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Schosberg Claims Multiple Stakes Winner Twisted Tom To Retire Gelding At Age Eight

Twisted Tom, an 8-year-old multiple stakes winner and frequenter of the New York racing circuit, was claimed for $10,000 over the weekend so he could be retired.

The Daily Racing Form reported that trainer Richard Schosberg dropped the claim after hearing from breeders Drs. William Wilmot and Joan Taylor expressing concern for the gelding.

Twisted Tom boarded a van bound for ReRun Thoroughbred Adoption the next day.

Schosberg is the president of Take The Lead, the New York Racing Association's Thoroughbred retirement arm.

Twisted Tom leaves the track with $939,135 in earnings, picked up wins in the private Terms and Federico Tesio, as well as the New York Derby and Albany Stakes early in his career. More recently though, he had made appearances on the claiming circuit.

Schosberg told the Form's David Grening that he thought the horse may make a good jumper someday.

“We want to make sure these horses retire before they have major issues,” Schosberg said.

TRF Expands Second Chances Program To Additional Correctional Facility In New York

In collaboration with the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (NYSDOCCS), the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's successful Second Chances program will expand in New York with a new farm located at Wyoming Correctional Facility in Attica. The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) has a rich history in New York and launched the flagship Second Chances program at Wallkill Correctional Facility in 1984, a program that continues to operate today.

“The TRF is eager to launch the new Second Chances Program in western New York so that we can provide this important vocational opportunity to more incarcerated individuals, who will also care for up to 25 Thoroughbreds needing a safe haven after their racing careers are over,” said Pat Stickney, TRF's Executive Director. “We are grateful to the NYSDOCCS for their continued support in this collaborative effort which serves these two important missions.”

The TRF Second Chances Program is a unique and pioneering program where incarcerated individuals build life skills while participating in a vocational training program as they provide supervised care to retired racehorses. The program has successfully expanded to seven states, where incarcerated individuals have the opportunity to participate in a rigorous training program where they learn horse anatomy, how to care for injuries, equine nutrition, and other aspects of horse care. Graduates of the program receive a certification based on the level of expertise they have mastered. After their release from prison, graduates of the TRF Second Chances Program have gone on to careers as grooms, farriers, vet assistants, and caretakers.

The TRF Second Chances Program at Wyoming Correctional Facility will operate within one of the former dairy barns, converted for the purposes of housing horses just as it was at the TRF's flagship facility at Wallkill Correctional. The program will utilize approximately 50 acres of land near the barn, which will be reseeded and fenced to maintain the equine teachers who will live there.

The work on the property is slated to begin in the spring of 2022 to prepare the facility for the arrival of horses. To start, the program will welcome ten retired racehorses to the facility and as the program grows and strengthens, additional fencing will be added to accommodate up to a maximum capacity of 25 retired racehorses at the facility.

“The Department is elated to welcome the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's Second Chances program to another one of our facilities,” said DOCCS Acting Commissioner Anthony J. Annucci. “TRF's mission is not only humane in offering sanctuary to retired Thoroughbreds, but in the humanity it brings to its participants. This program has been lifechanging to countless incarcerated individuals over the years, and we are proud to expand this opportunity for a new lease on life to both incarcerated individuals and equines alike.

Currently, Wyoming Correctional has a strong offering of vocational services for incarcerated individuals including small engine repair, horticulture, welding, and HVAC. The addition of the TRF Second Chances program for equine vocational instruction will add another layer of unique and necessary skills available for the men to learn while they are serving their sentence as well as a much-needed place of sanctuary to the horses who will come to call Wyoming Correctional home.

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Efficacy Of Oral Joint Supplements: Which Ingredients Actually ‘Work?’

Dr. Rachel Tucker, an associate at Liphook Equine Hospital in the United Kingdom, was on a quest to determine which ingredients, if any, contained in popular equine joint supplements actually worked.

Many oral supplements claim a wide array of effects, including maintaining joint health, offering anti-inflammatory benefits, improving welfare, reducing joint stiffness and pain, and slowing osteoarthritis progression, reports The Horse.

Since most supplements are sold as food products, they are not required to conform to regulations or quality — or to have demonstrated efficacy.

Tucker considered ingredients effective if they achieved a desired response in the joint. They must also be bioavailable when administered orally, and have an appropriate formulation and concentration that matches published studies.

Chondroitin sulfate is a building block of joints; it is bioavailable and reaches synovial fluid and cartilage. It has an anti-inflammatory effect on human joint tissues and has been shown to reduce pain and swelling, as well as to prevent joint space narrowing. Equine-specific studies, however, have shown that chondroitin sulfate has no measurable effect on the horse.

Glucosamine is present in cartilage and synovial fluid; the amino monosaccharide prevents joint breakdown and acts as an anti-inflammatory. Research has shown conflicting evidence: some studies show that glucosamine has slow or no utilization in tissue, while others find that it does have an effect on pain or function.

Boswellia serrata, also called Indian frankincense, claims to be an anti-inflammatory. There have been no veterinary studies on Boswellia serrata's use, so additional investigation is needed, Tucker said. It has shown some benefit in humans who have taken it.

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Turmeric use in humans has demonstrated anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, but it has poor bioavailability. Only one veterinary study has been done to date, and the vets involved thought it showed significant improvement in dogs that consumed it.

While Tucker concluded that there is no concrete evidence that supplements work, they are safe to feed horses.

Foals With Interstitial Pneumonia May Have New Parvovirus

Foals in California have occasionally become seriously ill due to a form of pneumonia with an unknown cause, often in the spring and summer. Research from Dr. Eda Altan and colleagues at the University of California has found that a new parvovirus may be to blame.

The scientists looked at six foals who had succumbed to interstitial pneumonia, which affects the tissue surrounding the air sacs in lungs. Also called foal acute respiratory distress syndrome or severe bronchointerstitial pneumonia of foals, the condition often affects just one foal at a location.

Though the disease can look like other respiratory viral infections, no association to any other virus has been found.

The research team sequenced spleen, lung, and colon content samples from each of the foals after their deaths. They found equine copiparvovirus (genus of viruses in subfamily Parvovirinae of the virus family Parvoviridae) as well three previously uncharacterized viruses in the samples.

The study team went on to classify the unknown viruses as members of new ungulate protoparvovirus and bocaparvovirus species in the Parvoviridae family.

These discoveries don't prove that these viruses play a role in interstitial pneumonia, the scientists said. Additional studies are required to prove a disease-causing link.

Read the study here.