beyond the wire | Horse Racing Free Tips

Beyond the Wire Earns MJC Award of Merit

Beyond the Wire, a Maryland-based Thoroughbred aftercare program, will be honored with the Maryland Jockey Club's Special Award of Merit during the Alibi Breakfast at Pimlico Thursday.

The Special Award of Merit is presented to those who have made a positive impact on the racing industry. Past winners include Hall of Fame horsemen D. Wayne Lukas, Jerry Bailey, Ramon Dominguez and King Leatherbury; late Hall of Fame broadcaster Jim McKay, founder of the Maryland Million; and MJC track photographer Jim McCue.

“We are honored and really appreciate the recognition, as the program has been a big effort on the part of the Maryland racing industry,” Beyond the Wire's program administrator Jessica Hammond said. “Hopefully, the award will also provide an additional spotlight on the importance of aftercare.”

Launched in 2017, Beyond the Wire reached a milestone in mid-March when 5-year-old gelding Bundi Bundi trained by Pedro Nasario became the 500th horse to move through the program. Hammond said they have since added another 20 horses.

“It's a busy, busy program,” Hammond said. “The good news is that it shows that trainers are prioritizing a good aftercare program for their horses. People are even foregoing getting money for their horses so that they know that they are going to have a safe and secure retirement. Instead of risking having a horse end up in a bad spot, trainers are saying let me just retire them through Beyond the Wire.”

Beyond the Wire is an industry-wide initiative between the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Maryland Jockey Club, 1/ST Racing, Northview Stallion Station, Maryland Horse Breeders Association and Maryland jockeys. The organization is a first exit from racing program designed to facilitate safe and enriching placements for retiring Maryland-based racehorses.

Annual pledges and donations, and owners' contributions of $11 per start, enables Beyond the Wire to place retired Thoroughbreds exclusively with Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance-accredited farms. Horses that go through the program receive retraining and rehabilitation as needed.

Partner farms are MidAtlantic Horse Rescue, Foxie G Foundation, New Vocations, Akindale Thoroughbred Rescue, After the Races, Equine Rescue of Aiken and Life Horse.

Beyond the Wire will have an information table set up during the Sunrise at Old Hilltop tours which run from 6-9 a.m. Tuesday through Friday. For more information on the program, visit: www.beyondthewire.org.

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ABR Preakness Kick-Off Party to Benefit Aftercare

After a two-year hiatus owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, America Best Racing's Pre-Preakness Party will be held Wednesday, May 18, at the Mt. Washington Tavern in Baltimore, with the proceeds of all tickets sold to benefit the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. A silent auction will be held which will benefit the TAA and the Maryland-based Beyond The Wire Thoroughbred aftercare organization.

“We're thrilled to again be a beneficiary of this party, along with our friends at Beyond the Wire, and we're grateful for the continued support from America's Best Racing,” TAA Operations Consultant Stacie Clark Rogers said. “We can't wait to kick off a great week of racing with this can't-miss event.”

Tickets are now on sale for $25 in advance of the event ($35 on site). Admission includes one drink, a light buffet of bar snacks and appetizers and entry into a drawing for a door prize of two tickets to the May 21 GI Preakness S. at Pimlico. The silent auction will feature items from ABR partners Christine A. Moore Millinery and Old Smoke Clothing Co., in addition to rare racing memorabilia and autographed collectibles.

“We are proud to bring back the Pre-Preakness festivities again this year and owe a lot of thanks to event supporters and sponsors who've enabled us to do it,” said Dan Tordjman, America's Best Racing's manager of Partnerships and Sponsorships. “ABR remains committed to putting the horse first by shining a spotlight on exceptional foundations like the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and Beyond the Wire that do so much in the name of Thoroughbred aftercare.”

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Northview Stallion Station Joins As Partner With Aftercare Organization Beyond The Wire

Northview Stallion Station, located in Chesapeake City, Md., has partnered with Beyond The Wire to provide financial assistance for “sanctuary” horses—retired Thoroughbred racehorses that cannot move on to second careers. It is a major step forward for Maryland's Thoroughbred aftercare program.

Beyond the Wire is an industry-wide initiative between the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, the Maryland Jockey Club, the Maryland Horse Breeders Association and Maryland jockeys designed to facilitate safe and enriching placements for retired Maryland-based racehorses.

Northview, which stands nine stallions including Great Notion, the current leading stallion in Maryland, was launched in 1989 by the late Richard Golden, Dr. Tom Bowman, and the late Allaire DuPont. For the past few years, Golden's son, Michael, has overseen operations at the farm. David Wade, general manager of Northview, said Michael Golden has had a passion for retired racehorses and was looking for mechanism to generate financial support for them.

“Sanctuary horses need funding,” Wade said. “Some of them spend the rest of their lives at a farm because they're not adoptable. Northview wants to help fund that effort, and we'd like to challenge other stallion farms to do the same.”

Wade said Northview will donate 5 percent of the stud fees it collects from contracts. It can do so from stallions wholly owned by Northview or from the shares it owns in other stallions that stand at the farm.

“This program is such a critical part of the progressive efforts of the Maryland racing industry to support all of our retiring horses, whether they can have a second career as a riding horse or not,” said Laurie Calhoun, who operates the Union Bridge, Md.-based Foxie G Foundation, a Thoroughbred Aftercare Association-accredited facility that works closely with the Beyond The Wire program. “It concentrates heavily on horses with past racing injuries that need extensive rehabilitation. Given enough time and careful management, the majority of these horses can live a comfortable life in our sanctuary program if they are not adopted out as companions or used in ground-based, equine-assisted therapy programs.

“Since 2018, Foxie G has had five horses in an equine assisted therapy program at the Baltimore Agricultural Center, serving veterans and first responders. We will also begin a new equine-assisted therapy partnership in 2022, where up to 10 of our sanctuary horses will be used. Horses are natural healers and they can give back so much to our community. Northview's generous, lead gift in support of these horses will literally be life-changing for horses that have not had many options in the past thanks to the caring efforts of Michael Golden and David Wade.”

Beverly Strauss of MidAtlantic Horse Rescue, another TAA-accredited farm that partners with Beyond The Wire, agreed with Calhoun.

“Maryland racing does a good job filtering horses off the track and into TAA-accredited facilities, but the number of horses needing sanctuary care that are not rideable is significant,” Strauss said. “It puts a strain on each (partner) organization. These horses need ongoing support from the racing and breeding industry—we owe this much to them.”

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Maryland Tracks To Institute Aftercare Funding Initiative January 1

The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association Board of Directors recently approved an initiative designed to increase funding for the Beyond The Wire aftercare program.

Effective Jan. 1, 2022, pending review from the Maryland Racing Commission, there will be an assessment of 1.5 percent on the price of a claimed horse at Maryland racetracks. For example, the new owner or ownership group that claims a horse for $10,000 would pay a $150 assessment that would be used to support racehorses accepted by Beyond The Wire.

The program is similar to one in New York, where in 2019 the New York THA and New York Racing Association instituted a mandatory 1.5 percent aftercare assessment on claimed horses. The Maryland program will be “opt out,” meaning the 1.5 percent assessment will be charged unless an owner or ownership group signs an opt-out form that will be available in the MTHA office in the Laurel Park grandstand.

In a related matter, Beyond The Wire is offering opportunities to sponsor a retired racehorse for the holiday season and beyond. Occasionally, horses have medical problems or even more rare, behavioral problems, that make it very difficult for them to be adopted. Sometimes, it is in the best interest of the horse to live out their days at one of our Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance-accredited facilities.

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If you love horses, have a connection to a particular horse, love racing, are an animal lover or just want to do something that makes you feel good, please consider “sponsoring” one of our beautiful Thoroughbreds this holiday season. The list of sponsor horses can be found here. Please include the name of the horse with your PayPal donation at the top of the PayPal page.

Current sponsor opportunities include hay for a week ($25), shoes for a month ($125), X-rays for a checkup ($250), one month of board ($300), or any other amount.