Blackburn Grad Grateful For Second Chance With The Rood & Riddle ‘Family’

For the first time in his life, Josh Ison loves coming to work in the morning. It's a blessing he never could have imagined during the early days of his four years behind bars.

“Sometimes I can't believe this happened for me,” Ison said reverently last week, leaning against a bale of straw in the quarantine barn at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky. 

He looked down for a moment.

“It's different from anywhere else I've worked,” he continued. “They take care of me, no matter what, whatever I need. Like, when I got out, [my boss] came and got me and took me to get clothes and all that. I mean, who else is going to do all that?”

Ison, 40, is a graduate of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's Second Chances program at Blackburn Correctional Facility. The eight-month program utilizes a herd of more than 50 retired racehorses to help inmates build life skills while participating in a vocational training program. Inmates learn to work with the horses one-on-one in a round pen, to trim their feet, and to provide daily care, as well as taking lessons on equine anatomy and physiology in a classroom. 

“The TRF Second Chances program at Blackburn taught me patience with horses, and people,” Ison said. “You're locked up, you know, and there's all kinds of different people. But when you get down there, it's a whole different story. You're not locked up anymore. It's freedom.”

Considering his role on the facilities maintenance team at Rood & Riddle, Ison acknowledges that his time in the Blackburn program helped him become the kind of man he wants to be. Now, it's the support of his boss and his coworkers at Rood & Riddle that are helping him to continue that growth.

“Why do I like working at Rood & Riddle? It's a family,” Ison said. “We're all together. If anybody needs help, anybody that needs anything, it's gonna be done for them. That's what I like about it. And the horses, I love it. That's why I show up every day.”

Ison grew up in the southeastern part of Kentucky, coal country.

“I worked in coal mines all my life, and you don't miss work there,” Ison explained. “I've always been used to production, and this [job at Rood & Riddle] is nothing about production. That's hard for me to comprehend sometimes, because I get caught up, and I want to do everything right then. But you have to slow down and take your time with it, because every horse is different.

“It's all about patient care, making sure everything's taken care of with the horses. The horses are first, no matter what. After that, I take care of some maintenance things; I do everything.”

Ison did have some experience with horses as a child, when his family would go for trail rides and picnics on horseback, but he had never been involved with them up close, every day. That all changed when he was able to enter the program at Blackburn.

“My favorite horse was Big Time Spender,” he said. “That's the one I fooled with every day. We'd lunge them, you know, learning how to train them in the round pen. But mostly I just liked to curry him off, getting to know him, developing a relationship. I loved that horse.”

Big Time Spender is a 21-year-old bay gelding who raced 97 times in his career, compiling a record of eight wins, 10 seconds, and seven thirds. He earned $73,045 on the track, last racing in 2008.

Working with Big Time Spender on the lunge line is about “getting his respect,” Ison explained. “He's a good horse, though. He knows everything. You have to show him you're not scared of him. You just have to get a feel for each other. It's something you can't really explain, or I can't, anyway.”

Ison's hands-on equine skills are one of the reasons Rood & Riddle's Facilities Manager Erin Mathes decided to hire him after his release, but it also came down to his personality.

“Josh has a great sense of humor,” Mathes said. “He's a good guy; I think he'd do anything for anyone, but the big thing is he's really smart and funny. I actually enjoy working with him, and we work together quite a bit.”

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Ison had learned how to interview for the job thanks to Laurie Mays, the Equine Talent Pipeline Project Manager for the Kentucky Equine Education Project. Mays is the connection between Blackburn and Rood & Riddle.

“Rood & Riddle has definitely decided to become this kind of partner in the industry, because we are looking for people who want to work in it,” Mathes explained. “Josh is not my first Second Chances hire, but he is one of my first three.

“Josh came with the horse knowledge from the Blackburn project, but it's so different from the knowledge that we need him to have here. Those are horses that have been in the program for a long time, they're very broke, and here we see a lot of new horses every day, and you never know what you're going to get. It's something we are slowly building on with him, but Josh embraced every job here. He wanted to be involved as much as possible with anything and everything. 

“Josh came to us with a background in not just horses through the Blackburn project, but also in construction and landscaping — a little bit of everything. He wanted to do everything, so as facilities manager, I got him as involved as possible. 

“He comes across to me as an employee who wants to be challenged with different things every day. I know, with where he was, for the time he was in, it was a good thing for him to be continuously active and involved. With that, he gets to meet different people, and I think he's made some friends here, so he's part of a big team.”

Ison agreed that keeping himself busy has been the best way to keep moving forward since his release. Still, his favorite part of the job is being able to work with the youngest horses at the hospital.

“To go out in the pen and put my hands on them, to rub on them… I love it,” he said.

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TRF ‘Barbecue at the Barn’ Returns For 2021

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's Barbecue at the Barn returns as an in-person event and will be held at Saratoga Winery Tuesday, Aug. 24, from 5-9 p.m. The event, which sold out in 2019, was held as a drive-thru in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to a meal, the event will feature family-friendly activities, music, raffle and silent auction items, along with book signings by Chris Brown, author of “Roll Cyrus Roll” and award-winning broadcaster and former jockey Donna Brothers, author of “Inside Track.” There will also be guest appearances from racing celebrities including Maggie Wolfendale Morley, Acacia Courtney, Ramon Dominguez, and more, as well as a few special equine guests.

“We are so excited to welcome back so many friends of the herd to celebrate the summer at Saratoga,” said Kim Weir, Director of Major Gifts and Planning. “2020 was certainly a year unlike any other and we are so grateful for the continued support of our mission to save horses and change lives.”

Tickets, which must be purchased in advance, are available for advance pricing of $40 through Aug. 1 before increasing to $45 per ticket.

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Quick Call To Have Ashes Interred At Saratoga’s Clare Court

The late Quick Call was more than a gritty horse with a knack for coming up big at Saratoga Race Course.

After winning nine of his 17 starts from 1986 to 1991 at the Spa, Quick Call transitioned in his post-racing career to another starring role in the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's (TRF) pioneering “Second Chances” vocational training program, working with inmates at Wallkill Correctional Facility in upstate New York.

That blend of excellence earned Quick Call rock star status at both the Spa and at Wallkill – and now, a rare honor on the Saratoga backstretch. This week, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will bury the ashes of the two-time Grade 2 Forego champion at Clare Court, the bucolic, half-mile jogging track.

An unveiling of the memorial will be scheduled in July, along with a TRF event to celebrate his life in coordination with the running of the Grade 3 Quick Call on Opening Day, July 15.

“Few Thoroughbreds ever had that kind of dual career and did it so well for so long,” said TRF Director of Major Gifts & Planned Giving Kim Weir of Quick Call, who died in October 2019 from the infirmities of old age, at 35. “He had an aura about him. Quick Call was a legendary horse who earned respect from the other horses and from the men at Wallkill. To know he'll be at rest at Saratoga Race Course, which he loved so much, is a great ending.”

Quick Call will be put to rest at Clare Court, a serene and magical spot on the backstretch named in honor of Clare Belmont wife of the late August Belmont II. He will share the hallowed ground with a select group of Thoroughbred racehorses who were beloved stars at Saratoga Race Course.

He joins Fourstardave, another fan favorite from Quick Call's era who won at least one race for eight straight years at the Spa, as well as two other mid-1980s legends, the Irish-bred turf runner Mounjare, and A Phenomenon, a top sprinter. Like the others, Quick Call will have a headstone commemorating his accomplishments.

Over the course of his 86-start career for owner Lynda Stokes, the gelding won $807,817 on the track and established a 16-15-12 record. Putting his affinity for Saratoga to good use, Quick Call and Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day won the 1988 and '89 editions of the Grade 2 Forego Handicap. They narrowly missed a third straight win at the Forego in 1990, losing by a nose to Lay Down.

Prior to retirement, Quick Call, under Jorge Chavez, upset Sewickley in the 1990 Grade 2 Tom Fool at Belmont Park. The son of Quack was trained by Hall of Famers Sid Watters and Warren A. “Jimmy” Croll, Jr. The Quick Call Stakes, now in its 14th year at Saratoga Race Course, is named in his honor.

“He always showed up, he was always prepared, and my goodness, he loved Saratoga, where he had a knack and always stepped it up,” said Day. “Some horses have the talent, but no heart. Quick Call had both talent and heart.”

Just why Quick Call took so well to Saratoga is anyone's guess. “Whether it was the air, the cool mornings, the racing surface, or all of the above, we'll never really know,” said Day. “Quick Call was a good horse downstate, but took it to another level at Saratoga. It was a joy to ride him.”

Retired from the track in 1990, Quick Call became a riding horse, before joining the TRF herd in 2001, and spending the next 18 years at Wallkill, where he worked with inmates on the TRF “Second Chances” accredited equine care and stable management program. At Wallkill, Weir said, Quick Call quickly established himself as the most accomplished and respected horse at the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) accredited program.

NYRA and its horsemen are committed supporters of the TAA, which accredits, inspects, and awards grants to approved aftercare organizations to retrain, retire, and rehome thoroughbreds using industry-wide funding.

Quick Call wasn't the first member of the TRF herd at Wallkill; the first to arrive was Promised Road. But at his passing, Quick Call was the senior resident among the approximately 50 horses at Wallkill as well as TRF's 500-member herd at farms across the country.

“Whenever his name is mentioned at a New York track, someone will tell a story about him,” said Pat Stickney, Executive Director of the TRF. “We were honored to have had him in the TRF herd for so many years. People would visit the farm to just see him and to have their picture taken with him. Until the end he was dignified and all class; he knew he was special.”

Bred by Warner Jones, Jr. and David Greathouse, Jr., Quick Call made five starts as a 2-year-old in 1986, winning a Belmont Park maiden race and finishing fifth in the Saratoga Special Stakes. In 1987, he broke through at Saratoga, winning three of four races to help Watters claim the meet championship for trainers with 12 wins. Quick Call was even better in 1988 when he won five of 15 starts including all three Saratoga starts and the first of those two consecutive Grade 2 Foregos.

NYRA TV's Ernie Munick, who was a handicapper with the New York Daily News when Quick Call reigned at Saratoga, vividly remembered him as a handicapper's dream – “a fast, classy and reliable horse who first and foremost, liked the wet track, and gave it his best every single time out.”

“He was an honest horse, one you knew would always give you 110 percent,” says Munick. “As a handicapper, I always looked forward to seeing him, and at Saratoga in particular. You knew he'd be there. God bless that horse.”

Day couldn't be happier that Quick Call's ashes will soon be at Clare Court.

“He loved Saratoga and I'm delighted he's getting that honor,” he said. “He really deserves it.”

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Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation Opens Louisville Sanctuary At Chestnut Hall

A national Thoroughbred aftercare charity with more than twenty years of history caring for retired Thoroughbred racehorses in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) will open a first-of-its kind farm designed to give the Louisville community and fans from around the world a direct connection to the horses at the heart of horseracing.

The new TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall will be the permanent home of 11 horses from the organization's national herd of 500 retired Thoroughbred racehorses. These “herd ambassadors” will serve as educators to tell the story of the long life and diverse second careers that await these equine athletes when their racing days are done. Located on nearly 30 acres of historic farmland in Oldham County and featuring a beautiful farmhouse restored to serve as an event venue, Chestnut Hall has been created for the express purpose of connecting Thoroughbred horses to the people of Louisville, the Commonwealth of Kentucky and beyond.

Starting mid-May, the farm will be open to the public for tours through Visit Horse Country and will be available as a unique venue for educational events and fundraisers for nonprofits across the Louisville community.

The TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall represents the realization of a dream of local businessman, Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs Incorporated. The new farm has been created as a gift to the horses of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and the citizens of Kentucky. On behalf of his family and community, Carstanjen was moved to purchase the property in Prospect to protect the historic farmhouse and pasture land from residential development.

Over the course of the past year, Carstanjen has personally overseen the restoration of the 25+ acre property to its former beauty as an active horse farm. Reflecting his deep personal appreciation for the horses at the heart of the Thoroughbred racing industry, Castanjen sought out the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation as his partner to provide a home for retired racehorses and to connect the Louisville community, broadly defined, to the majestic animals upon whom the Thoroughbred racing industry relies.

“Thoroughbred horses have enriched the lives of countless citizens and visitors to Louisville throughout history, but very few opportunities exist for the community to experience and interact with these extraordinary animals,” said Kim Weir, the Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. “It is with this goal in mind that Mr. Carstanjen restored the horse farm and historic home at Chestnut Hall with the express intention of giving the gift of the horses to the community of Louisville. Together, it is our hope that the TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall will provide a venue for education, inspiration and imagination for many years to come.”

Tour Booking and Private events: Visit https://www.trfinc.org/trf-sanctuary-farm-at-chestnut-hall/

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