Thoroughbred Racehorse Retirement

Update- Riding for Their Lives

2010-05-14T19:14:00.001-07:00

WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 2010

CROSSING PATHS WITH HEMINGWAY
CROSSING PATHS WITH HEMINGWAY

The ornate stone carved-stone grandstand where Ernest Hemingway used to hang out when he played the horses in the early 1920s in Paris, today sits empty in decaying splendor.
“We can’t tear it down,” said one racing administrator, “ because it’s registered as a heritage site.”
http://ridingfortheirlives.blogspot.com/

Check out this awesome fundraising effort!

2010-05-05T19:26:00.001-07:00

https://www.firstgiving.com/trf
http://ridingfortheirlives.blogspot.com/

Thoroughbreds in eventing show their natural stamina

2010-04-29T05:46:00.001-07:00

That I am hopelessly in love with thoroughbreds is no secret. Lately however, I am obsessed with one off-track thoroughbred, The Foreman. I just returned from Rolex, the Four Star 3 Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park. I was up close for all of The Foreman’s performances with the amazing Philip Dutton on board. Philip was second this year on a different thoroughbred, Woodburn. The Foreman finished 6th out of ____.
The Foreman moves me to tears every time I watched him. I guess he exemplifies the spirit we dedicated horse rescuers see in every off-track thoroughbred.
Many thoroughbreds compete in 3 day eventing and they often the breed of choice. Thoroughbreds in eventing have long careers, as long as they are sound. The Foreman is 13 years old. He finished 6th year. He won Fair Hill twice and has been runner numerous times in world class events. Most top event horses are in their mid and even upper teens.
Thoroughbred racing and people in the thoroughbred breeding business need to think beyond the few years that a thoroughbred usually races successfully. Breed for stamina. Stop racing a horse before it wears out or gets hurt.

Watch The Foreman in these video. If you love thoroughbreds, he will move you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3lfHSdGd5I

Thank you Mike Repole and NYRA

2010-04-05T07:17:00.001-07:00

We want to say a special Thank You to Mike Repole and NYRA! Wood Memorial Day at Aqueduct was a great day for thoroughbred retirement. It was Retirement Awareness Day and with the enthusiasm and generosity of Mike Repole, it was one of the best days I have seen for our cause in my 27 years of working with the TRF. NYRA has always been a champion of this cause. But coupled with Repole’s efforts and the retirement of Cool and Collective to Old Friends, the day seemed to reach a new height in concern, awareness and generosity among the fans who came out and visited with us. Additionally, because of the stake races that day, there were many prominent owners and government officials in attendance thereby raising the awareness level among people who can make a difference. We should build on this model and repeat it.

I like this blog

2010-03-25T10:00:00.001-07:00

http://www.racehorsecharities.org/blog1/

ASPCA Initiative to Help Retired Racers

2010-03-03T04:45:00.001-08:00

The ASPCA has created an initiative, made possible by a donor, which will help retired racehorses.
“Many thoroughbreds rarely live out their final days in peace and comfort when their racing careers are over,” ASPCA President Ed Sayres said. “Too often, they end up at auctions or worse, are sent to slaughterhouses where their lives come to a brutal end. These grants will enable organizations devoted to equine rescue the ability to save more horses and further advance their mission.”

Hay is Stacking Up

2010-03-01T08:47:00.001-08:00

Three hundred bales in the first day! People love donating for something so specific and they are impressed when they see how much hay it takes to feed our horses.

Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation Hay Drive

2010-02-28T07:28:00.001-08:00

STACK IT UP!
TRF Launches the Spring 2010 Hay Drive

TRF launched a new fundraising drive this year: the Hay Drive. By May 1, 2010, TRF hopes to raise $300,000 to help feed its herd of 1200 retired thoroughbred racehorses. This fund drive will be primarily through the internet and giving by text.

“We chose our hay usage as the illustration for raising these funds because hay is the mainstay of our horses’ winter diet. People don’t realize what it means to feed 1200 horses. By talking in terms of the number of bales of hay it takes, we hope that people can realize the magnitude of what the TRF does.” explained TRF’s Executive Director, Diana Pikulski.

You can sponsor as many bales as you choose at $5 each.

http://www.thoroughbredretirement.net/images/TRF-Hay.png

NYRA sets no tolerance policy on slaughter

2009-12-10T19:43:00.001-08:00

http://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/stories/Dec102009.shtml

2009-10-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

Paragallo Horses at Wallkill

From Paulick Report- Suffolk in Good Hands

2009-10-20T19:18:00.000-07:00

By Ray Paulick
Richard Fields, the owner of Suffolk Downs in East Boston, Mass., is no shrinking violet when it comes to business. The one-time owner of the Catch a Rising Star comedy clubs became a real-life apprentice to Donald Trump and later trumped The Donald on a billion-dollar deal to develop the Seminole Indian tribe’s Hard Rock casinos in Hollywood and Tampa, Fla.

But by all accounts Fields is just an old softie when it comes to animals. He is a generous supporter of horse retirement and retraining programs, including the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and CANTER New England. Under his urging, Suffolk Downs became the first track to establish a policy banning trainers whose horses ended up being sold or transported to slaughter plants. He’s also been a longtime supporter of the American Quarter Horse Association Foundation and many of its youth programs, through the Fields Family Foundation and Jackson Land & Cattle, his ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where Fields keeps some retired Thoroughbreds himself.

“I wish we had 10 track owners like him,” a prominent New York Thoroughbred horseman recently told me.

Fields bought Suffolk Downs in 2007 when it appeared the track might be on the ropes for the second time in 20 years. Suffolk was closed for more than two years until the late James Moseley took control and brought it back to life in 1992. During his all-too-short tenure as chairman of the board (Moseley died in 1998), Suffolk Downs enjoyed a revival, highlighted by back-to-back victories in the 1995-96 Massachusetts Handicap by two-time Horse of the Year Cigar. But the economics worsened following Moseley’s death, and Coastal Development, a company owned by Fields, bought controlling interest with the hope of bringing Suffolk Downs back to some semblance of its glory days.

The track opened in 1935 to more than 35,000 fans, and over the next 20 years, crowds upward of 60,000 showed up to see such racing stars as Seabiscuit, War Admiral, Whirlaway and Stymie. The Beatles came to Suffolk Downs for an infield concert in 1966 that attracted more than 25,000 screaming fans. A few years later, legendary Major League Baseball team owner Bill Veeck (as in wreck) took over management of the track, which by then was in steep decline, bringing his unique and sometimes outrageous brand of marketing to horse racing. (Veeck sent a midget to the plate as a pinch hitter when he owned the Cleveland Indians, had the first exploding scoreboard with fireworks at Comiskey Park in Chicago, dressed his 1970s version of the White Sox in shorts, and had the mother of all bad promotions in 1979, disco demolition night, which resulted in an inside the park riot and cancellation of the second game of a doubleheader ).

There are a couple of odd holdovers from Veeck’s short-lived management of the track: a huge, wood-paneled office he had built, complete with fireplace, overlooking the turf club dining room and racetrack. It currently sits empty, as something of a tribute to Veeck. Adjacent to the office is one-of-a-kind shower, with a dozen evenly-spaced water jets, that Veeck would use after making his morning rounds on the backstretch. (Veeck had a “peg leg” he removed for bathing purposes and apparently had difficulty using a standard shower.)

Back to Fields. He’s done more than demonstrate a real concern for the animals who are at the heart of this game. His humane policies on that front attracted the attention of horse owners Tracy and Carol Farmer and trainer Nick Zito, who cited Fields’ anti-slaughter position when deciding to race recently retired Commentator in the 2008 MassCap. In addition, while recognizing the importance of good corporate citizenship, Fields and his management team have instituted a number of outreach programs, headed by the Community Winner’s Circle, which recognizes individuals and groups who have dedicated themselves to worthy causes in the surrounding communities. It’s a special Saturday program that runs over the first two months of the meeting each spring.

Suffolk Downs is also the host of the Greater Boston Walk Now for Autism. In its first year in 2007, more than 16,000 walkers circled the dirt track, and the 2008 walk attracted more than 20,000 individuals raising money and awareness for the Autism Speaks charity. All told, the track supports nearly 90 charities.

Fields said his goal when he bought controlling interest of Suffolk Downs was to keep Thoroughbred racing alive in New England, and he injected new life immediately by increasing marketing budgets with an eye toward rebuilding the fan base. But he has bigger plans for the facility than simply offering live racing. He hopes to get legislative support allowing him to build a destination resort casino at Suffolk Downs, something that hasn’t been easy to accomplish.

The drive for a resort casino led to the formation of the Coalition for Jobs and Growth (click here for information). Among other things, the organization’s web site keeps an ongoing tally of how much money Massachusetts residents are gambling in the neighboring states of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Maine (the current amount exceeds $700 million for the year). Fields and his management team are hoping to convince legislators that a resort casino in the Boston area (as opposed to a racino or racing operation with slot machines) offers the best chance to greatly increase tax revenue to the state and revive horse racing at Suffolk Downs.

Is this native New Yorker (Fields was born and raised in the Bronx) practicing good corporate citizenship and providing a safer haven for horses merely as a means to convince legislators to pass the casino legislation? I don’t think so. But even if that was the case, he is giving horse racing a good name in New England, a major market that has a great and long association with the sport. It’s a market we can’t afford to lose.

Good piece about Richard Fields of Suffolk

2009-10-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

http://www.paulickreport.com/blog/good-news-friday-sponsored-by-liberation-farm-suffolk-downs-in-good-hands/

2009-10-11T18:33:00.001-07:00

Report of Current Thoroughbred Racing Industry Equine Retirement Efforts as of October 2009

The goal of the TRF is industry-wide institutional funding for humane retirement for all healthy thoroughbred racehorses. This report and blog will keep interested people and organizations aware of the progress or regression in reaching this goal and creating an open forum for discussion of ideas and other issues.

General Industry Funding Efforts:

The Jockey Club Checkoff- Beginning in 2009, one can voluntary check-off to donate on their foal registration applications in the amount of $25, $50, $75, $100 or amount of choice. This money with up to $200,000 in matching funds from TJC are split between Thoroughbred Charities of America (for distribution to annually accredited retraining and adoption facilities) and The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s Programs at state correctional facilities. This results in a minimum $200,000 donation from The Jockey Club companies.

Blue Horse Charities- created by John Hettinger, Blue Horse collects a voluntary percentage of transactions at the Fasig Titpon sales and distributes funds according to the number of horses adopted out by approved thoroughbred adoption agencies.

“Ferdinand Fund”- created in 2006 by Bill Heller and the Horsemen’s Association- raised $20,000 +/- in 2008

· $2 - $25 or more per start from owners

· Voluntary $10 matching fee for every one of it’s 1000 members when they renew their annual membership

· Funds split between Thoroughbred Charities of America and Blue Horse Charities

CARMA

· Every California Thoroughbred Racing track participates

· 1/1/08, CHRB enacted rule change allowing for a .3% deduction from purses with opt-out option for owners

· Funds are awarded to 501 (c) 3 organizations upon application and review.

Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association-

· Started in 2007, voluntary check-off option of $10, 25, 50, 100 or amount of choice for new and renewing members

· All Funds distributed by Thoroughbred Charities of America to annually accredited retraining and adoption facilities.

NTRA Safety and Welfare Alliance-

· As part of its racetrack accreditation program, the NTRA has established a very basic standard for retirement efforts by tracks. The standard states that to get accredited, every track must associate with an equine rescue/retirement/adoption charity. The standard is woefully weak but according to Mike Zeigler, is the best that they could do for the first round of accreditations. He blames resistance by the tracks for this weakness. In their defense, to build on these requirements in the future, Mike set up a subcommittee of thoroughbred retirement experts and racing officials. I am on this committee and our goal is to report on the progress of tracks across the country in their retirement activities and build consensus on a meaningful and useful set of standards.

Racetrack or HBPA Programs that fund retirement and guarantee placement of horses:

Suffolk Downs

· Suffolk Downs Racetrack donates to TRF and Canter NE for placement of all horses that retire from Suffolk.

· On-track volunteer coordinates applications, surrender stalls, care and feeding of horses before transport to TRF.

Philadelphia Park

· Created 5/08 by PTHA with seed money of $50,000 from PTHA in 2008 and $50,000 from Philadelphia Park

· Mandatory 100% participation from owners and trainers, whether permanently there or not

· $10 per start from owners, and Jockeys donate $10 per winning mount, $5 per second place

· Proceeds of approx. $16,000/month going to “Turning For Home”

· “Turning for Home” is “in-house” located at Phil. Park and their function is to place horses with people or organizations and make a donation from the monies collected to care for those horses.

Penn National – Racefund

· Racefund operates on donations from the Penn National HBPA .They place retired horses with existing organizations and pay $5 per day per horse for as long as the horse needs to be retired.

Programs/racetracks provide funding assistance to retirement agencies:

NYRA

· An interim donation from NYRA, NYTHA and NY Jockeys to TRF until a systematic plan is in place.

Arizona HBPA

· “Second Call”- Charge $1 per start for every horse with provision for opt-out

$175/mo/horse to accredited equine non-profit

AZ racing commission put 5% of all fines levied against licensed personnel aside for this fund.

Emerald Downs

· “The Prodigious Fund” created 2/16/08 kicked off by a $5,000 from Ron Crockett personally, President of Emerald Downs

· Owners contribute voluntary $1 - $100 per start; Emerald Downs matches dollar-for-dollar

Indiana HBPA

· Donates to qualified organizations that accept Indiana raced horses.

Churchill Downs

· $50,000 Matching Gift program

Monmouth Park

· Monmouth Park and NJTHA donated $20,000 to Rerun New Jersey to assist with placement of horses retired from racing at Monmouth. Rerun also maintains an office at Monmouth Park.

Delaware Park

· Delaware Park and the Delaware HBPA donated $20,000 to CANTER-Mid Atlantic whose volunteers visit the track every Saturday and offer free sales listings to trainers and owners looking to move their ex-racehorses onto second careers.

New York T’Bred Horseman’s Association

Calder

· Calder donated to Pure Thoughts, an equine rescue, to start a Thoroughbred division and build an 8 stall barn strictly for Thoroughbreds. Operates by word of mouth at the track. Trainers/owners fill out retirement application.

· Pure Thoughts asks for a one time donation for one month’s care, roughly $300, from previous owner.

Other types of racetrack retirement assistance:

Turfway

· Trainers let Turfway know if they want to retire a horse. There is a designated ‘surrender stall’ in the pony horse barn for the retirees to be put in. Turfway covers all feed, bedding, care expenses until the horse leaves to go to the KY Equine Humane Center. Per Barb Borden, about 40 TBs are retired from Turfway per year, all go to the KY Equine Humane Center

· Sallee Van Service donates their services to move the horses from Turfway to the KY Equine Humane Center They also have volunteers that do this.

A small number of breeders and individuals also make an effort to locate horses that they have bred and or raced to retire them or find them homes at the end of their careers.