With the North American Thoroughbred foal crop continuing to contract, numerous panelists speaking Dec. 10 at the Global Symposium on Racing pointed to regional, multi-state cooperation to help stabilize breeding in states with faltering numbers.
Moderator Paul Ryneveld, director of Horse Racing Alberta and co-founder of 10Acres Solutions, opened a panel titled "Strength in Numbers: Innovative Approaches to Boosting U.S. Thoroughbred Breeding" by underscoring how concentrated breeding is between Kentucky, Florida, California, and New York. Kentucky alone produces more than 60% of the foal crop.
California breeder and owner Harris Auerbach, whose family has been involved with breeding for almost 50 years, noted that his family has gone from being one of the leading breeders in California to having a boutique breeding operation with their mares at a farm in Georgetown, Ky.
He noted how he raised the idea about 12-14 years ago of pooling breeding programs together from California, Arizona, and New Mexico, but that the idea was not advanced due to what he described as reluctance at the time from California breeders in sharing breeder awards.
It was a concept ahead of its time. Multiple states now have such programs, led by the partnership between Maryland and Virginia.
Diana McClure, a board member of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association, described how both states combined their restricted race schedules to provide year-round opportunities.
"So it worked out this year to be a win-win, I think, for everybody," McClure said.
Similarly, New Mexico has partnered with Arizona for reciprocal participation in restricted races, said Izzy Trejo, executive director of the New Mexico Racing Commission. He described his state's breeding decline and how broader regional coordination in western states is crucial.
"We need horses. They're the gas that makes the car go," Trejo said.
Wanting these and other programs to flourish and to increase awareness, The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association held a workshop last month in Kentucky, a closed meeting Jamie Haydon, The Jockey Club's deputy executive director, described as a success.
"So going forward, we're committed to not only doing the workshop again, but we're trying to develop a set of internal tools right now for us to look at, and they would possibly give out to the breeder organizations and racetracks that will show where these horses are coming from," he said.
Though most of the panel came from Thoroughbred backgrounds, Mike Tanner provided a perspective from the Standardbred industry. The executive vice president and CEO of the United States Trotting Association emphasized that financial opportunity is the key incentive.
"People will race, people will breed where they stand to achieve the greatest reward," he said.
One of those places is Kentucky, where purses have soared in large part due to historical horse racing gaming. Virginia also has slot-like HHR devices.
California is one of the few states without gaming to aid its industry, and an uncertain future for the 1/ST Racing-owned Santa Anita Park has Auerbach and others apprehensive. The property sits on valuable Southern California real estate, and elsewhere, 1/ST Racing has pursued phasing out racing at its Gulfstream Park property in South Florida.
"I just think people are looking for certainty, and our friends at 1/ST Racing could sure add some by saying we're going to be around," he said of racing at Santa Anita. "We've had no such assurances. All I see are things about horse shows and the Olympics, and I think they're wonderful, but in order to breed, we need to know that there's actually going to be a place to race when those foals are of racing age."
