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Horse Racing Professionals Create Lexington-Based Nonprofit To Care For Thoroughbreds Surrendered Due To COVID-19 Financial Impact

On June 12, the newly created Lexington-based We Are Here Initiative (WAHI) will begin accepting Thoroughbreds that have been retired from horse racing due to financial and economic strain brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. We Are Here, which is not an aftercare or adoption program, will serve as a layover destination for Thoroughbreds before being placed in an approved aftercare facility, so as not to inundate aftercare and adoption organizations with an influx of horses.

In the spring of 2020, the horse racing industry was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in many racetracks throughout the United States postponing or shortening their race meets. With limited races available for horses, many owners and smaller training operations and have suffered a financial hit, resulting in the need to retire some of their runners. Due to the possibility of historical numbers of horses needing to be placed in aftercare the We Are Here Initiative has been proactively created for the horses to facilitate their journey from the track to various aftercare organizations nationwide.

Thoroughbred owners and trainers needing to rehome their horses can contact the We Are Here hotline at 833-924-6882 (833-WAH-OTTB), which will provide information regarding the initial steps to be taken.

Thoroughbreds being rehomed to We Are Here must meet certain criteria to be eligible for this program. Horses must be registered Thoroughbreds trained by a licensed trainer in the United States; horses much be located at a US licensed racetrack or training facility, or verified to be eligible for the 2020 racing season; and horses will need a current Coggins, health certificate, and the completed “We Are Here” documentation.

“When racetracks closed down, I began to worry that the horses and their wonderful caretakers were going to need us at the very moment most aftercare facilities were either closed or dealing with severe financial strain. The Kentucky Horse Park stepped up to the plate to offer 100 stalls, and a partnership was formed with the Secretariat Center to provide a place for these horses to go until such a time as space opens in the various Aftercares nationwide,” says Dorothy Crowell, Deputy Director of We Are Here Initiative and Secretariat Center Board President.

“Horsemen and horsewomen are inherently resilient and supportive of each other in tough times. We all believe our industry will survive the crisis we are currently under, but we recognize these are threatening times in horse racing, not only financially, but in other ways that affect our day to day lives. The We Are Here initiative was put in motion to ensure race horses in need will be safe, cared for and transition to new careers. Most importantly, through this initiative we hope all horsemen and horsewomen know and understand, We Are Here to support you,” says Eric Hamelback, Executive Director of We Are Here Initiative and CEO of The National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA).

For more information about the We Are Here Initiative, to donate, or to learn more about surrendering Thoroughbreds in your care, please visit www.wahi.info. To contact the We Are Here Hotline, please dial 833-WAH-OTTB (833-924-6882).

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Kingman’s Lord Campari Powers to TDN Rising Stardom

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum’s 350,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 yearling Lord Campari (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) ran sixth behind the ‘TDN Rising Star’ performance of Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GN}) over seven furlongs in his Aug. 30 debut at Sandown and exploded onto the scene with a Rising Star of his own when upped to one mile in division one of Saturday’s It’s Not Rocket Science With MansionBet Novice S. at Newbury. The 15-8 second favourite was sharply into stride and on the front end from the outset. In command on the bridle fro the most part, the repsonse was immediate when shaken up approacing the final furlong and he bounded clear in taking fashion to easily account for previous winner Tsar (GB) (Kingman {GB}) by an impressive 4 3/4 lengths.

“He jumped on my foot when I was saddling him, so he has redeemed himself well and the win has made me feel better,” revealed in-form trainer Roger Varian. “We liked him last year, but he is a big, raw horse. He travelled nicely and quickened well and it was a nice seasonal debut. We will see how he is in the morning then take it from there.”

Lord Campari, half-brother to an unraced 2-year-old filly by The Gurkha (Ire), becomes the second scorer from four runners for Listed Boadicea Fillies’ S. winner Blanche Dubawi (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), herself the leading performer out of G3 World Trophy victrix Dixie Belle (GB) (Diktat {GB}). The latter is herself the leading performer out of an unraced daughter of the dual stakes-placed Mareha (Ire) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}), who in turn is a half-sister to G2 Futurity S. runner-up Chapel Crescent (Ire) (College Chapel {GB}).

1st-Newbury, £5,400, Mdn, 6-13, 3yo, 8fT, 1:36.60, gd.
LORD CAMPARI (IRE), c, 3, by Kingman (GB)
1st Dam: Blanche Dubawi (Ire) (SW-Eng), by Dubawi (Ire)
2nd Dam: Dixie Belle (GB), by Diktat (GB)
3rd Dam: Inspiring (Ire), by Anabaa
(350,000gns Ylg ’18 TATOCT). Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $4,381. O-Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum; B-Burns Farm Stud (IRE); T-Roger Varian. Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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SLIDESHOW: Meet the 2020 Belmont Stakes Contenders

What better way to learn about the probable contenders for the 2020 Belmont Stakes than a visual introduction? We’ve put together a slideshow of the horses targeting the Belmont Stakes, and where possible we tried to include profile images and workout images as well as racing photos. The contenders are listed in order of accomplishment.

‘A Shot Against The Best Horses’: Sharing Breezes, Set For Trip To Royal Ascot

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gainesway Stable's Grade 1 filly Sharing, who first became a stakes winner last fall at Laurel Park, punched her ticket to Royal Ascot with a six-furlong breeze Friday morning, trainer Graham Motion said.

Under exercise rider Lauren Mendenhall, the 3-year-old Sharing was timed in 1:14.60 over the all-weather surface at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., working in company with 5-year-old mare Mrs. Sippy, a Grade 2 winner.

“Everything's kind of falling into place, so far. We said we wouldn't do this unless everything kind of fell into place, and she worked super this morning,” Motion said. “I feel very good about everything, knock on wood, so far.”

Bred in Maryland by Sagamore Farm, Sharing won the Selima Stakes last September at Laurel in her third career start, propelling her to an upset victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1). She opened her sophomore season by extending her win streak to four races in the May 23 Tepin Stakes.

Motion said Sharing will van from Fair Hill to Keeneland June 14, then board a morning flight out of Indianapolis June 16 to Newmarket, England and run in the one-mile Coronation Stakes (G1) for 3-year-old fillies June 20.

The Motion-trained Miss Temple City ran fourth in the 2015 Coronation after winning the Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. Motion hoped to follow a similar path with Sharing, but sidestepped to the Tepin with Maryland racing on pause until May 30.

“I was going to run her in the Hilltop at Pimlico, so when that didn't happen that was the next best thing that could have happened a week later. It was like a little miracle when it came up, and she was ready to run. We had planned on running her the week before, anyway,” Motion said. “And it also gave us a month to Ascot. Up until that point, we'd really given up on the idea. But, once we had a race and we had an option we kind of got back to thinking about it again, especially after the way she ran.

“Hopefully she didn't take too much out of herself. I always worry, first race off a layoff. I think sometimes they can take a lot of themselves, but she seems to have bounced back,” he added. “I brought her right back to Fair Hill afterward and she's kind of gone along, and I thought she breezed really nicely this morning.”

Miss Temple City, a debut winner at Laurel Park in October 2014, would go on to win three Grade 1 stakes and more than $1.6 million in purse earnings following her trip to England, and would return to Royal Ascot again in 2016 and 2017. Motion feels Sharing will represent herself just as well.

“Miss Temple City ran in this race and ran a very creditable fourth after winning the Hilltop. This filly's credentials at this stage of the game are better than hers were at that stage of her career,” he said. “Obviously, she went on to be a Grade 1 horse but at this stage, Sharing is more accomplished than Miss Temple City was.”

Winning a race at Royal Ascot would mean a great deal to Motion, having grown up in Newmarket before coming to the U.S. and winning his first race as a trainer in America in March 1993 at Laurel Park.

“I hope I take my own personal feelings out of it. Obviously, I'd like to do it but I want to be doing it for the right reasons. We're really not missing a Grade 1 over here by going, so it kind of falls in the schedule,” Motion said. “We're not going for the party, because we can't go. We're going because we want to give the filly a shot against the best horses.

“To me, it's always about the challenge. I think sometimes in racing we spend too much time trying to duck other horses,” he added. “Racing, ultimately, is about the challenge and seeing who's got the fastest horse. I think that's why we're doing it, and it's exciting.”

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