New Breeding Hub Launched on Kick Up Platform

[Wandering Eyes]

The Kick Up team in Australia has launched a new Breeding Hub to tackle misinformation head-on, following the public backlash after the death of Black Caviar last year when much of what was shouted about the breeding industry was said to be incorrect.

“We saw, very aggressively and loudly, possibly for the first time, that there was a lot of criticism towards the breeding industry, and a heck of a lot of misinformation came along with that,” said Nathan Skrivanic of Kick Collective, who is part of the Kick Up team that spearheaded the effort to put together the hub.

“When the particularly controvsial ABC article came out, we had a lot of people calling asking Kick Up to help address the lies that were being told. However, all our work needs to be anchored with real information – stats and science – and we'd created that for racing only. It became clear that a resource to correctly communicate about the complexities of breeding, simplified in a way the public could understand, was also very urgently needed.”

The Breeding Hub breaks down the information into four sections, focusing on foaling, broodmares, raising and weaning foals, and the process of conception itself. Each section contains several blogs that go more in-depth into relevant topics.

Kick Up relies on sponsorships to put resources together, while Kick Collective doubles the impact by matching sponsors with in-kind resources. Skrivanic credits international thoroughbred owner Rick Gold, recipient of the 2024 Thoroughbred Owners of California's Ed Friendly Industry Service Award, for his regular contributions to the organisation.

“Rick has fallen in love with the Australian industry, and despite actually being based in California, he is our biggest sponsor. His generosity has provided the base funds to ensure we can keep ticking over each year,” Skrivanic added.

The project has also received widespread support from across the industry, including hefty donations from Godolphin Australia, Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners Association and OTI Racing, amongst others, and collaboration with the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Association.

For more information about Kick Up's Breeding Hub, click here.

The post New Breeding Hub Launched on Kick Up Platform appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article