbred market throughout the last few years. ...
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By: Erin Shea, @BH_EShea The inaugural $12 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park created a whole lot of buzz with its unique set up, the rematch between California Chrome and Arrogate , the largest purse in the world, the Pegasus Win-Win Sweepstakes, and its own branding initiatives calling racegoers to "be part of history." However, it wasn't just the race or the sport...
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In the last few years Thoroughbred aftercare has evolved from a small handful of charities helping horses in need to a booming movement with its own large events, market for horses, and even off-track superstars. But those inside the aftercare industry say there is still a lot of work to be done. ...
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