The drawings will be Feb. 15 at 5 p.m. ET and streamed via Facebook Live.

Second Stride, which was founded in 2005, rehomed 169 horses in 2023 and directly assisted a total of 197, up from the 124 adoptions in 2022, when the facilities expanded to include Chorleywood Farm in Prospect, according to a release from the organization. The former racehorses, as well as broodmares and unable-to-race bloodstock, came from 49 tracks, training centers and farms and went to new homes in 26 states and Canada this past year. The average stay at Second Stride for horses being rehabbed and/or retrained before adoption was 57 days, covering more than 2,500 training sessions.

“We spent 2022 working on expansion so we could take care of and find second careers and forever homes for more retired racehorses,” said Second Stride founder and executive director Kim Smith. “Aftercare for horses coming off the track is a race without a finish line. So now we look to build on 2023, which across the board was our most successful in terms of horses served, rehabbed and adopted as well as financial growth including fundraising and grants and volunteer hours. And just to put the 197 horses we assisted last year in perspective, that number is slightly more than the 1% of North America's 2023 foal crop.

“We can't thank Churchill Downs enough for donating a prime box to these historic runnings of the Derby and Oaks. Every dollar raised will go toward the horses. This will get our fundraising off to a great start and hopefully make more people aware of Second Stride, how the horse donation process works and how our staff and volunteers prepare each donated horse individually for a second career, whether that be eventing, in the show ring, trail riding or as a wonderful, loving companion.”

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The officers of KTA/KTOB serve two-year terms and are voted on by members of the KTA/KTOB board of directors. Members of the KTA/KTOB board of directors serve three-year terms and are elected by the full membership of the organization.

Elected KTA/KTOB officers for 2021:

President, KTA/KTOB: Joseph Seitz—Director of Sales, Brookdale Farm
Vice-President, KTA: Walker Hancock—President, Claiborne Farm.
Vice-President, KTOB: Natanya Nieman, D.V.M.—Resident Veterinarian, WinStar Farm
Secretary, KTA/KTOB: Christopher L. Baker—COO, Three Chimneys
Treasurer, KTA/KTOB: Dermot Ryan—Manager, Ashford Stud

Newly elected KTA/KTOB board of directors for 2021:
Bill Daugherty—Owner, BlackRidge Stables
Kim Smith— Founder/Executive Director, Second Stride, Inc.

Christopher L. Baker, James Baker, Patrick Costello, Walker Hancock and Dermot Ryan were re-elected to the Board of Directors.

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Smith founded Second Stride, Inc. in 2005 with the goal of helping horses and people in racing by building on those relationships. The Crestwood, KY nonprofit usually maintains 15-20 horses at a time and is located at Moserwood Farm, a full-service boarding and training facility. Smith works hard at making retirement to Second Stride easy for trainers and owners. They even have an agency form so that owners need not do the transfer paperwork themselves. There is no mandatory monetary donation if a horse is accepted and Second Stride takes horses on short notice.

“I’ve been there on the owning and training side,” said Smith. “So, I know that the time it takes donate a horse matters. It’s not because racing people are insensitive or indifferent to the horse, it’s just a factor of the business and how important stalls and timing of the meet goes.”

“Our goal is to help as many horses as possible and so we make it easy to do the right thing,” said Smith. “We don’t require a donation with a horse, but most owners and trainers will offer one. My goal is to build a relationship so that if I take a horse with a tendon that will need a lot of work, I will also be offered the horse that is perfectly sound and ready-to-go.”

Smith accepts stallions and gelds them, broodmares and horses that may need time and extensive rehabilitation before they can be ridden or re-trained. Second Stride excels in getting horses placed with show horse trainers and adopters quickly and efficiently. Smith accomplishes this in no small part because of the many exercise riders and other racetrack connections who work or volunteer for Second Stride. Since 2005, over 1000 Thoroughbreds have been adopted through the program.

“Our riders are gallop riders or the people who go around and break Thoroughbreds for the farms,” said Smith. “So, we are able to get the horses retrained and ready to move on pretty quickly.”

On the adoption side, the Second Stride application is long but potential adopters are appointed an adoption coordinator who knows, and has probably ridden all of the available horses.

“Making the right match requires someone who really knows the horses and can sometimes convince people to try a horse that may not fit the original profile of what they are looking for,” said Smith. “Our return rate is extremely low and I credit the personal care we put into making the match. Many of the adopted horses that are returned, are well-trained and donated back for us to adopt out again for another fee.”

“We hit our stride in 2012 and on average, we adopt out about 100 horses per year,” said Smith. “This year, however we are already at 96 through August so, it is going to be a banner year.”

She continued, “We see time and time again the versatility of the Thoroughbred. We put Western tack on them, ride them through water, take them to cows and see how they adapt to all situations and disciplines. We have placed them in all over the country in every discipline.”

“One of my favorites is a horse named Capote Cat, by Storm Cat out of a Capote mare,” said Smith. “We tried him in every normal discipline–English and Western, but as soon as things got repetitive, he got naughty. So, we tried a mounted search and rescue in North Carolina and he thrived there. He loves that job.”

Amy Lent, of Ramblen Farm in Versailles, KY adopted Delightfully (Redding Colliery) from Second Stride. Due to an injury, the mare was never a show riding prospect. But, under Lent’s expertise, she has excelled in driving and competed in the 2018 Thoroughbred Makeover.

Second Stride sends an average of three to six horses a year to the Thoroughbred Makeover and always asks the previous owner to make a donation to cover the entry fee. If they cannot, Second Stride will pay the fee.

“The Thoroughbred Makeover has done an amazing job in its mission to increase the marketability of Thoroughbreds as show horses and as riding horses in general,” said Smith. “I love the sense of camaraderie and cooperation at the competition and how the year of intensive training gives the horses such a solid base.”

“So much is going in the right direction for Thoroughbred aftercare, including the advances of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, but funding and a lack of sound horses in aftercare charities are still an issue,” said Smith. “I wish that more owners and trainers would donate their horses to non-profits, rather than sell them privately. Sound horses that can be adopted for a substantial fee help organizations balance the cost of horses that need long-term care or more rehabilitation before they are rideable.”

For more information about Second Stride, Inc., go to https://secondstride.org/.

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But during that 1 1/8-mile race, Art Collector jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. will be bringing attention to horses far from the limelight: retired racehorses and industry efforts toward rehoming them after they're through at the track. In that regard, Hernandez will be wearing the name Second Stride on his white riding pants in the Ellis Park Derby, the first and pending another pandemic the only Kentucky Derby qualifying race ever to be held at the western Kentucky track.

Trainer Tommy Drury, who is 3 for 3 since receiving Art Collector early this year from owner Bruce Lunsford, is on the advisory board for Second Stride, the accredited thoroughbred rescue and aftercare facility in Prospect and Pleasureville outside of Louisville. Drury, Lunsford and Hernandez hope to gain recognition for Second Stride and the concerted effort by horse racing to find safe homes for its retirees, including retraining many for second careers.

For every Art Collector, there are thousands of horses who don't have a future breeding career. Founded by horsewoman Kim Smith, Second Stride is among 160 facilities across North America accredited by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance to offer adoption, rehab and equine-assisted programs as well has sanctuary. There are nine TAA accredited programs in Kentucky, all but Second Stride located close to Lexington. Indiana is home to one accredited organization, Friends of Ferdinand in Indianapolis.

“It's such a good program and a much-needed program,” Drury said. “As trainer, we'd be lost without Second Stride. They find these horses good homes. Kim and her staff do such a great job. This is just kind of saying thanks for everything they've done for us.”

Staff by volunteers, Second Stride provides professional rehabilitation, retraining and placement of retired thoroughbred racehorses, adopting out an average of 100 horses a year, including 83 the first seven months of 2020. The program specializes in giving retired thoroughbreds the training they need to succeed in a second and sometimes third profession, such as with horses no longer being bred. The organization is one of the few aftercare facilities that will take male horses that haven't been gelded.

“We transition them to whatever each individual horse wants to do,” said Smith while watching Art Collector train earlier in the week at the Skylight training center in Oldham County. “As Tommy tries to get into their brain when they're here, we try to get into their brain and figure out what their next mission is going to be. We've placed horses in everything from polo, jumping, dressage to family horses. It's amazing to find out what these horses can do, the thoroughbred, and how versatile they are. Barrel horses, we've had some police work — especially a mounted unit that likes the big black horses.”

To have Hernandez displaying Second Stride on his leg, Smith said, “For us, it's just humbling that they would consider us. It's mind-blowing the national coverage just to get aftercare out there, and all the horsemen are doing for the horses. Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance has been life-changing for our program and for the horses, with the sponsorship we get and also the mentoring and the education they provide our program in how to exceed. To have these hometown heroes being at Ellis is just going to be amazing. Tommy helped us set the foundation of the program and Brian Hernandez and his family come to our events and support us. So it's awesome. We're just proud of Tommy and Brian and the horse. It's super exciting.”

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