Owner Conference Series Concludes with Aftercare Panel
- By Admin
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- 09 Dec, 2021
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“Start thinking about your exit strategy before you even have a horse,” she said. “Aftercare should not be an afterthought.
| The 2021 Thoroughbred Owner Conference series held its final session Tuesday, December 7, with a panel focused on the importance of Thoroughbred aftercare. Held virtually this year in lieu of an in-person conference, the series was hosted by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association
and presented by Bessemer Trust, Dean Dorton Equine, Stoll Keenon Ogden, and Stonestreet Farm. The free conference series, which consisted of 10 virtual panels on a range of topics, attracted nearly 1,200 registrants from seven countries. All sessions were recorded and are available to registered guests. “The 2021 virtual Thoroughbred Owner Conference series has been a remarkable success by just about every measure,” said Gary Falter, project manager for OwnerView. “There have been over 5,500 views of the live and recorded panels, and the feedback from attendees has been incredibly positive.” Following the success of the 2021 online series, OwnerView plans to continue with another series of ownership panels in 2022. More information on the dates and topics will be released in January. Tuesday’s session was sponsored by Canterbury Park and Gainesway Farm and moderated by Kristin Werner, senior counsel for The Jockey Club and administrator of the Thoroughbred Incentive Program. Panelists were Michael Blowen, founder of Old Friends; Stacie Clark, operations consultant for the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA); and Erin Crady, executive director of the Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA). Clark spoke on the work of the TAA, which accredits aftercare organizations and provides funding to support those organizations. She said that she has been heartened by the publicity from positive stories of horses being retrained and rehomed in recent years, giving owners confidence that their horses can thrive off the racetrack. “What has really been amazing is an owner can come into the sport and know that there is an option for their horses and there is a safety net,” she said. Blowen agreed, noting that “there’s a new awareness not just when these horses are racing and breeding but also when their racing and breeding days are over.” Old Friends is a sanctuary facility that is home to more than 200 stallions, mares, and geldings that experienced varying levels of success on the racetrack and in the breeding shed. These horses serve as equine ambassadors during public tours of the property, which raise money for the farm’s operations. The TCA provides grants to approved non-profit organizations that work toward improving the lives of Thoroughbred racehorses and the people who care for them. Crady emphasized that racehorse owners should be including aftercare in their business plans from the onset and that it is critical for horses to be retired while they are still sound to maximize their career potential beyond the racetrack. “Start thinking about your exit strategy before you even have a horse,” she said. “Aftercare should not be an afterthought. “A sound Thoroughbred is so incredibly versatile. Don’t push for that one last race.” The session started with the presentation of the 2021 New Owner of the Year, sponsored by The Stronach Group and 1/ST RACING, to Boat Racing. Boat Racing owns a handful of horses via yearling sales, 2-year-old in training sales, and pinhooking, but their primary claim to fame came from their significant minority share of Hot Rod Charlie, who won the grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby and grade 2 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby in 2021. He also placed in this year’s Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve and Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets (both grade 1). “We’ve fallen in love with this sport and fallen in love with these majestic animals,” said Patrick O’Neill of Boat Racing. “We’re hopeful that we’ll be a part of this industry for many years to come.” OwnerView is a joint effort spearheaded by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to encourage ownership of Thoroughbreds and provide accurate information on aspects of ownership such as trainers, public racing syndicates, the process of purchasing and owning a Thoroughbred, racehorse retirement, and owner licensing. The need for a central resource to encourage Thoroughbred ownership was identified in the comprehensive economic study of the sport that was commissioned by The Jockey Club and conducted by McKinsey & Company in 2011. The OwnerView site was launched in May 2012. |
Equineline and T.I.P. today announced the launch of a new report centered on Thoroughbreds in their second careers. The bespoke report provides information to off-track Thoroughbred owners and those shopping for a Thoroughbred, including pedigree, race record, the last 10 workouts, a list of the horse’s siblings, auction history, and produce record if the subject horse is a mare that has been bred. OTTB Profile (Equineline Report 9OT) is available for $10. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/OTTBProfile or https://tjctip.com/About/FAQ.
As a token of appreciation for 14 years of support, the report is offered for free to any Thoroughbred with a T.I.P. number through your T.I.P. account. New T.I.P. numbers will have access to the report 30 days after application. To access the report, log in to your account on the T.I.P. website and click OTTB Report. For questions and assistance with your account, visit the FAQs at https://tjctip.com/About/FAQ.
f you visit Anne Kursinski’s Market Street facility in Frenchtown, New Jersey, you might notice a striking bay gelding with a broad blaze and four white socks being ridden by one of her students or her partner, Carol Hoffman. You might wonder about his breeding—until you remember that for Kursinski, a member of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame, nothing can beat a good Thoroughbred.
“I am a huge fan of the Thoroughbreds, no question,” said Kursinski, 65, who famously rode ex-race horse Eros to team silver at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. “Thoroughbreds are intelligent and athletic, brave and light.”
The newest Thoroughbred in her life—Bobby Socks, so named in honor of his four white socks—became part of the Market Street family in 2022, after a chance conversation at a horse show between Kursinski and her longtime friend and retired show jumper Mary Chapot.
Lindsay Turcotte didn’t expect that a morning at Century Mile Racetrack in September 2020 would change her whole world, but it did.The racetrack traditionally held a special open house the week of the Grade 3 Canadian Derby to preview the contenders and allow the public to meet the horses’ connections. In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was open only to owners and trainers, but Turcotte (no relation to Secretariat’s legendary jockey) got an invitation from a friend and came to watch the Derby horses work out at the Alberta track.
Congratulations to Mikayla Hoffman and her Alberta bred partner Heavenish Hall on receiving the Alberta Horse Trials Association2022 Year End 'Thoroughbred of the Year' Award – Sponsored by the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society – AB Division.
Mikayla also received the Top Rider of the Year (sponsored by AHTA).
Heavenish Hall was bred and raced in Alberta by Doug Clement & Darlene Harder. The Fisher Pond gelding started five times but finished no higher than fourth.
Best of luck in the upcoming 2023 season to this outstanding partnership!
Recognizing the growing need to champion an underserved population of the Thoroughbred industry, the Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) announced today that the 2023 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, will include a pilot program for a broodmare division of competition. Recently-retired broodmares will compete alongside traditional Makeover entrants in all ten offered disciplines, but will be pinned and recognized separately, competing for a separate pot of $10,000 in prize money.
An Alberta, Canada based FREE LISTING SERVICE geared towards re-employing racehorses, pony horses, broodmares at the end of their career(s) in the racing industry.
“If an owner wishes to mark their certificates as 'Retired From Racing,' there's a process to do that for Thoroughbreds that are registered with The Jockey Club,” Bailey said. “It involves returning the completed form, which includes the notarized signature of both parties, photographs so that we can verify the identity of the horse, and The Jockey Club Certificate of Foal Registration to our office so that it can be recorded and stamped accordingly.”
T.I.P. Announces Shows & Youth Ambassadors for 2022, Expanded Championships at Thoroughbred Makeover
The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.) today announced that it has approved more than 7,000 awards and classes at more than 1,400 shows in 46 states and six Canadian provinces in 2022.
Awards are available for multiple disciplines, including eventing, dressage, Western and English pleasure, hunter/jumper, endurance, barrel racing, and polocrosse. A full calendar of shows offering awards is available at tjctip.com/CalendarOfEvents and will be updated as show dates are confirmed.
An Alberta, Canada based FREE LISTING SERVICE geared towards re-employing racehorses, pony horses, broodmares at the end of their career(s) in the racing industry.
T.I.P. Announces Shows, Award Offerings, and Youth Ambassadors for 2021
The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.) today announced that it has approved more than 7,000 awards and classes at more than 1,500 shows in 42 states, Puerto Rico, and six Canadian provinces in 2021.
Awards are available for multiple disciplines, including eventing, dressage, Western and English pleasure, hunter/jumper, endurance, Western performance, games, and polocrosse. Awards are again available at some events for Thoroughbreds within their first two years of showing or for Thoroughbreds within two years of their last start.