Tag: Horowitz on OTTBs

You'd be hard-pressed to find owners that have gotten more out of a $5,000 claim—and given more back to the sport because of it—than Daley Family Thoroughbreds have with Sandhill Lady.

The claim came from the first race at Arapahoe Park in Colorado on June 7, 2014, a Colorado-bred maiden over 5 1/2 furlongs that Sandhill Lady comfortably won as the 4-5 favorite. That was Sandhill Lady's first race as a 5-year-old. In two seasons prior, the daughter of Colorado's leading sire at the time, Oliver's Twist, out of an unraced dam named McPeak had come close to breaking her maiden, even being stakes-placed, while trained by her breeder, Gale Deisley.

“We took her from the $5,000 claiming because she had a lot of potential,” said Neil Daley, who partners with his brother Rodger for Daley Family Thoroughbreds.

Later that year, the 17.0 hands dark bay mare won a seven-furlong allowance race in Albuquerque, going from last to first. The next year, she won “the highlight of her career,” according to Neil, a photo finish in the Spicy Stakes at Arapahoe, a $46,055 stakes race for Colorado-bred fillies and mares over 1 1/16 miles.

“We've never won a stakes race before, so it was a special, special moment,” he said.

But, that's not all as far as why Sandhill Lady was such a significant $5,000 claim.

After she retired from racing in 2017 following 33 starts, the Daleys bred Sandhill Lady twice. She foaled a filly by Birdstone named Flying Lady in 2020 and another filly by Karakontie named Sahara Kara in 2022. After finishing seventh and eighth in two races as a 2-year-old in 2022, Flying Lady, a spitting image of her mom, has shown great improvement as a 3-year-old in 2023. In five races during her sophomore season so far, she's won once and finished second three times.

“Watching that little baby grow from the time Sandhill Lady was taking care of her to today when she's winning her first race, yeah, I got tears in my eyes,” said Margie Marlin, whom Neil calls his “life partner,” right after Flying Lady broke her maiden at Bally's Arapahoe Park. “That race, she looked a lot like Sandhill Lady, coming up from behind with sand all over her chest.”

But, that's not all as far as why Sandhill Lady was such a significant $5,000 claim.

“After that was done and she weaned Sahara Kara, her second one, we got to thinking about what to do next,” Neil said. “Do we keep her breeding? Or do we give her an opportunity to do something different? We decided let's do something different.”

This is the part of the story where Daley Family Thoroughbreds decided to give back to Sandhill Lady and are models for responsible racehorse ownership.

Sandy, now 14 years old, “got the band back together.” (By the way, Neil and Rodger Daley remind me of and have the same swagger as the Blues Brothers.)

Neil reached out to me and my wife, Ashley. I was the “vocalist” as the announcer when Sandy raced in her home state. Neil, Ashley, and I were all part of the aftercare organization CANTER Colorado—Neil and I as board members and Ashley as trainer of the retired racehorses that came through the organization from the racetrack to their next careers. CANTER Colorado is no longer active listing or retraining horses, but for us, it was always about wanting to help the horses more than the organization itself. And that's why it was a no-brainer to work together for Sandy.

Plus, Jodi Perkins, who trained Sandhill Lady alongside her husband, Ty Garrett, on the racetrack, is also a dressage rider. During the 2023 Arapahoe season, she stabled her two dressage OTTBs at our Super G Sporthorses farm in Parker, Colorado, and was right there for Sandy's training for her third career, just like she had been for her first.

“They'll give back to you so much more than you can ever give to them, and we're just so happy that we're going to be able to pursue some more opportunities for her and really have a whole brand new life,” Neil said.

Sandy arrived at our farm in February 2023 for training in dressage. She hadn't been ridden since her last race almost six years prior but showed immediately how big and beautiful she was in her appearance and movement.

“We had pretty much figured out that she hadn't done anything new under saddle since she was 2 years old,” Ashley, who took the lead as Sandy's dressage trainer, said. “She's always known her job. So, she's 14 now, and it was really challenging initially. When we first got on her, everything was easy, but when we started to develop and try to get her on her hind end and have her meet the connection, it was all very confusing, and she'd get really frustrated quite fast.”

With 2023 being the first year that the Retired Racehorse Project has offered a Broodmare Division at Thoroughbred Makeover, Daley Family Thoroughbreds teamed up with Super G Sporthorses and entered as a team in dressage and freestyle.

“Like tears of joy on social media when we initially announced it,” RRP Executive Director Kirsten Green said about the new broodmare initiative at the Thoroughbred Makeover. “We hoped we might get about 20 mares in this pilot year and we ended up with 26 as of registration close. We've gotten a tremendous amount of praise from across the industry. I'm looking forward to sharing the outcomes after the Makeover.”

So, just like they did for her races, Daley Family Thoroughbreds plan to be at the Kentucky Horse Park to cheer on Sandy at the Thoroughbred Makeover. Flying Lady may also be racing at the Downs at Albuquerque during Makeover week.

While it hasn't been an easy journey for Sandhill Lady to go from broodmare to show horse with the mare overcoming some physical and health challenges as she got back into training following years of being out at pasture, it has been rewarding.

“Working with Sandy has become one of the most rewarding partnerships with a horse I've had in a short amount of time,” said Bailey Apostolico, who is having her first experiences with the RRP as part of the team that will be competing at the Makeover with Ashley and me. “When the idea was thrown out about joining the team entry, I jumped at the opportunity, because I didn't know when something like this would come around again, and Sandy was a beautiful horse. The best part of this whole experience, excluding the trip to Kentucky, was seeing the difference between our relationship from March to now. Sandy has improved exponentially from the first time I rode her, and it's been a treat seeing her confidence come out as her education increases.”

Sandhill Lady surpassed our expectations at her first dressage horse show at Platinum Farms in Franktown, Colo., on Aug. 23, 72 hours before her foal Flying Lady would break her maiden up the road at Arapahoe. I rode her in her first test, and it's one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had getting to compete with a stakes winner I used to announce. I had been riding for about two months back when Sandhill Lady won the 2015 Spicy Stakes, and that was two months prior to the first time I'd announce the Thoroughbred Makeover.

The judge's comments were, reflecting Sandy's potential as well as where to improve after this first test, “Nice pair to watch. Be sure to keep haunches in correct alignment.”

Then, Ashley and Sandy successfully did the dressage test that competitors will do at the Makeover. Just like when the gates opened during her races, Sandy exuded class as she trotted down centerline.

“I'm so impressed with her,” Ashley said as they walked out of the ring. “She really was a little nervous in the warm-up. She wasn't sure she was going to be able to canter. She tried to tell me no, and we worked it out, and then when we actually went in there and she needed to do it, she really stepped up. And, there were a lot of times where I actually got to enjoy the moment. She tried really hard and really, really impressed with what she just did in there.”

To follow their journey to the makeover, visit the author's page on X (formerly Twitter) here.

Just like when she'd be watching her races from the rail, Jodi Perkins, who was part of Sandy's training team at the track, was sitting next to the dressage ring. Sandy's racing connections truly appreciate what goes into success both on and off the track.

“Oh, it's wonderful to see her go on, and, I mean, when I've seen her go with you guys, she's moving so big and nice,” the race trainer who is also a dressage rider said. “It's just great to have more options. I was so excited when the Thoroughbred Makeover announced that, because it was something that I think I would like to do with a broodmare eventually if I get the opportunity.”

The Thoroughbred Makeover has revolutionized the image of and market for racehorses coming off the track by creating a high-value competition to showcase racehorses in their first year of retraining for new careers. For the most part, the vision and execution of this largest Thoroughbred retraining competition in the world has remained the same since it settled into its home at the Kentucky Horse Park starting in 2015. Adding a team competition and western dressage were the most significant additions before the broodmare division, which I believe has the potential to be even more impactful.

While the RRP's report about this year's field highlights how “the majority of mares retired due to reproductive issues rather than advanced age or commercial performance of offspring,” Sandhill Lady is an example of the responsibility that her racing connections have for her lifetime care—and a model other owners can follow to help address horse racing's image and social license to operate.

“She has changed dramatically,” Neil said. “You can tell she loves it. She's changed into a really high-performing horse like she was at the track. And I will say, she's 14 years old. We're especially proud of her in that she's 14, she's not young, but that's OK. All horses we've ever had, hey, they go on to a next career. I think it's our duty as owners that if we're going to be raising horses and they're going to be doing so much for us, we want to give back.”

Daley Family Thoroughbreds are giving their star mare the opportunity to showcase her skills in another field. The training Sandy is receiving and the stage she'll be on at the Thoroughbred Makeover will help kickstart the next phase in her life. This year, however, broodmares will not be eligible to make the Finale and compete for special awards. That will, at least to start, minimize the appeal for broodmares in terms of how they're viewed as viable sporthorses. While there are no guarantees in horse shows, just like there are none in horse races, Sandhill Lady shows the potential quality a broodmare can bring to interest in the Thoroughbred breed. That $5,000 claim nine years ago has gone a really long way.

“She's a very sweet, very caring, easygoing horse—just a really fun horse to be around,” Margie said. “We've had a really good life with her.”

Announcing horse races inspired Jonathan Horowitz to become an advocate for off-track Thoroughbreds and Arabians, as well as to learn to event on horses he used to announce at the track. He also serves as Acting Director for the Arabian Jockey Club and runs the Super G Sporthorses eventing barn with his wife, Ashley. He can be reached on Facebook and Twitter at @jjhorowitz.

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Four major equine organizations came together in May to announce that they would dispense with one of the worst-kept secrets in the horse world.

The press release began, “At next year's Paris Olympic Games, Thoroughbreds competing in any of the equestrian disciplines – dressage, show jumping and eventing – will, for the first time, be recognised in the starting lists and results. In past Olympics, the retired Thoroughbred racehorses competing were listed only as 'breeding unknown.'”

This announcement was made in conjunction by the European and Mediterranean Horseracing Federation (EMHF), the World Breeding Federation for Sports Horses (WBFSH), the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), and the International Stud Book Committee (ISBC). It's worth applauding any time multiple horse organizations come together in support of the Thoroughbred breed, but it's worth understanding what we're actually applauding.

This announcement, at least in part, resolves the following scenario: a horse begins a show jumping round at the Château de Versailles during the 2024 Olympics, and spectators would like to know the breed of that horse. Before, they would look in the program only to see that it says “breeding unknown.” Now, it will say “Thoroughbred.”

However, the fact that the horse previously had “breeding unknown” is not actually true or accurate. The identity of a Thoroughbred is based on the horse having a Thoroughbred sire and Thoroughbred dam. Thoroughbred breeding lines are not a secret; the “General Studbook for Thoroughbred Horses” launched in England in 1791 is regarded as the first official horse studbook and the model warmblood breeds have subsequently used to catalogue pedigrees for their registries. If they were “retired Thoroughbred racehorses,” as the press release identifies, they also would have been registered with a Thoroughbred stud book, such as The Jockey Club in the United States or one of the members of the EMHF.

So, really, the fact that “Thoroughbred” was not identified in the starting lists and results at the Olympics was not because their breeding was “unknown,” but rather because it was not “recognized.” The press release explains the reason for this, “The issue arises because, under a Memorandum of Understanding between the FEI and the WBFSH, only member stud books of the WBFSH have historically been credited, and the WBFSH only has members that specifically breed horses for the Olympic disciplines.”

The word “historically” in that last sentence carries a lot of weight, and let's just say it's a lot closer to the rise of the current French president, Emmanuel Macron, than it is to any member of the French monarchy that lived at Versailles. The Memorandum of Understanding between the WBFSH and the FEI is from 2015, which was quite a significant year for the Thoroughbred breed. It's the year that American Pharoah was “finally the one,” as announcer Larry Collmus exclaimed to a worldwide audience when the Triple Crown was won for the first time in 37 years. It's also the year that the Retired Racehorse Project hosted the Thoroughbred Makeover at the Kentucky Horse Park for the first time, establishing the annual pilgrimage of Thoroughbred enthusiasts to Lexington for “the largest Thoroughbred retraining competition in the world for recently-retired ex-racehorses,” according to the RRP's website.

However, while these events put the Thoroughbred racehorse and the Thoroughbred sporthorse under arguably the biggest spotlight the breed has seen in the 21st century, the year 2015 is also the year that the Thoroughbred breed became erased from the FEI's database of international sporthorse competitions. The WBFSH was founded in 1994 with 25 studbooks of different sporthorse breeds and has grown to include 86 studbooks. A studbook for Thoroughbreds is not one of them. Spoiler alert: it never will be, at least under the current framework and mission of the WBFSH.

More on that later, but when the WBFSH became old enough to drink legally in America, the organization whose mission is “to foster breeding progress to produce the best sport horses,” according to its website, partnered with the FEI to exclude the Thoroughbred breed from appearing on the guest list of the party that puts the biggest spotlight on equestrian sports outside of horse racing—the Olympics. Thoroughbred could compete but would not be identified as Thoroughbreds.

The Olympics used to recognize Thoroughbreds, contrary to the press release's claim that the 2024 Games in Paris will be “for the first time.” For example, the “Official Results Book” for the 2012 London Games designates seven Thoroughbreds that competed in eventing and show jumping with “THB” under “Breed.” The same is the case for the “Official Results Book” for previous Olympics.

The graphic below includes a page from the 2012 “Official Results Book,” and I've highlighted the two Thoroughbreds listed on it—Clifton Promise and Flintstar. Five other horses on the page are by Thoroughbred stallions. The Thoroughbred stallion Heraldik, the sire of Butts Leon, is approved for at least 10 different warmblood studbooks in Germany. He sired four horses at the 2012 Olympics—three in eventing and one in dressage.

The Thoroughbred influence on sporthorse breeding is undeniable from this page alone. It's baffling why the FEI would then agree to the removal of “Thoroughbred” given the breed's clear influence on sporthorse breeding.

Only in 2020 (because the organizing committee in Rio did not produce an Official Report after the 2016 Olympics) did a Thoroughbred like Glenfly, a former steeplechaser in England who was a member of the Brazilian eventing team with Marcelo Tosi, have his breeding designated as “OTHER.”

So, this idea that Thoroughbreds will be officially recognized in the 2024 Olympics is not “for the first time,” and not even “For the First Time in Forever.” Reading between the lines, what this announcement has shown is that the relationship between the racehorse world and the sporthorse world is “Frozen.” Given that the racing industry continues to make improvements to provide racehorses with their best opportunities to succeed in second careers (and there is still plenty of progress to be made), it's time to work together to unfreeze the winter that exists in equine Arendelle and get to the foundation of what the Thoroughbred is.

Although the Thoroughbred breed has been developed over the past four centuries with the goal of producing the ultimate racehorse, the selective breeding to create horses that could excel at racing has also produced horses that can be successful at many other equine sports. That's a good thing because even the oldest racehorses are still very young with many good years potentially ahead of them.

The Jockey Club celebrates this in several ways, a big one being through the recognition of racehorses as sporthorses in the Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.). Putting the spotlight on Thoroughbred successes through ribbons recognizing former racehorses at horse shows and through Thoroughbred-only championships across a variety of equine sports accomplishes two things, although the intensity of each one is in the eye of the beholder: 1) it honors the rich history of Thoroughbreds in equine sports; 2) it treats the Thoroughbred as different from other breeds. Depending on which of these two considerations are more valued determines how the Thoroughbred is viewed.

“We are still always fighting the stigma, 'Well, that's just a Thoroughbred.' And we think, 'Yeah, that's a Thoroughbred,'” said Kristin Werner, Senior Counsel of The Jockey Club.

While celebrating that their racehorses “can” achieve success in other sports, much of the racing world still treats this as separate from or even an anomaly to the primary goal of racing success. For instance, several Thoroughbred breeding lines are standing out as successful sporthorse producers, but there's still a stigma that sporthorse success only comes about because of racehorse failure.

“With the ones that are showing at the Olympics or five-star eventers, I'm like, 'How are you not as proud of this horse, who at 20 years old is doing this, that shows that your breeding works?” Werner said.

The WBFSH, the organization that unites warmblood studbooks that are purpose-bred for sport, also pigeonholes Thoroughbreds into racing first and anything else secondary. Therefore, Thoroughbred studbooks are not eligible for WBFSH membership.

“This is because the WBFSH members must have one of their breeding [goals] that they breed for at least one of the Olympic disciplines,” said Nadine Brandtner, General Manager of the WBFSH. “This is not a breeding goal of the Thoroughbreds.”

This distinction means that Thoroughbreds are not eligible to participate in the World Breeding Championships for Young Horses (WBCYH) or be included in the discussion with other breeds in WBFSH rankings. This is in spite of the fact that Thoroughbreds have a rich history of Olympic success, and the breed is actually sought-after in breeding for sporthorses within the studbooks that are members of the WBFSH. Here's an excerpt from when “Horowitz on OTTBs” tackled the issue of Thoroughbred genetics:

In fact, the qualities that the Thoroughbred possesses have inspired crossing other breeds with the Thoroughbred. For example, the Irish Sport Horse Stud Book that has excelled in eventing has developed through crossing with Thoroughbreds.

Horses with a high percentage of Thoroughbred blood were some of the highest sellers at the recent Monart Sale and Goresbridge Go For Gold Sale for event horse prospects in Ireland.

There are even full Thoroughbreds for sale through Monart and Goresbridge. Because they're registered as Irish Sport Horses, they're eligible to compete at World Breeding Championships. The absurdity is you just can't call them “Thoroughbreds.” There are also Thoroughbreds in the United States that are purpose-bred for sport rather than racing, but unless they're registered with another studbook, they will be excluded from the World Breeding Championships.

Brandtner joined the WBFSH in 2016, and the Thoroughbred breed has made strides within the organization. Her family bred racehorses, so she understands their value, particularly when it comes to the role racing plays in the big picture of equine sports having a social license to operate.

“The social license to operate is the endorsement that the whole of the equine sector needs for us to keep doing what we do,” she said. “The most basic element is that we are still allowed to use the horse, and then on top of that comes how we do this, and how we treat and keep our horses. This is no different in racing as in equestrian sport. The public, that may not be involved with horses at all, will not distinguish between the two industries when it comes to the rights of the horse. And therefore we in the sector have a collective and collaborative responsibility to work on our social license.”

The recognition of Thoroughbreds in starts lists and results at the Olympics and other FEI competitions is a step in the right direction.

“Initial discussions within the WBFSH recognized the significant impact that the Thoroughbred has had, and still has on the evolution of the warmblood,” Brandtner said. “That, and the joint responsibility that both industries have on the SLO, played a part in the decision of the WBFSH to recognize the Thoroughbred on starting lists, even if the [breed] cannot be a member of the WBFSH, and therefore cannot participate in the WBCYH, or appear in the WBFSH rankings.”

The next step for the good of the horse is for the leaders of the racehorse and sporthorse industries to come together, not just to talk about how great it is that racehorses can go on to second careers, but to ensure that Thoroughbreds have equal opportunities as other breeds in other equine sports. Thoroughbreds are not outliers; they are just as worthy and just as valued by upper-level riders as any other breed out there.

“A working collaboration between the Thoroughbred and the WBFSH might be a consideration for the future, since there are many common interests and challenges facing our two industries,” Brandtner said.

Thoroughbreds have a rich history in the Olympics.

They stole the show at the two Summer Games held in Los Angeles. Taine and Xavier Lesage won individual and team gold in dressage for France in 1932.

Touch of Class and Joe Fargis won individual and team gold in jumping for the United States in 1984.

“Now, we're trying to catch back up in the other direction and remind people that Thoroughbreds are still good sporthorses,” Werner said.

Hopefully, with the Olympics set to return to Los Angeles in 2028, The Jockey Club and the rest of the racehorse world can expand on its efforts to recognize and to trace Thoroughbreds outside of racing. And, the WBFSH and the rest of the sporthorse world can expand on its efforts to collaborate with the racing industry to address equine sports' social license to operate.

Announcing horse races inspired Jonathan Horowitz to become an advocate for off-track Thoroughbreds and Arabians, as well as to learn to event on horses he used to announce at the track. He also serves as Acting Director for the Arabian Jockey Club and runs the Super G Sporthorses eventing barn with his wife, Ashley. He can be reached on Facebook and Twitter at @jjhorowitz.

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Horse racing is full of statistics, arguably as much as any other sport. Also, if you look at past performances or results charts from a century ago, you'll see much of the same information then as you do now.

The Jockey Club has been the curator of much of the information for horse racing in North America since its founding in 1894. It maintains and publishes the American Stud Book, the genealogical archive for Thoroughbreds in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The Jockey Club also partners with the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America to run Equibase, the archive that meticulously charts the action in horse races across North America.

Heading into its 130th anniversary, The Jockey Club is now exploring new information to track, and that information will be extremely valuable for the continued well-being of the equine athletes and the sport. It will go a long way to addressing horse racing's social license to operate. On Aug. 3, in her remarks at The Jockey Club's 2023 Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing, Kristin Werner, senior counsel for The Jockey Club, will present about the topic of traceability of Thoroughbreds.

To be clear, horse racing's historical statistics have always facilitated traceability, although it's been confined to a horse's racing career. However, there's now more focus than ever on tracking these horses after their racing careers are finished. Some of that is for positive reasons that celebrate the Thoroughbred. For example, the Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover has revolutionized the market for OTTBs by spotlighting the viability and versatility of the Thoroughbred racehorse as a sporthorse. Since 2020, with thanks to the support from Excel Equine, this column has shared stories about Thoroughbreds like:

• Sorocaima and Palm Crescent, who went from racing to competing at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event;
• Cozmic One, who has become an ambassador for the partnership between the racehorse and sporthorse worlds;
• Canton Comet, who inspired hunter/jumper and dressage trainer Samantha Fawcett to breed her first racehorse after they competed in the Thoroughbred Makeover; and
• many more examples because there are plenty of stories like these.

Unfortunately, there are also negative reasons for motivating traceability after horses finish their racing careers. The kill pen economy is stronger than ever. When a former racehorse ends up in these situations, regardless of how long it's been since that horse has been on the track or how many hands through which that horse has passed since they retired from racing, the spotlight gets put on that horse's connection to the racing industry.

When Werner discusses traceability of Thoroughbreds at the Round Table Conference, the focus will be on how it will help horses that end up in bad situations. It will be an important step toward helping track the first steps racing connections make when their horse leaves the racing world for the world outside of the stable gates.

“My talk is really just going to be touching on the topic, and after that, we have some software development that we're going to be working on that's an effort of furthering traceability,” Werner said. “With digital certificates now, we have a great opportunity to be able to have information about horses that we didn't have when there were just paper certificates because the paper certificates were just out there floating around. So, we're hoping to leverage the digital certificates with traceability.”

The end result will be a framework that answers the question, “Where are these horses coming from before they go to the kill pen and can we capture that information ahead of time?” Werner said. “If we can capture the information from the owners or trainers that are sending them to bad situations, can we redirect their efforts to all these options that we have out there—whether it's an aftercare organization, a private organization, the racetracks with aftercare liaisons to get those horses to a better place—and remind people that these Thoroughbreds have value if they are sound and coming off the track in a healthy way.”

From there, the future possibilities are endless, and that is what I'd like to explore in this space, as well as an area that the Retired Racehorse Project is looking to lead the movement for the evolution of the influential organization and for the future of the industry.

“The vast majority of racing connections want to know where their horses end up,” RRP executive director Kirsten Green said. “So then the big question becomes who has the bandwidth, the capacity to take the responsibility to support what it's going to take to build something like that? That's the question we're in the middle of trying to answer right now. I certainly think RRP has a position to play a part in that where we don't have the capacity to gather the full picture, but we certainly have the groundwork for something like that because we are a very data-minded organization and have a proprietary system where we've been collecting data on Makeover horses over all these years.”

Here is one example of traceability based on what I do in my broadcasting of horse races and horse shows involving Emily's Pegasus, a 2016 chestnut mare bred in Louisiana that raced 23 times from 2018 to 2020. A quick look at her past performances shows how straightforward it is to trace her steps during her racing career in terms of who owned her, trained her, where she was stabled, and her record in races and workouts.

What she did after her last race on May 13, 2020, is not currently connected with her racing biography, although I happen to know it because she arrived at our Super G Sporthorses farm in Colorado five days after her last race. Brit Vegas, who transitions many OTTBs from the racetrack to new careers through her Royal Fox Stables in Nebraska, acquired Emily's Pegasus from her last racing connections at Fonner Park. My wife, Ashley, bought the mare she calls “Sussy” from Brit.

That Brit bought Emily's Pegasus from the racetrack, a private sale at the time, would become known through The Jockey Club's traceability initiatives. What Emily's Pegasus has done since with Ashley is actually traceable if you know where to look, and this potentially represents a future vision for traceability of Thoroughbreds. Emily's Pegasus has gone on to a successful career in the equestrian sport of eventing, and her record in horse shows through the United States Eventing Association (USEA) resembles her race record on Equibase.

She currently has two wins and nine top-three finishes in events that have taken place in seven different states, including winning the USEA's Area IX Championships and finishing third in the American Eventing Championships at the Modified level of 3-feet-5 in 2022. The eventing success of the daughter of Fusaichi Pegasus has greatly increased her value. Ashley sold Sussy at the end of last year to her teenage student, who was able to move up to a new level because of her partnership with the mare. Emily's Pegasus is a feather in the cap for the Thoroughbred industry.

However, a challenge to tracking all this is that Emily's Pegasus shows under a different name than her race name: Tiny Dancer.

“We know what happens is they go into sporthorse life and they get registered to USEF or whatever, and they may or may not have their race name or pedigree attributed to them,” Green said. “So, it makes it very difficult to maintain that records continuity.”

The onus on registering horses with a sporthorse organization like USEF or USEA is on the owners to provide information about their horses. The Jockey Club connects the race and show identities of Thoroughbreds through its database for The Jockey Club's Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.). If I'm announcing Thoroughbreds at horse shows, and their show names are different than their race names, I can still trace back to their racing career if they've been registered with their sire and dam by searching the dam's name and year of foaling on Equibase.

These challenges to traceability could be rectified if Thoroughbreds' show registration was accompanied by their Jockey Club number, either provided by the owners or through a framework that links the databases of racing and sporthorse entities, as it's successfully done through T.I.P. If there was an Equibase link to a horses' race record on their show page and vice versa, this would provide valuable information about where a horse came from prior to showing and where it has been after it finished racing.

“It's probably not even as much gathering data because a lot of it already exists, but whether we could ever conglomerate all those into one area, I would probably say initially lean on RRP, but never say never when it comes to Jockey Club, particularly if partnering with those major, larger organizations, as opposed to creating something new ourselves,” Werner said.

There have been a number of times where a rider at a horse show will come out of the competition ring and tell me, “You know more about my horse than I do,” because I've talked about their Thoroughbred's racing record. I take this as a huge compliment, but it's also a sign that the racehorse and sporthorse worlds are capable of coming together to share information about their horses that will benefit each other and better promote the lifelong journey that a Thoroughbred makes.

Announcing horse races inspired Jonathan Horowitz to become an advocate for off-track Thoroughbreds and Arabians, as well as to learn to event on horses he used to announce at the track. He also serves as Acting Director for the Arabian Jockey Club and runs the Super G Sporthorses eventing barn with his wife, Ashley. He can be reached on Facebook and Twitter at @jjhorowitz.

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Nicole Ruggeri trained the winners of both stakes races at Bally's Arapahoe Park in Colorado on Sunday, June 25. There were also two moments that weekend involving her off the track that are worth celebrating for how the racehorse and sporthorse worlds can come together for the well-being of the horse. One moment was supporting a horse that she used to train who is now in a new career; the other was acquiring a horse so that she could train it for a new career.

What happened is about Arabian racehorses, but the same ideas and events could apply to Thoroughbreds as well.

On the day before RB Texas Hold Em would dominate the Emirates Breeders VIP Stakes by 10 1/2 lengths and Colorado-bred AA Sweet Victory would capture the Emirates Breeders VIP Distaff in her home state, Ruggeri went to the Round Top Horse Trials in Castle Rock, Colo., to cheer on a horse she used to train that is now competing in the equestrian sport of eventing. I had invited Nicole to see AA Two Face and me attempt our first USEA-recognized event at the Beginner Novice level of 2'7”.

Ruggeri was the first to train AA Two Face on the track during the grey gelding's first season as a 3-year-old in 2021. Although he didn't show much talent on the track, AA Two Face made an impression in the barn.

“He was just an angel,” the trainer said. “He never did anything wrong. We kind of always knew he wasn't going to be fast. That would have been a great 'husband horse' is how we always thought of him. I was like, 'Andre, this is the best-behaved horse,'” referring to her husband, Andre Ruggeri.

AA Two Face, whose name comes from how his blaze makes him resemble DC Comics' Harvey Dent character Two-Face, brought the same lovable demeanor from the track to our Super G Sporthorses farm. “Dos,” as we call him in the barn, became a quick learner in the sport of eventing that features the three phases of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping.

He also continued to enjoy galloping like the racehorse he was bred to be, so we decided to combine his eventing training with racing training. (See “Horowitz On OTTBs, Presented By Excel Equine: The Value Of Cross-Training For Racehorses”

Then, we decided to combine his horse shows with races. My wife, Ashley Horowitz, a sporthorse trainer her entire adult life, got her racehorse trainer's license for the first racehorse we've ever campaigned.

So, after AA Two Face and I finished cross-country at the Round Top Horse Trials last Saturday, Jody Carraway, another racehorse trainer that came to the show to cheer on Dos and me, snapped a picture that includes me on the horse next to Dos's two race trainers.

After AA Two Face and I finished cross-country at Round Top, we got a photo with his two race trainers, Nicole Ruggeri and Ashley Horowitz. Thank you to Nicole and her team for giving him such a great foundation at the track, which now translates to his success as an eventer. 1/4 pic.twitter.com/EcG03XvoYy

— Jonathan Horowitz (@jjhorowitz) June 25, 2023

“It was very rewarding, and I was so happy to see him,” Ruggeri said. “It almost made me want to cry because he was so bright-eyed and jumped with ease, and it's nice to see he has a good life.”

It was a beautiful moment that brought together the race trainer that gave the horse his foundation on the track and the sporthorse trainer that gave the horse his foundation off the track. Bringing these worlds together even more, it was the sporthorse trainer who got her racing license to bring AA Two Face back to the track, and then the day after the show Ashley would be the trainer for two horses in the Emirates Breeders stakes races at Arapahoe. One of those horses, RB Rathowayne, shares the same sire as AA Two Face — Rathowan — another intersection between the racehorse and sporthorse worlds. Our plan is to event RB Rathowayne after he finishes racing.

AA Two Face and I were one of just six pairs out of 21 total entries at the Beginner Novice level at Round Top to jump clear with zero penalties in cross-country and show jumping. We finished sixth in our division on a score of 39.4, just 0.3 points away from qualifying for the United States Eventing Association's (USEA) Area IX Championships. Dos was the youngest (5 years old) and smallest (15.1 hh) horse in his division.

Then, the next day, back in Arapahoe's stable area after saddling two stakes winners, Nicole made plans to help a racehorse that may be ready for a new career. Wikispeedia, one of Ashley's trainees in the races at Arapahoe, pulled up before the finish line of the Emirates Breeders VIP Distaff. Thankfully, there were no signs of injury or bleeding, and by the next day, the 4-year-old bay filly was back to her normal self. We suspect she tied up during the race. Wikispeedia's owners said they are ready for the horse to find a new career to which she may be more suited, and that's where Nicole stepped up ready to buy her because she's started transitioning Arabian racehorses to the sport of endurance.

Whether it's racing or endurance, Ruggeri assesses where a horse is best suited, and that's something from which other trainers can learn. Then, when those horses are in new careers after racing, it makes such a positive impact for trainers like Ruggeri to stay involved in their racehorses' lives.

So, for Nicole to be associated with horses that won stakes race trophies and a horse show ribbon and plan to buy a new horse to be part of that horse's future transition to a new career, that's a weekend worth celebrating, and I hope more trainers will get to experience the same.

Announcing horse races inspired Jonathan Horowitz to become an advocate for off-track Thoroughbreds and Arabians, as well as to learn to event on horses he used to announce at the track. He also serves as Acting Director for the Arabian Jockey Club and runs the Super G Sporthorses eventing barn with his wife, Ashley. He can be reached on Facebook and Twitter at @jjhorowitz.

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