Just as the attachment between human and equine has been a driving force in Thoroughbred racing, people working and advocating for off-track Thoroughbreds are focused on building that bond.
A March 5 panel at the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association conference at Oaklawn Park, titled Beyond the Finish Line: Building Pathways to Second Careers for Thoroughbreds, outlined a number of those initiatives.
Before the panel began, National HBPA CEO Eric Hamelback set the tone when he said his organization has been approved by Churchill Downs to this year incorporate the Retired Racehorse Project and its Thoroughbred Makeover into the Claiming Crown. As a partnership of the National HBPA and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, the Claiming Crown showcases top claiming horses from throughout North America.
This year's Claiming Crown will be in the fall at Churchill.
"These are the horses, those hard-knocking horses, that are going to go on to a second career," Hamelback said. "We'll make it a celebration of those second careers."
On the panel, Kristin Werner, deputy general counsel and director of industry initiatives for The Jockey Club, outlined TJC efforts toward comprehensive traceability aimed to strengthen transparency and accountability through a Thoroughbred's life. Werner noted that collected records provide traceability of a horse's breeding and registration, sale and race records, and potentially a career as a stallion or broodmare, but there's a need for better tracking after that racing or breeding career.
"Along the way we lose the ability to track many, many horses," Werner noted. "They didn't make it to the racetrack, they leave the backstretch for an unknown destination, they are sold to a third party without records, or they are retired or otherwise leave the (industry)."
Werner said that type of tracking needs to improve.
"Successful traceability means being able to follow a horse's entire life story, from birth to retirement, every step. We should be able to answer these questions with confidence: 'Who is this horse?' 'Where did the horse come from?' 'What has happened to it?' and 'Where is it now?'
"There are growing expectations from within our industry, and also from the public, on transparency and welfare as it relates to Thoroughbreds and horses in general. We need to understand where Thoroughbreds go after their racing careers. Traceability strengthens public trust and our credibility in responsible transition."
Recently The Jockey Club has launched three initiatives aimed at improving traceability of Thoroughbreds. The digital certificate program helps identify horses transitioning to second careers and prevents them from becoming lost in the system. The traceability survey requires only a few minutes to fill out and will allow analysis of the information received to present some findings later this year.
Werner noted the traceability survey is especially important for horses born in 2017 or earlier, that have paper certificates. They've had about 5,000 responses to date showing retired Thoroughbreds living in 49 of the 50 states—all but Hawaii—and eight of the Canadian provinces.
The survey allows respondents to provide updates on what the horses are doing now, a question that has proven popular and generated some terrific responses from essentially pets, to working with police, and assisting with military veterans recovering from traumatic experiences.
The Jockey Club's newest component of the traceability effort, the ID My Thoroughbred app, may be the one making the most direct connection. It allows anyone to identify a Thoroughbred instantly by scanning its microchip or entering the number manually. The app displays the horse's name and markings and location access is enabled.
"The (current owner) can see the registration photos. It's designed for real-world use at farms, rescue sales, and anywhere a horse is moved," Werner said. "The app also integrates with Thoroughbred Connect, which allows users to report a horse in need. This expands the safety net and strengthens the community of people committed to the horse's welfare."
Werner said owners of off-track Thoroughbreds are incredibly excited to see foal photos of their horses and encouraged horsemen in the audience to answer requests to share photos of horses as youngsters or during training. Those exchanges build connectivity.
Similarly, Kirsten Green, executive director of RRP, said her organization is working to foster opportunities that encourage the racing industry to celebrate equine achievements beyond racing. She noted that besides the Thoroughbred Makeover, which continues to thrive, RRP has an education library on its website with more than 250 articles on care, training, and other topics. The organization has conducted more than 60 demonstrations, clinics, and webinars, and offers a free listing service to place a horse at any stage of its life.
Green said the current first priority of RRP is to spread capacity, aiming to balance existing programs while securing resources to scale those programs and develop new offerings. One of the big initiatives will involve graduate classes to keep trainers and horses engaged beyond their initial Makeover appearance.
After Werner and Green talked about creating lasting bonds during the panel, Jeanette Milligan, executive director of the Arkansas HBPA, outlined a program that gets active racetrackers thinking about horses after their racing careers. The Ring the Bell program at Oaklawn Park allows horsemen to support aftercare efforts after winning a race.
Horsemen who participate get to ring the bell in the winner's circle at Oaklawn, and when they do they commit a percentage of their winning purse to off-track Thoroughbreds. Milligan credited trainer Ron Moquett for coming up with the idea that enjoyed its first full season in 2022-23 and continues to thrive.
After raising more than $60,000 in that first full season, last year the program at Oaklawn raised more than $100,000. Milligan thinks it's helped by its simplicity, as the donation comes out of the winning purse check.
Also, when that bell rings, aftercare receives some promotion as the track announcer relays the message to on-track patrons as well as simulcast viewers.
The program has spread to tracks including Tampa Bay Downs, Prairie Meadows, Lone Star Park, Remington Park, Sam Houston Race Track, and Turf Paradise.
It has become a tradition for horsemen at Oaklawn, recognizing a need during a racing high.
"They're happy to ring the bell," Milligan said.
Medication Panel
On the conference's final day of presentations March 6, Kelly Smalling, an environmental organic chemist with the United States Geological Survey, outlined an ongoing study on water quality at tracks, including findings of pharmaceuticals in some samples.
Smalling delivered her presentation on the ongoing study that began in 2023 during the Kent Stirling Memorial Medication Panel. Contamination in postrace tests has been a longtime concern of horsemen.
"Many of these substances make it into your tap water because the treatment process is not designed to remove them 100%," Smalling said.
In looking at water samples from 34 tracks to date, pharmaceuticals were found in samples from 25 tracks (74%) with none found in samples from nine tracks. Metformin, a drug used to treat diabetes in humans that is a banned substance under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, was found in the water tested from seven of the tracks.
Panelist Clara Fenger, a board member of the North American Association of Racetrack Veterinarians, said two of those metformin findings from the seven found at tracks were at levels high enough to throw a positive finding. She acknowledged that under HISA's new proposed threshold, none of the seven findings would have led to a positive finding.
In November, HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control Committee recommended a minimum reporting level of 4.0 nanograms per milliliter in blood for metformin. That recommendation and other rule changes are under review of the Federal Trade Commission.
Before HISA, the Association of Racing Commissioners International's Model Rules categorized metformin as a prohibited substance, but there was not a published testing specification for it, which meant reported findings were determined by an individual laboratory's limit of detection for the substance. As such, according to HISA, enforcement of metformin, which is in the banned substance category, lacked uniformity and consistency among the states.
For trainers interested in taking extra caution in this area, Smalling said carbon filters and reverse osmosis filters remove pharmaceuticals from water. Short of using this filtered water all the time, Fenger offered that perhaps it could at least be used leading up to a race.
