Tex Sutton Equine Air Transportation, which has not utilized a dedicated aircraft for horse transport since the spring, is unlikely to have a company plane in use before Del Mar hosts the Breeders' Cup Nov. 5-6, Tex Sutton president Rob Clark said. Tex Sutton continues to act as an authorized agent for equine travel via FedEx.
The weeks surrounding the Breeders' Cup are among the busiest travel periods for racehorses due to the rich purses and the popularity of the two-day event. In years past, dedicated Tex Sutton flights have carried a large percentage of the domestically-based runners to and from the Breeder's Cup host site.
Tex Sutton first suspended use of a dedicated aircraft in early May, about a week after the May 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) at Churchill Downs. At the time, Clark was hopeful the company could secure a new lease for a plane and Federal Aviation Administration approval within a couple of months. That didn't materialize, and now Clark speculates that the company's entire operations may not resume until next year.
"We've talked to so many airlines to check. They come back and say, 'We just don't have the plane. We just don't have the pilots. We just can't accommodate you.' I've never seen anything like it," he said. "Normally, if the price is right, you can charter a plane. Even 747s, huge ones, put them all on one plane. We've pursued every lead the last few months, every lead we have. They all said, 'Let us look into it. We'll get back to you.' Unfortunately, they come back and say, 'We're not going to be able to help you. We don't have the spare aircraft.'
"We're gonna be able to FedEx these horses, just not in one load, but over a series of flights."
Dedicated aircraft and chartered flights allow Tex Sutton to schedule trips on demand and fly directly into certain airfields to minimize travel time. Horsemen prefer its ease of travel and that a barn's groom can accompany a horse.
Horses sent on FedEx travel alongside other cargo, and sometimes flights originate and land at airports not as conveniently located to racetracks.
Since the disruption of Tex Sutton's services in May, horses have traveled via FedEx for air transportation. As recently as this past weekend, East Coast horses traveled to Del Mar for major stakes races.
"And it's been working—we've been doing it since May," Clark said. "We've had people go and win their races."
Vanning horses to Del Mar for the Breeders' Cup is not a viable option for those trainers not based on the West Coast. Kentucky-based horses are more than 2,000 miles away from Del Mar via road transportation, those in New York over 2,800 miles.
"We are definitely looking at developing a Plan B at this point, getting a little nervous," said Dora Delgado, Breeders' Cup executive vice president and chief racing officer. "I did have information that we could charter a complete Fed Ex flight, put about 30 horses on it. But if we do that, it is the added inconvenience of all of the horses having to get to either Tennessee or Indianapolis, as that is both of their hubs.
"That's quite a van ride from both New York and Florida, if anybody has to come up. But generally, that is how Florida horses have gotten out to a California location because there are no Tex Sutton flights there, anyway. They wound up going to meet Fed Ex in Tennessee.
"We're keeping our options open. We're using Mersant International to handle all of our international shipping. They're very familiar with flights and loads and finding aircraft. So if our last resort is creating a charter of our own to bring the New York horses out to California, then that's what we'll do."
Neil Pessin, trainer of grade 1 winner Bell's the One, said he might wish to bypass this fall's Breeder's Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) with his mare if a charter isn't arranged. The late-running sprinter, who races for Bob Lothenbach's Lothenbach Stables, ran third in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint last year to Gamine when the Breeders' Cup was in Kentucky, where Pessin stables his horses in the fall.
"Mr. Lothenbach may still decide he wants to give it a shot, but I think you're at too big of a disadvantage," Pessin said of shipping via FedEx. "To me, I wouldn't do it with her if it were totally up to me. I think it's something Breeders' Cup needs to work out for people to go."
He has Bell's the One pointed toward the Sept. 18 Open Mind Stakes at Churchill Downs, a race that will leave her with the option of a follow-up start at Keeneland or awaiting the Breeders' Cup, if shipping does work out to his liking.
Clark suggested horses might need to arrive earlier this year than in the past, stretched out among numerous FedEx flights. Delgado said that is an option, with the Del Mar stable area there opening Oct. 24. She said that Breeders' Cup horses must be on site by the morning of Nov. 2, a day earlier than what had been the deadline for horses that compete on the second day of the Breeders' Cup.
Clark anticipates FedEx flights will be booked this fall into San Diego International Airport, which is about an hour and a half closer to Del Mar than Los Angeles International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in California.
Delgado said she understands Tex Sutton's difficulties in obtaining a plane, noting that international equine travel has also presented challenges.
"Trying to find aircraft to secure and get them shipping on the day we want them to come has proven a little problematic," Delgado said. "Cargo is in just high demand right now. With everything being back-ordered, every inch of cargo space, they're just not willing to give it up to live animals when they can stack boxes 10 feet high.
"It's live animals, and they're not crazy about that anyway, the potential for that to go awry. If we do find space, they want to put cargo and horses, trying to put a whole flight that is all horses, 24 to 30, really takes some maneuvering. But we'll do what we have to do to get horses out there for sure."
