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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
You might have a lifelong passion for horses, and even devote your whole working life to their welfare. But sometimes there is no substitute for sitting on their backs. A few years ago, Dr. Jeff Berk took a vacation from his relentless schedule as an equine veterinarian in order to-well, spend a little time with horses. His next trip to Britain was not to Tattersalls, as usual, but to an eventing course run by two former Olympians. Though Berk was a perfectly accomplished rider, with years of foxhunting behind him, it was this experience that clarified the secret to horsemanship. “And that was that you don't muscle a horse,” he explains. “That's why a small, slight person can be a very good rider. Because it's not about your muscular development. It's about the shifts and balances, all the nuances and subtle signals you can give to a horse, so that if you're speaking their language correctly, they will do things automatically. Which becomes the most beautiful partnership there can be, between human and animal.” To Berk, exploring that rapport brought home the daily miracle he enjoys in engaging professionally at such close quarters. “I know they're ignorant in some ways,” he acknowledges with a smile. “But they're very intuitive creatures that want to do what you ask, so long as you know how to ask them. To me, that's phenomenal. To be honest, I think that the Thoroughbred horse is a gift from God, unique among the animal kingdom. I don't know any other animal as majestic.” Such admiration, however, only makes our accompanying responsibility more urgent. That's why this past president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners became a director of Light Up Racing, the sport's campaign to elevate understanding inside and outside its own community. But Berk also believes that each of us, beyond that proactive organization of collective messaging, owes the horse a less formal duty of vigilance; and that we need to think carefully about how the sales and breeding industries have evolved. He has been around the business rather longer than his youthful looks imply. In fact he had already cut his teeth as a racetrack veterinarian, at Thistledown in Ohio, before heading to Ocala in 1983 to start his own practice. Even before then, he had been saturated with animal lore. His father, a polo player and eventer (still riding daily at 95), was a veterinarian by trade; and during vet school at the University of Pennsylvania, Berk himself would spend summers at Delaware Park walking hots and grooming. “I became addicted,” he says simply. “There was no other path for me.” Recovering from a surgery, he decided to prioritize sales work and moved to Lexington, Kentucky, with Equine Medical Associates. But he is licensed at all points of the compass, home and abroad, and has duly been able to compare many different cultures and practices. And he admits himself “very troubled” by the way young horses are nowadays raised. He invokes one of his earliest clients, the old Farnsworth Farm, then the largest Thoroughbred breeder in Florida: between 300 and 450 mares, a dozen stallions. They raised their stock “properly.” “And I'm going to define what that is,” Berk says. “They were foaled out correctly, with great attention. Then the mare and foal would gradually be graduated: round pen, small paddock, eventually a big field, 50 acres plus, where they could run around with the rest. They were raised rough: brought up once daily to be fed and examined, the other 23, 23½ hours living outside. “Why's that important for the development of young horses? Well, it's not only mentally, as herd animals. At least as importantly, all that activity helps to develop the strength, flexibility, and health of all their structures. It's not just bone, but ligament and tendon as well. Everything gets exercised in the right way for the age they are.” Sure enough, these horses were so sound that they required hardly any vet work. But a world where adolescent animals are sometimes put through three sales cycles inside 18 months-weanling, yearling, 2-year-old-feels very different. “Every time a horse goes through a sale, what happens?” asks Berk. “Number one, they have to go through prep, which means a lot of time in the stall. And then maybe there are some little bone fragments. They really don't bother a horse, but they're hard to sell with those. So they undergo a surgery, and that's another month in the stall. “So it's entirely possible, when you're trying to buy a young horse for an athletic pursuit, that it may have spent two, three, four months in a stall exactly when it should be out exercising the way horses do when left to their own devices.” Little wonder, then, if Berk has observed soundness issues that were formerly less prevalent. “I'm not saying that 20 years ago nobody ever saw a high suspensory,” Berk says. “But we didn't see nearly so many of the things we do now that we're putting their bodies and minds under a level of pressure that's not normal for their age.” This is one of those vets who believes that intervention will often be a poor substitute for pasture. That's why he is grateful for clients with patience, something he finds more often when people work as a team. “When you rush horses, it never pans out,” he says. “It's about good decisions. Sales are when they are, there's no flexibility. But if people try to make a horse fit into a program, it may or may not work. Our business has evolved so that people tend to operate in silos, in their own unique space with a unique corporate structure. So perhaps every stakeholder's mission statement should address the collective responsibility we have, above and beyond corporate profits.” Berk challenges us whether commercial dividends banked by cutting corners on a particular horse can ever redress the wider erosion of credibility. “Breeding or racing, there's always a delicate balance between commerce and sport,” he says. “Get too far over, at either end, you're in trouble. There has to be a financial aspect, for it to continue. But think about the roots of the sport, in England and Ireland, under certain conditions-one being a pretty good base of horsemanship, an emphasis on the animal.” He reminds us that when horse vans were first introduced, to Victorian Britain, the sport remained seasonal, spring to autumn. Horses were all turned out for the winter months; moreover walking to race meetings was treated as part of their conditioning, and often the same was true of races themselves. “Now what have we evolved to?” asks Berk. “America being such a big country, we can race year-round. And the horse never gets a break. I'm not trying to reinvent American racing. It's just that if you asked what is ideal for a horse, then that is not. Berk also has concerns about the business model of trainers, though he stresses that this is hardly their fault: they have had to respond to the expectations of owners who select trainers according to win percentages. “There was a time when public trainers didn't even exist,” he says. “Working for Calumet, you may be famous, but you're still an employee. But now that people measure success by win percentages, nobody's going to run unless they think they can win. So the idea of using a race [for fitness] is gone. What do we have instead? Work, work, work, work; race; work, work, work, work; race. And we all see the unfortunate result, the horses that didn't pan out because they didn't fit the program.” To Berk's point about the winter break, studies have shown unequivocally that the spelling of horses will reduce breakdowns-because bone is living tissue, capable of wear and repair. “Every Thoroughbred is an athlete, and every athlete is subject to injury,” Berk remarks. “Almost all of them have some tiny little thing they're living with, and ignoring, because they love to run. Give that horse some time off, the little thing heals and they start over again. If you don't, the little thing becomes bigger. Unbeknownst to you, the horse starts to acknowledge it, feel it. They start to travel differently. A horse that might have a problem in a hind ankle is changing the way that it travels, and then goes and bows a tendon. And they say, 'Oh, shame, stepped in a hole on the track.' But the primary problem may have been brewing for weeks and career-ending injury could have been avoided.” Another side of this same coin, essentially of vigilance, is the contentious business of sales vetting. Here, changing practice tends to reflect technological advances: digital radiography and video scopes, for instance, being reviewable online. Berk has even done so for Arqana yearlings while working a sale at Saratoga. Long days, for sure, with X-ray requests at 2 a.m., and the completion of a vetting process obviously remains contingent on a trusted pair of eyes over the water. But none of this, in itself, results in an overly simplistic “pass” or “fail”. To Berk, the very expression suggests a misapprehension. Vets seldom trade in anything as basic as thumbs up or down. “These are very nuanced discussions,” he emphasizes. “All these things we're doing-X-rays, throats, physicals, ultrasounds-are about assembling information, to establish a level of risk. My job is very much like a portfolio manager, with a shortlist of potential investments. I'm trying to establish a level of risk based upon the information I'm generating. And then I need to be articulate enough to package it for the client, in a way they can understand. So the exact same horse, with the same information, may be suitable for one client and not for another-based entirely upon their own ability to absorb risk and their unique purpose for the horse.” As Berk notes, it is not as though any horse has an absolute commercial value. “Let's say that a given horse should bring around $300,000,” he suggests. “Would you pay $1 million dollars for that horse? Clearly not. But even if there are significant findings, would you pay $1 for it? Of course. Well, there's a number between $1 and $1 million, and the agent's job is to figure out what it is.” Over the years, all this coalface participation has confirmed Berk in one axiom: our first commitment should always be to the horse. Overall, he feels of a community that profoundly respects the animal; it just needs to be better at explaining that. Along with colleagues Dr. Wayne McIlwraith and Dr. Emma Adam, he duly loaded the Light Up Racing platform with the science to counter malice and misinformation. “We talk about collective responsibility,” Berk says. “Well, what if somebody walked up to you and said, 'What happens to horses when they're done racing?' or, 'Is it bad to race 2-year-olds?' Instead of shrugging your shoulders, I think you have a bit of a responsibility: go to the website and within five minutes you could have a good answer, or can at least point that person to one. “We need to be transparent and communicate what we're doing and why, without trying to gloss over anything that needs improvement. But when you hear things that aren't just negative, but baseless, we can now say: 'Number one, where are you getting your information? And would you be interested in some facts?' Because to combat the false narratives out there, we all need to take part in conveying the truth-the lovely truth-about what a wonderful sport we have.” The post Berk Lighting a Path to Keep the Horse Up Front 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
For the fifth straight year, the European Pattern Committee has reduced the number of black-type races, which chair Jason Morris says, "reflects the collective responsibility that the EPC member countries share towards enforcing quality control."View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Caitlin Courtney has been named the new Director of Sales at Denali Stud after eleven years working with St George Sales and Brookstone Farm. She succeeds Elizabeth Snellings who held the position for three years. “We are thrilled to have Caitlin join the team at Denali,” said Conrad Bandoroff. “She has extensive sales and industry experience, and we're looking forward to her bringing this skillset to Denali and our clients.” A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Courtney has grown up around the Thoroughbred industry and started working for St George Sales and Brookstone Farm after college. “I am really excited about this next chapter in my career at Denali Stud,” said Courtney. “I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have worked with Archie and Michelle for eleven years to help them grow into the operation that they are today and through their mentorship, I have gained a wealth of knowledge that will allow me to really excel in my new role. I appreciate all of the staff at their consignment and farm, and am looking forward to forming new relationships working with the staff and clients at Denali.” The post Caitlin Courtney Named Director of Sales at Denali Stud 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
A quintet of New York Sired/Bred's have been named finalists for Horse of the Year in the 2025 New York-bred Divisional Awards, announced by the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB) on Tuesday. The Horse of the Year finalists are: Bank Frenzy (Central Banker), Doc Sullivan (Solomini), Braverthanubelieve (Honest Mischief), Twenty Six Black (War Dancer), Sunday Girl (Central Banker). Graded stakes winner and MGISP My Mane Squeeze (Audible) was named a finalist in both the Champion Older Dirt Female and Champion Female Sprinter categories. A panel of New York Turf writers, broadcasters, handicappers, racing analysts and photographers will vote on the winners of each division and the 2025 New York-bred Horse of the Year. The 2025 New York-bred divisional champions, New York-bred Horse of the Year and other honors, including the new New York-sired New York-bred of the Year, will be announced at the NYTB Awards Dinner sponsored by the New York Thoroughbred Breeding & Development Fund from 6:30-9 p.m. Monday, May 11. The awards ceremony includes a cocktail hour, silent auction, and plated dinner. Formal invitations to follow. “The New York-bred Divisional Awards are an opportunity to recognize the excellence, commitment, and talent that define New York breeding and racing,” said NYTB President Lere Visagie. “This year's nominees exemplify the strength of our program and the people behind it. We look forward to celebrating the connections, farms, and professionals whose work continues to elevate New York on a national stage. It promises to be a memorable evening for our entire industry.” Tickets are available–$150 for NYTB Members and $175 for non-members–for purchase at www.nytbreeders.org/events. Tables of 10 are also available for $1,350 for NYTB members. Also to be honored at the event with 2025 awards will be Broodmare of the Year, Trainer, Champion Jockey, Outstanding Breeder, New York Sire of the Year and New York Farm Manager of the Year. Applications for submission for the New York Farm Manager of the Year are available here. A list of the 2025 New York-bred divisional championship nominees by category follows. Champion 2-Year-Old Male: Arctic Beast, Bravaro, Jaxer, Spirit of New York, Sunday Boy Champion 2-Year-Old Filly: Braverthanubelieve, Iron Orchard, Letmecounttheways, Oh, She's Country Champion 3-Year-Old Male: Iron Dome, Mi Bago, Mo Plex, Out On Bail, River Thames, Train the Trainer Champion 3-Year-Old Filly: Bernieandtherose, Five G, Usha, Valtellina, Vehemente, Zi End Champion Older Dirt Male: Bank Frenzy, Doc Sullivan, Jak N Burny, The Wine Steward, Whatchatalkinabout Champion Older Dirt Female: Bernietakescharge, My Mane Squeeze, Sterling Silver, Sunday Girl, Zi End Champion Turf Male: Mi Bago, Out On Bail, Rhetorical, Spirit of St Louis, Twenty Six Black Champion Turf Female: Awesome Czech, Mommy's Turn, Moonage Daydream, Spinning Colors, Trail of Gold Champion Male Sprinter: Dancing Buck, Doc Sullivan, The Wine Steward, Twenty Six Black, Whatchatalkinabout Champion Female Sprinter: My Mane Squeeze, Sterling Silver, Sunday Girl, Usha, Landed New York-Sired New York-Bred of the Year: Bank Frenzy (Central Banker), Doc Sullivan (Solomini), Braverthanubelieve (Honest Mischief), Twenty Six Black (War Dancer), Sunday Girl (Central Banker) The post My Mane Squeeze, Bank Frenzy, Doc Sullivan Head 2025 New York-bred Divisional Championship Noms 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
Last year a move to decouple Florida track/casinos from the requirement to conduct racing was passed in the Florida House, but a united horse group stopped it in the Florida Senate. The wolf was at the door and they got rid of it. This year the wolf is back. Churchill Downs says Fair Grounds without a casino will close. The wolf is at the door there too, and at every track without coupling. The coupling of tracks with casino/alternate gaming was a case of leverage. The casinos wanted in and racing used its political leverage to make it happen. Decoupling is a question of how long racing will have political leverage? Can we save live racing in states without coupling, like California? Yes. Live racing generates plenty of revenue, it just gets misappropriated. Last year, over $11 billion was bet on racing. If it all was bet at the tracks, live racing would have received about $2.2 billion. That kind of money can make or break many businesses, including live racing. Of the $2.2 billion up for grabs last year, only $550 million went to the host tracks, while $1.65 billion went to off-track bet takers. I believe more than $1.65 billion of off-track revenue is now going to the wrong people. I mean the off-track bet takers in and out of racing. They pay about 5% to live racing, but they keep 15%, just for taking the bets. That can change. What if live racing kept all of it? What if racing disrupted the off-track market and kept all of it? Technology says we can. Why can't our sport display a bit of “race riding” in the gambling market? We can amend the Interstate Horseracing Act (IHA) to deliver the full 20% takeout to the host tracks, and then pay a small commission to those taking off-track bets. That's how the lotteries work. They gross over $100 billion, pay 5% to gas stations and keep the rest. Racing can do the same. Technology is changing public behavior quickly. Ticketmaster changed us from paper tickets to phone digital entry overnight. What if Ticketmaster, or another company, took over off-track bets for the host tracks? If their fee was less than 5%, host tracks would receive over $1 billion in new money. This disruption in the gambling market could result in less handle for racing, but 20%, means live racing will net more money even if there was a 50% drop in handle. The IHA, written in 1978, has allowed off-track bet takers to gang up and drive down the price they pay host tracks. That's why host tracks get 5% and bet takers get 15%. We must amend the IHA to refocus the revenue on the live race produced, not where and how the bet is made. The host tracks are being starved of their own revenue by off-track bet takers. To be clear, the $1.65 billion going to bet takers is more than all of the purse money in North America ($1.1 billion). This new money to the host tracks will be in addition to coupling revenue. Combining the two means dramatic growth for live racing. Sports gambling is breaking all the rules. Prediction Market companies, like Kalshi, are barging into every state and cannibalizing the rest of the sports betting market. The big wagering companies, Fan Duel and Draft Kings, are planning far beyond racing. Their future is with the major sports and prediction markets. Every day the expenses to breed, train, feed and care for Thoroughbreds go Up. Every day the expenses to maintain and operate host racetracks go Up. Every day the expenses to take off-track bets go down. Look at the graph lines and decide which direction racing's political leverage should be applied. Right now, one party controls both houses of Congress and the presidency. Before anything changes, those with the means for political leverage can act for the racing's future. Track owners, the HBPA, THA and TOC need to look at the numbers and see the impact of amending the IHA to deliver all of the off-track takeout to the host tracks. I believe they will see more than $1 billion in new net revenue for them to split. The folks who stopped decoupling in Florida took direct action to save live racing there. Now they can join others and scale up for a national effort to amend the IHA and assure, by federal law, the protection of live racing's off-track revenue. John Gaines hired me to sell the concept of the Breeders' Cup to the industry. We started by lining up every major owner and breeder and published the growing list of names every week until those holding out were forced into support of what has become racing's biggest idea. Perhaps some leaders will step up now and start such a list to amend the IHA. As trainer D. Wayne Lukas said about his strategy to win, “Go to the front and stay there.” Amend the IHA and give live racing a chance to go to the front and stay. The post Letter to the Editor: Coupling, Decoupling and Disrupting appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
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