Month: December 2020

Trainer Applications Now Open For 2021 Thoroughbred Makeover

Applications are now open for the 2021 competition year of the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America. Applications will be accepted through Jan. 15, 2021. Accepted trainers will be announced on Feb. 15, 2021.

As the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover was postponed to 2021 due to the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 edition of the Retired Racehorse Project's banner event will include competition groups both for horses that would have competed in 2020, as well as those entering for 2021. The two groups will compete separately, including two separate Finales to crown each year's Thoroughbred Makeover Champion. Applications for the 2020 competition year closed earlier this year, though new owners of horses already entered for 2020 may apply to compete.

Entering its seventh year at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky., the Thoroughbred Makeover features competition in ten disciplines for recently-retired Thoroughbreds in their first year of retraining for a career after racing. Horses and their trainers may compete in one or two disciplines of their choice, including Barrel Racing, Competitive Trail, Dressage, Eventing, Field Hunter, Polo, Ranch Work, Show Hunter, Show Jumper, and Freestyle (a freeform discipline showcasing skills of the trainer's choosing).

Horses and trainers will compete for more than $100,000 in total prize money per competition year, plus the coveted title of Thoroughbred Makeover Champion at the Kentucky Horse Park on Oct. 12-17, 2021. The Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium includes not just the competition, but educational seminars, a vendor fair, the Makeover Marketplace horse sale, and the Makeover Master Class, featuring demonstrations and insight from leading trainers. The Finale features the top five horses in each discipline and will be live-streamed for viewers at home.

The Thoroughbred Makeover is open to professionals, amateurs, juniors (ages 12 and over), and teams. Applicants are required to provide information about their riding and competition background as well as references, including one from a veterinarian. Applicants are encouraged to provide links to riding video, which is a requirement for first-time competitors. Competitors do not need to have acquired their horse at the time of application, though they must register their horse no later than July 31, 2021.

Approved trainers may acquire eligible Thoroughbreds through whatever source they choose, or can ride under contract from an owner. Eligible horses must have raced or had a published work on or after July 1, 2019 and must not have started retraining for a second career prior to Dec. 1, 2020 other than a maximum of 15 allowable rides, intended to allow for trial rides. The 2021 Thoroughbred Makeover Rulebook outlines all rules and information relevant to the competition, with changes for 2021 marked in red and clarifying information marked in blue.

2020 Thoroughbred Makeover Fast Facts:

▪ 660 entries originally registered for the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover have remained active for the “mega-Makeover,” whether they intend to compete in the 2020 competition group or roll their entry to the 2021 competition group
▪ Applications for the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover are closed; however, new owners of a horse already registered for the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover can apply to compete in the 2020 competition group
▪ 581 horses were registered for the 2020 competition group, leveraging approximately $4.6 million invested into their future in health care, training, etc. * An estimated $25.5 million has been invested in Makeover-bound horses by their Makeover trainers since 2013
▪ A total of 3,479 trainers have been accepted since 2013, hailing from 41 states and five Canadian provinces. 3,191 horses have been directly impacted by being registered to compete at the Makeover
▪ High-profile contenders in the 2020 competition group include five Breeders' Cup participants: Term of Art, Expedited Vision, Sheer Talent, Normandy Crossing, and Imperative; and two MGSWs: Imperative and Page McKenney

The post Trainer Applications Now Open For 2021 Thoroughbred Makeover appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Grade 1 Winner Voodoo Song To Enter Stud In Turkey

Voodoo Song, a Grade 1-winning turf miler and near-seven-figure earner, has been sold to begin his stallion career at Evcimen Stud Farm in Turkey, per the Turkish publication Yaris Dergisi.

The 6-year-old son of English Channel retired earlier this year with eight wins in 26 starts for earnings of $954,350. He raced as a New York homebred for Barry K. Schwartz's Stonewall Farm.

Voodoo Song saw his most successful campaign in 2018, where he led at every point of call to win the Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap and the listed Forbidden Apple Stakes. A year earlier, he won the G3 Saranac Stakes in similar front-running fashion, then he was caught at the wire to finish second in the G3 Commonwealth Derby.

Also of note during his racing career, he won four consecutive races at Saratoga (five total in two years), a feat previously achieved only by Hall of Famer Native Dancer, who had four consecutive wins in 1952.

Voodoo Song is out of the stakes-winning Unbridled's Song mare Mystic Chant, whose eight foals to race are all winners, also including stakes-placed Singapore Trader.

Last month, Voodoo Song went through the ring as a stallion prospect at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, where he finished under his reserve with a final bid of $95,000.

The post Grade 1 Winner Voodoo Song To Enter Stud In Turkey appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Steve Asmussen Op/Ed: Please Do What is Right for the Racehorse

With heightened accountability for the health and welfare of horses, trainers today are being held to the highest of standards–as we should. However, we can see every day that race tracks and track ownership groups are not held to that same standard.

A prime example is the unfortunate trend of closing a racetrack one day a week for training. This short-sighted cost-cutting move is not in racehorses’ best interest.

I feel that I’ve exhausted the proper channels to discuss this with people in charge of safety. We need all concerned horsemen and horsemen’s associations to explain to track management and regulators why being closed a day a week for training is not a simple scheduling hurdle for trainers but absolutely is not doing right by the horse.

Tracks have added multiple maintenance breaks during training hours in order to maintain the best track surface possible. But the practice of closing a racetrack one day a week funnels an unnecessary volume of horses to work over the same racetrack, which defeats the purpose of having a renovation break or multiple breaks.

At a time when horsemanship and reacting to the individual needs of a horse should be encouraged, a mandated training “dark day” does not allow taking into account variables such as weather, track condition on a given day, timing of races or just how the horse is doing–and how the horse performed in training one morning might necessitate an adjustment for the next day.

If there’s so much more accountability for the health of a horse, then let us do everything possible to get them over there in the best shape achievable.

Soundness keeps horses training and racing, and without sound horses there are no races. Denying an opportunity to train on a schedule tailored to the individual horse, rather than for someone sitting in an office, hurts the health of our racehorses.

From my Churchill Downs and Oaklawn Park veterinarian, Dr. William C. Hawk:
“It’s not a herd mentality, where we’re trying to milk a certain group of cows at a certain time every day. Mandated days off increase the incidence of the syndrome known as ‘tying-up,’ which can lead to muscle damage, with fillies particularly susceptible. Often those horses will have to be tranquilized as prevention the day after they don’t train. If they tie-up, we have to scratch them in order to treat them, and we can’t treat them to prevent it.

“Most horses can benefit from a day off. It just needs to be by the trainers’ discretion based on what they see with each individual horse, and we want these horses training up to the day they race. We don’t want the day before for sure, and usually a couple of days before that, off before exerting at full speed.

“There are metabolic issues. Proper movement affects hooves and legs, as well as the gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Proper exercise improves their circulation, digestion, flexibility, muscle and bone development, which in turn impacts their overall health and happiness.

“No athlete is scheduled to take a set day off every week because schedules change, weather changes and games are played on different days of the week. We find the same in horse racing.
“On top of this, the track cannot be at its optimum condition for morning training after a day with no maintenance. Putting sufficient amounts of water on the track is one of the most critical components to track safety. After missing a day, it can take another day or more–depending on weather–to gain back what was lost.”

It’s amazing the resistance you meet from people in position to make decisions for the safety of the horses. It’s not OK to do nothing. It’s 100 percent not what’s best for a horse.

I continue to see the layers of safety measures being put in place, the motivation of some edicts having more to do with the hope of changing perceived public perception rather than actually benefitting the horse. What I don’t see is horsemen being part of determining thoughtful measures that effect positive transformation. That must change, and the ill-advised practice of mandatory non-training days should stop now.

Steve Asmussen is a Hall of Fame trainer who has won more than 9,000 races. William C. Hawk DVM has practiced equine medicine at the racetrack for more than 40 years.

The post Steve Asmussen Op/Ed: Please Do What is Right for the Racehorse appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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