Unless Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare finds a consistent and deeper source of funding, Puerto Rico's sole outfit for handling the rehoming of retired racehorses will have to shut down in January, according to the organization's co-founder Kelley Stobie.
CTA resources have been hit particularly hard this year with a flood of low-priced racehorses being imported from the United States to take advantage of higher purses at Camarero Race Track. Most of these horses are claimers picked up at lower-tier tracks and already toward the end of their racing careers. Because they are inexpensive horses, they are sent to Puerto Rico by cargo ship, which costs $1,400 versus $2,500-$3,000 to ship by plane. The grueling journey by boat requires the horses to endure days in a cramped shipping container. The stress of the trip often predisposes these horses to further health problems, such as respiratory illness or laminitis, after they've arrived at the island.
The resulting spike in Puerto Rico's at-risk racehorse population is overtaxing CTA's resources. The organization, which has found new homes for more than 200 retired racehorses since 2017, typically takes in about 40 horses annually and between January and June of this year had already received 38 horses that could no longer race.
"We have a problem now with owners bringing in horses from the States. Some of these horses are even on vet lists at other racetracks, but no one is using the InCompass system to check," said Puerto Rican breeder/owner Eduardo Maldonado with prominent farm Potrero Los Llanos and CTA board member. "They come to Puerto Rico, and they fix them up a little bit, and they start racing them. The horse breaks down, or he gets hurt, and then some of these owners go bring in another cheap horse by boat.
"This makes it look like everybody in Puerto Rico doesn't take care of their horses and that is far from the truth," Maldonado continued. "I recently went to the barns to see my 2-year-olds, and all the horses—I went into three or four different barns—all the horses that I saw were in beautiful condition. These horses are really well taken care of, and 95% of the owners are people that are really responsible."
CTA relies primarily on donations to cover its annual costs, which have doubled this year because of the increase in horses. According to a report in June by the Center for Investigative Journalism in Puerto Rico, the organization received last year $27,977 from the Puerto Rico Horse Owners Association, $7,912 from the Puerto Rico Breeders' Association, and $5,580 from Camarero. The Horse Racing Industry and Sport Administration, a bureau under the authority of the Puerto Rico Gaming Commission, did give the CTA a one-time donation of $60,000 in 2020.
For 2021 through July, the CTA's expenses have been around $208,000 but its donations have totaled $163,000, according to Stobie.
"We've got more horses than ever, and you have to remember we are the only aftercare in the United States that has to quarantine and fly horses," Stobie said. "We spend $150,000 a year just flying. Right now, we're in the red every month by about $10,000 to $12,000. We're using our reserve money, our emergency money, every month. I've told everyone, I've only got enough to keep me going until January. If I don't get more money before then, I'm going to have to close. Then what are we going to do with all these horses?"
Statistics compiled by the veterinary clinics at Camarero show about 20 horses already are euthanized each month.
"A big reason (for the euthanasia) are really run-down horses that probably shouldn't be racing anymore," said Dr. Jose Garcia Blanco, a veterinarian and bloodstock agent who buys for the Confederación Hípica of Puerto Rico, the largest of the island's two Thoroughbred owners' organizations. "Horse owners out there have been increasingly buying these horses that get discarded from third- and fourth-rate tracks in the U.S. A lot of these horses eventually get euthanized because they're either going to be lame for the rest of their lives or we just don't have the room. As an island, we're geographically and economically challenged."
Malibu Sunset, an 8-year-old son of Bernardini, is a recent example. The gelding last raced in the U.S. in August 2020 at Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack as a $5,000 claimer. He raced 30 times in the U.S., winning 13 times and placing in 11 other starts. MC Racing bought him privately and sent him to Puerto Rico on a cargo ship in November 2020. The horse raced three times at Camarero from Jan. 23 through March 18 of this year, winning once and earning $5,040 before he was so lame he could not continue racing. Malibu Sunset was donated to Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare, which had to euthanize him in early August, according to Stobie, co-founder and chief financial officer of CTA.
"Because of horses like him, I want to cry every day," said Stobie. "He had screws in his right fetlock and should have been retired before he came here. He came by boat and suffered that horrible trip and was an honest racehorse, as honest as they come. He didn't deserve to be euthanized. There has to be more protection for these horses."
A big step toward providing that protection would be to carve out a consistent source of funding for the CTA. Many Puerto Rican owners and breeders believe that support should come from a piece of the handle or revenue from video lottery terminals, which are fueling the strong purses and attracting horses to the island.
Many U.S. tracks provide robust funding to aftercare programs. Gulfstream Park and the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, for example, contributed $1,375,000 for aftercare in 2020, according to Aidan Butler, chief operating officer of 1/ST Racing.
"Not only do we believe in implementing practices and procedures to protect the health and safety of horses, but we back that up with critical financial support," Butler said.
From January through July, Camarero reported a total handle of more than $96.04 million. If the track continues to average $13.7 million per month as it has for the first half of the year, it will report a year-end total handle around $164.4 million. Total handle has not been this high since it reached $162.8 million in 2011.
The racetrack's take from VLTs also has been more than $32.8 million for the first six months of the year.
"The racetrack really needs to get more involved. They are the main actors here," said Maldonado. "They need to get more involved in these image-related issues, and they don't. Aftercare should be funded by a piece of the handle or the VLTs because it is the ultra-most important issue right now for racing everywhere. We need the racetrack to understand and say 'yes.'"
Camarero is privately owned by a group of shareholders that acquired the track in 2007. The racing operation is actually run by the Puerto Rico Gaming Commission, but racetrack management and owners' representatives with Confederación Hípica of Puerto Rico have authority over whatever is left from the handle after bettors, purses, the government, off-track betting agents, and Breeders' Fund contributions are all paid.
This bonus money from the handle is used in Puerto Rico to fund what is called retroactive pay and is a part of what is driving cheap racehorses to Puerto Rico. The retroactive pay is distributed monthly to owners that have earned purse money. The retroactive pay this year has been as high as 130% of the purses paid.
Ervin Rodriguez, Camarero's president and CEO, agreed the first half of the year was exceptionally strong for the track, but he added the first six months cannot be used to project how the year will end.
"We have to be cautious, not to be too optimistic, since the federal aids and unemployment benefits are about to end in September and we believe these aids fueled our handle," Rodriguez said, referring to aid related to the damage caused by Hurricane Maria 2017 and to government payments associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rodriguez also said looking back at the previous 10 years provides quite a different financial picture for the track. He said early in the last decade Puerto Rico suffered from a severe recession that created huge losses for the racing industry. Then category five Hurricane Maria struck in 2017 and caused millions of dollars in damage from which Rodriguez said the track is still recovering.
"Even when racing re-started, most off-track betting agencies were either closed or not working at full capacity," he said. "Losses were astronomical. It is easy to say that the racetrack is doing well now and that it should support the local aftercare program more. Well, I'm sure once we shed the burden of all those years of losses and hardship and become financially healthier."
And yet, Camarero shareholders and owners' representatives are currently mulling a recent CTA proposal to provide about $250,000 annually, just to cover the travel costs of shipping horses back to the U.S. and as seed money to start a sanctuary similar to Michael Blowen's Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farms in Kentucky and New York.
"With this money we can do a better job by building more stalls and taking in more horses," said Stobie, who is expecting a decision on the funding at the beginning of September. "We have a good network right now with the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and other TAA organizations that are willing to take one of five horses from us every year. That's a lot of horses we can move, but we can't do that if we don't have the money."
Stobie wants to create the sanctuary for Puerto Rico racehorses that have a local following, such as the 11-year-old mare Secret Paradise. The Kentucky-bred daughter of Taste of Paradise raced her entire career in Puerto Rico, where she made an astounding 162 starts. She won 10 races and placed in 48 others.
"I mean, that's a warrior, right?" said Stobie. "I found her a home in the States but she should have stayed here, if we had a place for her. She's beautiful and except for a little arthritis in her fetlock, nothing bad, she's sound."
Stobie has identified 80 acres next to her farm that is a cattle operation under government contract. She is exploring the possibility of having the land donated to CTA.
"The land is perfect but it all comes back to the money," she said. "It's always the money."
