Racing In 2036: Carrie Brogden and Arnold Berger

[Wandering Eyes]

What will racing look like in 10 years? We asked some of racing's best and brightest to give us their predictions. Want to submit an answer? Email suefinley@thetdn.com

CARRIE BROGDEN, MACHMER HALL

First of all, I am an eternal optimist by nature. With a game-changing program in the works by 2036, I believe that you will see a complete reversal in the gargantuan problem we currently face with aftercare.

I am beyond sick of seeing all the ISO posts on social media wanting to buy riding horses but the last two words in almost ever ad ends in 'NO THOROUGHBREDS'. I mean, what other breed of horse sells 16.2 hands high, fancy and sound geldings for $3,500? The answer is none. Only the Thoroughbred does.

They have become the pariah of the show hunter world. They have no value because there is no demand for them. It is like going into an animal shelter and seeing that all there are for adoption are pit bulls because only the hard core breed enthusiasts actually want them.

From the 1950s to the 1990s, Thoroughbreds dominated show hunters, jumpers and eventers. We even had non-Thoroughbred classes because there were so few other breeds!

An analysis of the Show Jumpers Hall of Fame revealed that 18 of its 20 inductees were Thoroughbreds–highlighting their former dominance. But as warmbloods grew in popularity due to their rideability, placid demeanor, etc., many top trainers shifted their focus and owners largely stopped investing in Thoroughbreds to ride.

We need to make owning and riding second career Thoroughbreds cool and lucrative again. I am on the USHJA Thoroughbred Task Force with amazing dedicated and passionate people and we are proposing and developing the creation of a long-term incentive program designed to reverse this trend and re-establish the Thoroughbred alongside the warmblood as a competitive and desirable sport horse.

The response to those I have pitched it to on both racing/riding Thoroughbred world has literally been overwhelming and I am often giddy with joy thinking about the potential.

The problem with second careers is not the horses, it is the demand for them. I mean have you ever heard of a fundraiser for a warmblood retirement farm?

We are designing and creating a Hunter Derby series of classes exclusively for Thoroughbreds competing in existing rated USEF horse shows.

I am talking about $75,000 classes, which includes OBSCENE prize money in the riding horse world and not even the purse for a maiden special weight at Turfway Park in the race world– culminating in a $200,000 Thoroughbred-only final.

The goal is to create a program strong enough to endure. I was inspired by Mr. Gaines vision for the Breeders Cup. We have the Thoroughbred world racehorse championships. Why can we not have the Thoroughbred equestrian championships giving both sides of their careers importance and value?

Start with the show hunters, then the jumpers, then the eventers, etc. The Thoroughbred Renaissance series is what I see!

Offering high-dollar, Thoroughbred-only classes and a championship will capture the attention of leading hunter trainers, encourage reinvestment in Thoroughbreds and demonstrate to racehorse trainers and owners the value of second careers for these horses.

Can you imagine the ripple effect? TOP hunter jumper trainers and riders would be posting ISOs of a THOROUGHBRED!

Demand would skyrocket literally overnight. Geldings and fillies coming off the track would be scouted well before “that one last race.” The doors would open and every top riding barn in the country would be seeking Thoroughbreds off the track for its second career to develop.

If we build it and fund it…they will come. We can create a THOROUGHBRED ECOSYSTEM so by 2036 our horses are valued and beloved during their racing careers and after.

ARNOLD BERGER

In the next 10 years, racing must face very difficult times if it does not change all the different regulations throughout the country, also the structure of purses and state breeding programs must combine all their resources

As a lifelong fan who saw Secretariat defeat Key to the Mint in the Garden State Stakes in 1972 the stands if I remember there where 30,000 fans in the stands. Only time you see that today is very few days.

There should be a national breeding and reimbursement plan for all tracks and horsemen to share in as there will fewer tracks, notably Gulfstream and Santa Anita will be gone for the land is too expensive to keep as a race track, unless a national syndicate of owners, farms, and states get together to buy the facilities.

Sorry to be so negative, but I also saw simulcasting 25 years ago causing loss of interest in going to tracks.

 

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