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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Finalists were determined in each category by voters' top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point basis. Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first-place votes.View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
It was the Christmas present the horses involved didn't deserve, and one that horse racing didn't need. Last month, the Kentucky Humane Society's Equine CARE program rescued 13 horses from a Franklin County farm, including War Envoy, a former stallion and Royal Ascot winner. The news soared around social media and made it onto international news pages Christmas week. “Former Irish-trained one-time champion racehorse found 'starving in a cold mud pen waiting to die' in the US,” wrote The Irish News. “Ex-Aidan O'Brien Royal Ascot winner rescued in US from 'cold mud pen waiting to die,'” wrote British newspaper, The Mirror. Some of the horses were in a pitiful state. According to Olivia Dixon, equine manager for the Kentucky Humane Society, the rented residence wasn't set up for housing that many horses, with little to no shelter in the harsh winter. The horses were fed negligible amounts of hay, she said. One horse was found eating its own feces. Another of the horses rescued–a thrice-raced now 3-year-old colt called Mischief Humor–probably wouldn't have lasted long without swift intervention, said Dixon. “All the stallions were thin, but he was so critical,” said Dixon. “He got down at our facility a little over a week after he came to us. He's at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital right now being lifted with a lift because sometimes digesting food after they come into care takes a lot of energy.” What the case highlights, however, are several common features of a familiar problem. One spans the cult of celebrity. More to the point-the bigger the rescued star, the more likely they are to be rehomed. War Envoy was one of six Thoroughbreds rescued from the farm. They include Handsome Todd, a now 7-year-old colt who raced three times last year, and 8-year-old mare Primela, who last ran at Tampa Bay in early 2020, after being sold at the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock sale for $8,000. The Kentucky Humane Society has received several offers to adopt War Envoy, including from Mick Ruis, who raced the colt and stood him as a stallion. Ruis had also offered to adopt back another of the horses rescued from the farm-a 3-year-old filly he bred called Specific Vow. And while several people have expressed possible interest in some of the other horses, said Dixon, “in my experience with the exception of horses with notable accomplishments like War Envoy, some people want the horse soon after it's rescued but fewer people still want the horse after it's been brought up to weight and healthy, [and] evaluated later.” Another feature of the case is a glaring vulnerability in horse racing's approach to Thoroughbred aftercare: What happens to the countless broodmares and stallions no longer wanted in the breeding shed? “If you ask someone what they're doing with their retired racehorse coming off the track, they usually have an answer,” said Anna Ford, Thoroughbred program director for New Vocations, the nation's largest racehorse adoption program. “The next step is, what do we do with our retired breeding stock?” Ford added. “What are you going to do with your retired broodmares? Or your retired stallions?” War Envoy initially competed under the Aidan O'Brien banner for two seasons, during which time he routinely raced at the top table. In his stateside career, War Envoy made three starts for Wesley Ward before he was sold for $150,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Summer Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale and subsequently raced for owner-trainer Mick Ruis. Ruis stood War Envoy first in California and then in Pennsylvania. According to The Jockey Club, War Envoy's last active year as a stallion was in 2019, when he covered seven mares. According to Ruis, he kept War Envoy at his Wen-Mick farm in Kentucky when his career as a stallion was over. Ruis put the farm up for sale and was going to take War Envoy to his property in Montana. According to Ruis, an employee at the farm said a brother of a groom who worked for Jose DeLima wanted War Envoy for breeding purposes. DeLima has trained for Ruis. “We thought he was at a good home when we gave him away,” said Ruis. His farm sold in early September. Ruis is unsure when War Envoy adopted out, but he said he didn't know about what happened “until it came out on Twitter.” War Envoy remains under the Kentucky Humane Society's care while he undergoes treatment for malnutrition. Ruis provided the TDN with the name and address of the person who adopted War Envoy. According to Dixon, they don't match the details of the actual rescue, though she was unable to offer more details as it's an open criminal investigation. What this disconnect highlights, however, is yet another all-too-common feature of horse racing's aftercare problem-the way in which horses can change hands with little to no paper trail or system of notification. Indeed, according to the American Society for the prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the average horse will have seven different owners throughout its lifetime. Until the traceability problem is fixed, it's impossible to know exactly how many Thoroughbreds annually are slipping through the cracks and into bad spots, say experts. Is the industry actively working on a fix? “That's what we're trying to do,” said Shannon Luce, The Jockey Club vice president of communications, about the organization's traceability initiative, to update its database of digital certificates to ensure the right owner is matched to the right Thoroughbred. “We're trying to figure that out.” The Jockey Club has so far reached out about 5,800 Thoroughbreds that haven't had any activity over the last couple of years. Their overtures have so far focused mainly on sales companies and the racetracks. “We're sending emails saying, 'hey, you have horses that haven't seen any movement, and we want to know where they are. Can you please tell us where the horse is?'” said Luce. “They can reply that they're still in possession of the horse. They can reply that they've sold or transferred it for racing or breeding. It's been sold or transferred for non-racing. It's been consigned to a non-Thoroughbred auction or livestock sale, but it died. Or they decline to answer,” said Luce. Of those 5,800 Thoroughbreds so far, “there have been probably about 1,500 certificates move or change to a different certificate manager,” said Luce. These are all horses with digital certificates. “Later on, we're going to do the horses born in 2017 and before,” said Luce, highlighting older horses without digital certificates. Part of The Jockey Club's plan to encompass this older brigade is to send out surveys. The number of horses that need to be traced is no insignificant number. But the initiative currently appears to have limited visibility. “I wasn't even aware of that,” said Ruis, when asked if he had participated in it. “If I was aware of that, I would have stipulated it when they adopted him that they had to do that.” That highlights another key vulnerability of the initiative if it's ever to be adopted wholesale-that it's voluntary, with no ramifications for non-participation. “All of these things are good if they're used,” said Stacie Clark Rogers, operations consultant for the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA). That said, there are some programs tackling the traceability problem at the local level. “We put each case through an automated database runner that every period of time-depending on when they adopt it-they receive emails asking for updates. If [the adoptee] doesn't do the update, we get a trigger to let us know to reach out, so that I can say, 'hey, where's that horse?'” said Kyle Rothfus, co-founder of Mareworthy Charities, a not-for-profit organisation for retired broodmares. Rothfus has poured much time and energy into trying to understand the fate of this particular population. He recently ran the numbers of over 22,600 sales records from Keeneland's November and January sales between 2015 and 2024, and identified certain age thresholds when broodmares appear especially vulnerable to falling into the slaughter pipeline. His analysis identified the following: Median Sale Prices: For mares aged 16, the median price is just $13,000, declining to $7,000 by age 17 and $5,000 by age 19. In contrast, the average median price for mares aged 15 and younger is $25,000. Sales Under $10,000: 49.45% of mares aged 16 and older sell for under $10,000, while only 27.63% of mares aged 15 and younger fall into this price range. According to Rothfus, this highlights the increased risk as mares grow older and move into low-cost market segments. When time allows, Rothfus combs through the list of 23,000 mares released by The Jockey Club that could be introduced or returned to the breeding population, contacting their last known connections. “I'm taking that list and basically saying, 'let's track down the last-known owner. Where did they go? Who's the last listed owner?' And then from that we can build follow-up segments based on why the mare hasn't been in the shed,'” said Rothfus. “Currently it's me on my own with the board,” said Rothfus, about this approach. “We're still at the starting point on it.” Mareworthy's traceability program, said Rothfus, is based on the one used by New Vocations. “It's hard to keep track of a horse over seven different owners,” admitted New Vocation's Ford. But she has several tips for those looking to find a safe home for their retired Thoroughbred. One is to go through an accredited organization. The Jockey Club's online placement page is a useful centralized resource for some of the more prominent such outfits. Another is to stipulate in any contract or bill of sale that the new owners notify them of any future sale or transfer. “Anybody can put a contract together that states whatever your stipulations are when you sell or give a horse away,” Ford said. “In a lot of these cases there's no paper trail. And so, if one of these situations comes about and they can whip out a piece of paper and say, 'I had them sign this contract-it's right here,' publicly at the very least that would look a lot better.” Another approach boils down to good old-fashioned self-policing, especially in an environment of inadequate sanctuary space. “With some of these older mares, should you really be putting them into a third career?” said Ford. “Don't they deserve a nice retirement? Haven't they done enough already?” Some organizations are already taking this approach. “We figured we may as well be proactive instead of waiting around for some kind of rule that's passed, or some sales company decides to do something,” said Walker Hancock, president of Claiborne Farm. “We're taking matters into our own hands.” Starting in 2025, Claiborne Farm will no longer sell any mare that's 17 or older. Furthermore, for clients with these essentially retired broodmares, Claiborne will more than halve their day rate, to $10 a day. “Not that they were going to dump them,” explained Hancock. “But instead of perhaps selling them when they get a little older, they can know that they can live here for the rest of their life for a minimal charge. They'll be able to be turned out in their pasture with their buddies.” Such programs, said Rogers, help foster a broader sense of accountability, so that it might one day become a social “faux pas” to allow a horse in your care to slip into the wrong hands. “Remember when you could smoke everywhere? Smoke at work? Smoke in your office? And now you can't smoke more than 10 feet from your home,” said Clark Rogers. “Maybe it'll one day be socially unacceptable to say, 'I didn't know. I didn't know where my horse went.'” The post War Envoy Story Highlights the Vulnerability of Ex-Breeding Stock appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Dornoch (Good Magic), Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) and Fierceness (City of Light) in the Three-Year-Old Male category were among the finalists for the 2024 Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards, recognizing excellence through the past year in Thoroughbred racing, the National Thoroughbred Racing Associaiton (NTRA) said in a Sunday release. Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be announced on FanDuel TV, and other outlets, during the ceremony, presented by John Deere, Keeneland, and The Jockey Club, on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The evening will culminate with the announcement of the 2024 Horse of the Year. Of the 240 eligible voters represented by the NTRA, consisting of racetrack racing officials and Equibase field personnel, the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters (NTWAB), and Daily Racing Form, 208 (87%) took part in the voting. Finalists were determined in each category by voters' top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point basis. Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first-place votes. The 2024 Eclipse Awards Finalists, with the exception of Horse of the Year, (in alphabetical order) are: Two-Year-Old Male: Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie), Citizen Bull (Into Mischief), Gaming (Game Winner); Two-Year-Old Filly: Good Cheer (Medaglia d'Oro), Immersive (Nyquist), Lake Victoria (Ire) (Frankel {GB}); Three-Year-Old Male: Dornoch, Fierceness, Sierra Leone; Three-Year-Old Filly: Cinderella's Dream (GB) (Shamardal), She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}), Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna); Older Dirt Male: Full Serrano (Arg) (Full Mast), National Treasure (Quality Road), Straight No Chaser (Speightster); Older Dirt Female: Adare Manor (Uncle Mo), Idiomatic (Curlin), Raging Sea (Curlin); Male Sprinter: Cogburn (Not This Time), Straight No Chaser, The Chosen Vron (Vronsky); Female Sprinter: Society (Gun Runner), Soul of an Angel (Atreides), Ways and Means (Practical Joke); Male Turf Horse: Carl Spackler (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), Johannes (Nyquist), Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}); Female Turf Horse: Cinderella's Dream (GB), Moira (Ghostzapper), She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}); Steeplechase Horse: Carloun (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), L'Imperator (Fr) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), Snap Decision (Hard Spun); Owner: Godolphin LLC, Juddmonte, Klaravich Stables, Inc.; Breeder: Calumet Farm, Godolphin, Judy Hicks; Trainer: Chad Brown, Brad Cox, Kenny McPeek; Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione, Irad Ortiz Jr., Flavien Prat; Apprentice Jockey: Erik Asmussen, Gabriel Maldonado, J.G. Torrealba. Each finalist will receive two complimentary tickets to the Eclipse Awards, courtesy of The Jockey Club. During the live show, finalists for Horse of the Year will be revealed. In addition to honoring the 17 winners in the horse and human categories, Mike Gillum will receive the Eclipse Award as the 2024 Horseplayer of the Year. Members of the media will be honored for outstanding coverage in six categories. Click here for more information concerning Eclipse-related events. The post Dornoch, Sierra Leone and Fierceness Among Finalists For The 54th Annual Eclipse Awards appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
Interesting recollections, TAB. I recall being at Omoto races one year, the jockeys had to head south to Central in the middle of the then 4 day Coast circuit, most went through via the Lake Coleridge road , and then had to drive back. What a mission. Mentioned the potential risk driving/riding/driving/riding, all the while watching weight and negotiating holiday traffic to boot, to a local official enjoying the racing. He shrugged. They don't have to do it, he said, goes with the territory. Sure, it does, but highlights the complete disconnect of management from reality. BTW just to be a nitpicker, La Bella Nera is Parsons-owned and bred. A Cantabrian through and through. -
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