Tag: Difference Makers

Stacie Clark-Rogers started thinking about second careers for Thoroughbreds in the mid-1990s when she was a jockey at Fort Erie in Canada.

“I started to wonder, 'Hmmm, where do these horses go from here?'” she said.

A decade later, after she retired from race riding and had worked as a simulcast host at Woodbine, she helped launch the Adena Retirement Program for Frank and Frieda Stronach. It was a first-of-its-kind program for the Stronachs' multiple Eclipse and Sovereign Award winning racing and breeding operation that had farms in Ontario, Kentucky, and Florida.

“We adopted out 400 horses over the 10 years I was there,” Clark recalled. “These were such nice horses that were well bred and stopped on in time, so very few came to us with injuries. Richie Purcell did an amazing job getting them legged up in Florida, then they were sent to me (in Ontario). We had an indoor arena, trails, and an outdoor ring to work with them. It got so easy that people would be calling and asking when the next van load was coming. Fifteen or 20 years later I'm still getting emails with updates on some of the horses.”

In 2011, when Starlight Racing's Jack Wolf pushed for the creation of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance – to be institutionally funded by different industry stakeholders – Rogers was brought in to share her experiences with the Adena Retirement Program and an aftercare initiative the Stronachs funded at Gulfstream Park that she also helped run. Two years after the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance's official launch in 2012, Clark joined the 501(c)(3) organization as  operations consultant.

“It was such a good industry initiative,” Clark said of TAA. “We were answering a call of crisis at the time, and it had great momentum. I wish it had the same momentum now.”

Funded initially with seed money from Breeders' Cup, Keeneland Association, and The Jockey Club, the TAA initially set a financial goal of between $10 million and $20 million annually to fund various accredited aftercare and Thoroughbred retirement operations.

“We're not hitting that mark,” Clark said. The TAA distributes around $3.5 million per year.

“All of the other aspects of the strategic plan – accreditation, marketing, getting the message out there – we've done well as a board and a staff,” Clark said.

Clark said the foundation of TAA is strong, thanks to the contributions of people like Madeline Auerbach, who started California's retirement program, CARMA; the late Richard Violette, who created New York's retirement program, Take2/Take the Lead; Erin Crady, executive director of the Thoroughbred Charities of America; and many others. An accreditation committee has been holding weekly meetings for 10 years, Clark said, examining every accredited organization and their horses. “They are second to none,” she said.

But the financial goals have fallen short.

“We did not want to have 'bake sales' to raise money,” Clark said, “but we find ourselves doing them. Events like a VIP or Breeders' Cup campaign might make $40,000 or $50,000, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to what our organizations need. There has to be more institutional funding or automatic funding. The industry has to understand that it's not an aftercare issue — it's a funding aftercare issue.”

The financial challenges run counter to the narrative that Clark says she often hears from people in racing when the issue of unwanted horses comes up.

“Many people think the problem has been taken care of because organizations like the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance exists,” she said. “Then there are the areas of the industry where they stick their head in the sand and say, 'It's none of your business. These are our horses.' Some of those people think it's a good thing if they can get $200 selling their horse to a kill buyer. It's our problem as an industry.”

Despite the challenges, financial and otherwise, Clark points to the many successes since aftercare became a front-burner issue.  “The Retired Racehorse Project is one of the best things that's happened to the industry,” she said. “It's shown that the Thoroughbred can do all sorts of things.

“The list of positive impacts our industry can contribute to society is massive,” she said. “These horses are good healers, good sport horses, good for autistic kids, veterans — they are good for so many things. The horse is so powerful, it can be so much, and it's right in front of us. This is the best marketing we can do for our industry.”

Clark doesn't plan to slow down on her efforts to make a difference. “It's important that we don't take our foot off the gas pedal,” she said.

If you would like to make a difference, please consider a donation to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.

Difference Makers is presented by Richard Pearson's Avion Law, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based firm that primarily represents owners in the private aviation sector. Avion Law has a “giving back” program supporting awareness campaigns and donating to charitable organizations in and outside of horse racing. For more information on Avion Law, click here.

 

The post Stacie Clark-Rogers On The Powerful Impact Horses Can Have On Society: Difference Makers Presented By Avion Law appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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“Do something each day to make the world a better place.”

That's been Rob Whiteley's mantra for as long as I've known him, from his days as general manager of Carl Icahn's Foxfield breeding operation to running his own Liberation Farm, and now living in semi-retirement on his New Jersey farm.

That phrase is a lot more than the signature on Whiteley's emails or the greeting on his voicemail. Whiteley truly has done something that has helped make the world a better place through the establishment in 1996 of the Horse Farm Workers' Educational Assistance Fund. Nearly 750 students have received financial aid since the fund began, with over $1.65 million distributed to the scholars who are children of horse farm workers.

“It's been a team effort for 27 years now and it's still going strong,” Whiteley said. “It's a small group of horse people at the farm level coming together to make a difference.”

The HFWEAF, which depends solely on donations, was co-founded by Whiteley, Tom Evans of Trackside Farm, and Fred Seitz of Brookdale Farm.

“I'd been eight years developing Foxfield for Carl Icahn as a commercial breeding operation,” said Whiteley, “and during that time I was very taken by the hard work and dedication of our farm workers who cared daily for the mares, foals, and yearlings in all kinds of weather for not much pay and little recognition. I wanted to come up with a way to show meaningful appreciation for all they do. I had this idea of educational assistance for their children after high school.”

Whiteley bounced the idea off Evans and Seitz, who agreed that it was worth pursuing. Attorney Judge Wilson set the organization up pro bono as a 501(c)(3) charity and they began soliciting donations. Carl Pollard and the late William T. Young were among the early supporters and Pollard has remained close to the fund as an adviser and financial backer. His son, Stu Pollard, is on the all-volunteer organization's board of directors along with Evans, Whiteley, Wilson, Dan Pride of Godolphin, educator and horsewoman Mary Ryan, veterinarian Chet Blackey, and program coordinator Muffy Stuart. Evans succeeded Whiteley as president several years ago.

“Anyone who knows Tom Evans knows that when he is involved in something, it is done well and done right,” Whiteley said. “Tom has been all-in from the very beginning and has been incredibly important in managing much of the nitty-gritty year after year.

“Many years ago, Tom and I were lucky enough to find Muffy Stuart,” he continued. “She is a very warm but no-nonsense person – the quintessential earth mother. She coordinates our application process and is a liaison to the students throughout the year.”

The process includes in-person interviews with board members that can serve as confidence builders for the applicants, many of whom will be the first in their family to attend college or trade schools.

“We don't believe in just handing out money,” said Whiteley. “We provide personal connectivity and support to the scholars and Muffy is the person who stays in contact with the students throughout the year.

“The interviews give us an opportunity for a personal connection and the chance to say, 'We believe in you.' That, as it turns out, for some applicants can be as important as the money itself,” said Whiteley.

“The encouragement is very valuable to most of our scholars,” said Evans. “Many of them don't have anybody in their household to go to for perspective on the college experience. The interviews allow us to get to know them and to give some advice and counsel them as needed and when appropriate. It also establishes a level of accountability on their part. The scholarships are given on an annual basis. When the scholars come back each year, they have to show us their transcripts and submit an essay.

“It's gratifying to watch these kids grow up and mature when we talk with them each year,” Evans added. “You think back to the first time that we met them – wide-eyed and most of them a little intimidated – and two, three or four years later they have a lot of self-confidence.”

The fund's goals are to eliminate financial obstacles that would prevent the scholars from finishing school and get them through college with as little student debt as possible. To be eligible, the applicants must have a full-time horse farm worker in Kentucky as a parent and be accepted into a college or trade school program.

Many of the applicants plan to work part-time jobs while attending school.

“These kids grew up working,” said Evans, “a lot of them on horse farms. They have a good work ethic, but we want them to work less and focus on school more. We tell them school is going to be your No. 1 job.”

“We're in awe of the work ethic and determination of the scholars,” said Whiteley. “Children that apply to the program have fully internalized their parents' work ethic.”

Whiteley and Evans both had the opportunities for higher education themselves. Whiteley earned a doctorate degree in counseling psychiatry at the University of California-Berkeley and then headed the counseling psychiatry department at Rutgers University. Evans earned a degree at Vanderbilt University and then chose to get in the horse business. That decision was influenced by attending the 1973 Kentucky Derby, won by eventual Triple Crown winner Secretariat.

“From my perspective, if you look at the world's social problems and try to find solutions – what really needs to be done to make things better – you wind up with education,” said Evans. “We tend to throw money at symptoms and ease the symptoms, but that's hardly a long-term solution.”

The HFWEAF scholars have gone on to an array of professional positions both in and outside of the horse industry. They work in racing, breeding, veterinary medicine, health care, law, social work, teaching, and many other businesses.

“In my view, it's helped make the world a better place,” said Whiteley. “It's turned out to be a wonderful thing.”

“Rob has been the driving force since the very beginning,” Evans said of Whiteley. “He's always been a cheerleader for the little guy, and that's who the fund is set up to help, the farm workers in the trenches.

“If we can help one person get an education that makes a difference in their life, it's a worthwhile project,” Evans said. “That one person can make a difference for generations to come within that family.”

The Horse Farm Workers' Educational Assistance Fund has been a difference maker for many families since its inception, and so have all the people behind it. As Rob Whiteley signs off on every email: “Be well … be kind. Do something each day to make the world a better place. Remember those who helped you along your way and PAY IT FORWARD!”

If you would like to make a difference, please consider a donation to the Horse Farm Workers' Educational Assistance Fund.

Difference Makers is presented by Richard Pearson's Avion Law, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based firm that primarily represents owners in the private aviation sector. Avion Law has a “giving back” program supporting awareness campaigns and donating to charitable organizations in and outside of horse racing. For more information on Avion Law, click here.

The post Rob Whiteley Doing His Part To Make World A Better Place: Difference Makers Presented By Avion Law appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Shannon Kelly always felt at home on the backside of racetracks and considered the people in that community to be family. As the granddaughter of Hall of Fame trainer Thomas “T.J.” Kelly, she grew up spending her summers in the barn area at Saratoga. Her uncle, Pat Kelly, and father, Tim, also trained horses. The latter went on to become a racing official at New York Racing Association tracks.

“My grandfather was very close with his staff,” Kelly said, remembering the community meals that the Kelly family often put on for stablehands. “They were part of our family and many of them worked their whole careers for him. That's very telling and close to my heart.

“My family has been very lucky to have successful careers in racing, and my grandfather was lucky to win the races he did and get elected to the Hall of Fame,” she said. “That doesn't happen without the grooms, hotwalkers, nightwatchmen, and foremen – all of those people. There is a whole community that this is their entire livelihood, and it's something that is so special about our sport. Most of the grooms and hotwalkers care deeply for these horses, so that when a horse wins it's just as much a win for them as it is for the owner. It's their whole life. It has to be when you work in horse racing; it's a 24/7, 365 job.”

Kelly had no interest in following the family footsteps into a career as a trainer, but with racing as her whole life, she wanted to be engaged in some way. An internship at The Jockey Club led her to the organization's Safety Net Foundation, where she worked alongside Nancy Kelly (no relation) for several years before the latter retired in 2018. Shannon Kelly is now the executive director of The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation, overseeing the nearly $500,000 provided annually to those in need throughout the industry and across the United States.

The mission of the Safety Net Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable trust, is to provide “on a confidential basis, financial relief and assistance to needy members of the Thoroughbred industry and their families.”

Kelly admits that the foundation historically had been New York and Kentucky centric, where The Jockey Club offices were located. It also did its good work quietly and behind the scenes, except for its fundraising efforts through events like “Fashionable Fillies,” which has expanded from New York into several other states.

Since taking the helm, Kelly has been a road warrior, meeting with chaplains, horsemen's organizations and racetrack executives around the country.

“It was my goal to try and be more present in places where we didn't have offices,” she said. “We can't truly address the need unless I can see it and get to know the boots on the ground, the chaplains and others who are there.

“We need to be more present so that people who are in a financial position to support our efforts know what we are doing. They want to know. They want to see where the work is going.  We're a national organization trying to get the help to as many people in as many racing jurisdictions as we can. So the goal is to get in front of as many people as we can.”

Kelly learned in her travels to racetracks across the country that the need for assistance is there, and that it won't go away without a concerted effort to address issues she raised during a compelling talk at the 2022 Jockey Club Round Table in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

“Quite regularly we receive calls for help with filling a food pantry for the backstretch workers,” she to an audience of wealthy horse owners, breeders and racing executives. “This assistance does not come in the form of a few cans of soup. We are allocating tens of thousands of dollars for food pantries. What does that tell us? That tells us that our workforce on our own backstretches are unable to satisfy this basic human need. The people who feed our precious equine athletes cannot feed themselves.”

Kelly walks a fine line between being critical of an industry for its employment practices and needing the help and support of that same industry for the foundation to fulfill its mission.

“I don't want to say necessarily that the problem is wages, but what we are seeing now,” Kelly said, “is that many in the community are having a tough time just getting by, and not  because of physical injury or sickness. It's just a general financial need. The Safety Net's mission is more for that emergency, someone who has lost income from being sick or injured or has fallen on hard times and may need help for a couple of months. That's where most of our assistance lands, more and more of it involving insurance or medical bills, which are outrageous.”

Kelly points to circuits that have medical or dental services available for backstretch workers. In the case of NYRA tracks, day care facilities are also provided. She would like to see more jurisdictions adopt similar programs providing benefits to backstretch workers.

“Where do you begin? Who does it start with?” she said. “Everyone needs to be aware, no matter what your role is in the industry, that there is this need. The first step is acknowledging that we might have an issue we need to address. There are a lot of people doing good things, so maybe we can start with getting everyone involved in 'human services' roles in a room together and addressing where the problems are and who can fix them.”

Addressing these problems on an industry-wide basis is not just a professional aspiration for Kelly. It's personal.

“I've seen these people my whole life, I've grown up around them, and they meant everything to my family and the success we've had,” she said. “I feel it's only right that I dedicate my career to trying to make their lives better, or at least knowing they have someone to call. We might not be able to do everything, but we can connect them to people we know and help them in the immediate moment as much as we can.”

Through her dedication to helping those horse industry workers seeking assistance and for amplifying the backstretch issues that need to be addressed, Shannon Kelly is a difference maker. If you would like to make a difference, please consider a donation to The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation.

Difference Makers is presented by Richard Pearson's Avion Law, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based firm which primarily represents owners in the private aviation sector. Avion Law has a “giving back” program supporting awareness campaigns and donating to charitable organizations in and outside of horse racing. For more information on Avion Law, click here.

The post For Shannon Kelly, Assisting Backstretch Workers Is A Personal Mission: Difference Makers Presented By Avion Law appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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“I'm retired but I'm not invisible.”

Rick Schosberg ended an accomplished 35-year career as a trainer on the New York Racing Association circuit last December at the age of 61, giving him more time to devote to important causes like Thoroughbred aftercare.

In fact, before the term was part of the industry's lexicon, Schosberg was practicing aftercare with his own horses.

“When I was growing up in Virginia, we had off-track Thoroughbreds as show horses in my family,” Schosberg said. “Then, when I first started training, my very first horse was named Three Chopt Road. When he was done racing (as a 9-year-old in 1993), he'd run 99 times and he was actually entered for his 100^th start here in New York. He had a little windpuff in his ankle, so I scratched him. I didn't want to run him because he had always been perfect. We retired him to our small farm on Long Island.”

The next year, Schosberg saddled As Indicated to win the Grade 1 Pimlico Special, the gelding's sixth consecutive win and 10^th in 14 starts. He came out of that race with an injury that sidelined him for a year. After one more start, Schosberg sent him to his farm to join Two Chopt Road.

“We had those two in our paddock out back for seven or eight years before 'aftercare' was even a term,” he said.

When Thoroughbred aftercare did become a commonly used phrase, Schosberg was all in, encouraged by the late Rick Violette Jr., a widely respected trainer who as head of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association was a founding member of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA). Violette was also the architect, along Andy Belfiore, of NYTHA's Take 2 Second Career and Take the Lead Thoroughbred  Retirement programs. Schosberg was elected to the NYTHA board of directors in 2011, and shortly thereafter Violette asked him to help lead the programs, which he said were “right in his wheelhouse.” He serves as president while Belfiore is Take 2/Take the Lead executive director.

Schosberg remains in awe of Violette, who died in 2018 at age 65 after a long battle with cancer. The New York Racing Association renamed the Rockville Centre Stakes in Violette's honor in 2019. The Rick Violette Stakes for New York-breds will be run on Aug. 17 at Saratoga, coinciding with the third annual Thoroughbred Aftercare Day, a celebration of the off-track Thoroughbred and the various charitable organizations that care for them.

“Man, whatever drove Rick Violette, I wish I had one-tenth of it,” Schosberg  said. “He was so passionate about everything in the industry with regards to, obviously, the health and welfare of the horses, but also the health and welfare of the backstretch workers. He wanted to make sure things got done right.

“He was a great mentor,” Schosberg said of Violette. “His vision wasn't just transitioning horses from the racetrack to safe and accredited organizations, but it was also spurring the demand for Thoroughbreds in their retirement and in second careers through the Take 2 program. He just had the foresight and the program developed into what I think is the industry standard for facilitating transition from the racetrack to TAA-accredited organizations.”

Schosberg is doing his part to fill the void left by Violette's passing. In addition to serving as president of Take 2/Take the Lead, he is first vice president of NYTHA, a member of the board of directors of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, and serves on the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's Horsemen's Advisory Group as well as the racetrack safety committee at NYRA tracks.

Schosberg said one of the keys to the success of the Take 2/Take the Lead program is that it has gained the trust of the horsemen.

“If they have a horse that is in need of retirement for whatever reason – lack of competition, injury – we are there and can expedite the process,” Schosberg said. “We gather up all the information needed, set up a profile for each individual horse based on medical diagnostics and other forms of information, then reach out to our partners in aftercare and see where this horse, based on its profile, fits best and where there is availability. We can move these horses to a safe haven, usually in five to seven days; sometimes it's a little longer and sometimes it's within 24 hours.”

Schosberg is proud of the fact that the program has retired over 1,000 horses since its inception. “And I think we're going to hit a benchmark on an annual number with 200 horses this year,” he said. “We've been very busy up here.”

The New York native, whose parents, Paul and Jane Schosberg, were prominent breeders in the Empire State for many years, is quick to credit the “people who are doing the work, the boots on the ground, the guys and gals who are in the trenches, many of them working as volunteers. They are doing it for the love of the animals and the health and well-being of these racehorses for the 60 to 80 percent of their life after they're off the racetrack.”

On Aftercare Day at Saratoga, Schosberg said he will be one of those boots on the ground, making sure all goes smoothly for the various activities taking place between races – all while nursing an injured shoulder that required recent surgery.

“Aftercare Day is a wonderful, wonderful way for the public to get exposed to what we do, what our partners do, and what these horses can do once they transition off the racetrack,” he said. “NYRA has been fantastic in partnering with us and getting the organizations here. It's just a great way to get the word out there that says, 'Hey folks, we're really working hard here to see that these horses that you love to watch and wager on or see in the paddock have a safety net after they've transitioned off the racetracks.' It's a great program and it's inarguable the necessity for it.”

Even with all the progress and success of programs like Take 2/Take the Lead, Schosberg said the industry still has a long way to go. “Everybody involved in racing has a shared responsibility to see that these horses find safe, proper and useful, purposeful second careers,” he said.

“I would say we're not even close to being halfway there,” he said. “We need to come up with more creative ways to have sustained revenue. I know it's no easy task; each state has different legislative and regulatory requirements and I know it's not easy and takes time.

“In New York, we have a great relationship with our state legislators and with the racing association and the New York breeders and the Breeding Development Fund as well. We're all in lockstep. We go to Albany and we explain that this is about health and welfare, that it's good for New York state, that it's great for New York racing, and what's great for New York racing is good for the industry as a whole.”

Schosberg saddled 876 winners on the racetrack, including 1995 champion 2-year-old male Maria's Mon and a number of other Grade 1 winners. But it's the work he's doing with horses off the racetrack that may well be his legacy. That makes Richard E. Schosberg a difference maker. If you would like to make a difference, please consider a donation to the Take 2/Take the Lead program.

Difference Makers is presented by Richard Pearson's Avion Law, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based firm which primarily represents owners in the private aviation sector. Avion Law has a “giving back” program supporting awareness campaigns and donating to charitable organizations in and outside of horse racing. For more information on Avion Law, click here.

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