“I have so much love for him,” Novak said. “You can't just throw a life away.”

Not everyone would have seen it that way.

It was the tenth race at Parx that day, a $40,000 claimer for the type of horses who come and go without hardly anyone noticing. Trained by Michael Stidham, Jack a Rose had won two of eight career starts and earned $87,430. He would never be a stallion, be a star or make a lot of money, but Novak didn't care. She instructed the veterinary team at Parx to send Jack a Rose to Dr. Patty Hogan's clinic, where he would undergo a surgical procedure known as arthrodesis. An arthrodesis is where surgeons artificially fuse the joints through the use of ancillary devices like plates and screws.

“This horse is just so sweet, kind and intelligent,” Novak said. “I had to do this for him.”

The injury occurred in the left hind leg.

“You hear the common term breakdown injury all the time, on the newscasts and TV shows,” said Hogan, who would perform the surgery on Jack a Rose. “They are very serious injuries that happen to the ankle. It's when the horses lose the integrity of the function of the ankle whether by breaking a sesamoid or suspensory. These surgeries are difficult and they are expensive. It has a lot of complications associated with it. It's a huge investment.”

Jack a Rose on his day of admission | Hogan Equine

Performing an arthrodesis on a horse is not uncommon. Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) underwent the surgery after she broke down prior to the Breeders' Cup and so did Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) before he was also injured while preparing for the Breeders' Cup. Echo Zulu survived; Geaux Rocket Ride did not. For those horses, the surgery made economic sense. Both had tremendous residual value and were worth far more than the cost of the surgery. No matter what happened with his surgery, Jack a Rose would never race again and could not even be ridden. He would be a pasture pet, one with no economic value.

“The people who owned this horse are working-class people who bred and loved this horse,” Hogan said. “He was a modest race horse but they didn't feel like bailing on him. They wanted to fix him even if that meant he was just going to live somewhere for the rest of his life. He has no economic value whatsoever. What they did, that kind of got to us. It was really touching that they took this to the extremes they did as responsible horse owners. Euthanasia was an absolutely reasonable choice for this kind of injury.”

And there were no guarantees that he would survive the surgery.

“There are a lot of problems with this surgery,” Hogan said. “They are prone to laminitis in the other leg. They get infections because of all the metal. There's a lot of stress and a lot of tissue trauma. It's a big undertaking. Even if you have a horse that is insured many insurance companies consider the surgery an extreme measure and they won't honor the insurance policy.”

Jack a Rose's fused ankle | Hogan Equine

Hogan normally gives a horse a break of a few days between the time they are injured and when she operates. Novak could have changed her mind, something a lot of people might have done when they started to add up the numbers. The cost of the operation plus the payments for the time the horse is laid up and recovering would come out to about $25,000.

Novak grew up in Chicago and followed racing since she was very young. The first horse she fell in love with was Timely Writer, who had to be euthanized after breaking down in the 1982 GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. She said she was always haunted by his death and that it was never far from her mind when she had to start making decisions about Jack a Rose. Then there was the finances.

“I am a supervisor at a carwash here in Chicagoland,” Novak explained. “I've made $61,000 so far this year and my take home pay has been about $48,000. No, I really didn't have the money to do this. I've been through hard times financially before. I had to do it.”

She said she used credit cards to make the payments.

Jack a Rose was operated on Apr. 18 and everything went according to plan.

“We removed all the cartilage of his joint and put it back in perfect alignment with screws and wiring and a plate and let bone heal to bone so it becomes one single unit of bone that's very functionable,” Hogan explained. “It no longer bends but horses who have had this surgery can get around fine.”

Jack a Rose in the paddock | Dr. Patricia Hogan

Hogan said that she and her entire team rallied around the horse.

“This was a completely heart-warming story,” Hogan said. “We do this surgery for horses, but it's always for ones that are worth a ton of money. To do one for a horse who is a 5-year-old gelding was just amazing. Our whole crew, we were heavily invested in this horse. He's a wonderful horse. Just an amazing animal. To know how much these people cared about him was special. It was very satisfying to have been able to do a good job for them. Horse racing get bashed so much. I like to get these stories out there to educate people and show them there are plenty of people out there who really love their horses.”

Unable to have a second career, Jack a Rose is among the newest arrivals at Old Friends. Novak is hoping to visit him in January.

“I love animals,” she said. “If I could save every horse I would.”

The post A Loving Owner Takes a Chance, Spares No Expense to Save a Claimer’s Life appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Napravnik became the first female jockey to ever win the Kentucky Oaks in 2012 with Believe You Can. She was also the first female jockey to win more than one Breeders' Cup race, along with many other notable achievements. With lifetime earnings of $71,426,717 Napravnik is undoubtedly one of the most successful female jockeys the industry has seen, and she continues to pursue her passion for Thoroughbreds outside of the racetrack.

Since Napravnik's retirement from racing following the 2014 Breeders' Cup where she won the G1 Distaff aboard Untapable, she has started a new career of retraining off the track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs). In Napravnik's operation, the owners who send their racehorses to her continue to financially support them throughout their second careers as she offers owners the experience of Thoroughbred ownership from an entirely new perspective. This is the case with the newest addition to her herd, Fast Boat, who has spent time at her farm previously during his career following big performances on the track.

“He's a very happy horse in general, but he was the type where he could not wait to go out every single day,” Napravnik said about Fast Boat's personality. “It never wore off the entire time he would spend here (Four Ponds Farm). He was just as happy to go out every day, always ears forward. He loved the company of a pony. We have several ponies here so they all get to play the role of being the life coach for the racehorses. It relieves the anxiety for the racehorses when they're turned out.”

The 6-year-old gelding is a son of City Zip out of the Lemon Drop Kid mare, Yellow Boat. He was claimed by Joe Sharp in 2018 and went on to win the G2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint Stakes as well as the G3 Troy Stakes in 2021. He ended his career with a record of 10-1-3 from 28 starts and $706,349 in earnings. Fast Boat is now turned out with Napravnik's herd of “lifers” and will get a couple of months off before figuring out what his second career is. 

“He's living his best life being turned out 24/7,” Napravnik mentioned. “He's kind of a boss out there, which I wasn't really sure he'd be. There's one pony out there and the pony doesn't really get grain so he's kind of the hungriest one, but now Fast Boat is the hungriest one, which is not usually the case when you turn a Thoroughbred out 24/7 for the first time. I would say he's adjusting well.”

Once Fast Boat does begin training for his second career, Napravnik said that he will follow the same routine that all of her new horses do. 

“I start all their training off with flatwork, but first I take them all hacking and they go through water, up banks, and through ditches,” Napravnik said. “They do that until they can do it on the buckle and they're chilled out and trusting of any of these new questions that you're asking of them. So that's initially what I do to wipe the slate clean. It sort of opens their mind to the idea of 'we don't have anywhere to go.' They're in such a routine during their life on the track that they're used to always having something to do, so I let them figure out that we're just out here to enjoy ourselves. Then we start flatwork and I kind of let them take me from there.”

Napravnik is a regular competitor at the annual Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover at the Kentucky Horse Park. She has finished in the top ranks of multiple divisions and has her sights set on entering Fast Boat in the 2022 Makeover. This would not be Napravnik's first time entering with a high-profile racehorse, as she competed at the 2019 makeover with 2016 Kentucky Derby contender My Man Sam in the show hunters division. 

“I have been itching to train a horse for barrel racing at the Makeover, which I know nothing about, so it would be kind of a fun experience to do that,” Napravnik said about Fast Boat's potential entry. “He's kind of built more like a Quarter Horse. He's got a huge hind end and he's built kind of downhill, so we might think about that. Like I said, he'll kind of tell me as we go.”

The post Fast Boat Is ‘Living His Best Life’ While Working Towards Second Career With Rosie Napravnik appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Effective Jan. 1, 2022, pending review from the Maryland Racing Commission, there will be an assessment of 1.5 percent on the price of a claimed horse at Maryland racetracks. For example, the new owner or ownership group that claims a horse for $10,000 would pay a $150 assessment that would be used to support racehorses accepted by Beyond The Wire.

The program is similar to one in New York, where in 2019 the New York THA and New York Racing Association instituted a mandatory 1.5 percent aftercare assessment on claimed horses. The Maryland program will be “opt out,” meaning the 1.5 percent assessment will be charged unless an owner or ownership group signs an opt-out form that will be available in the MTHA office in the Laurel Park grandstand.

In a related matter, Beyond The Wire is offering opportunities to sponsor a retired racehorse for the holiday season and beyond. Occasionally, horses have medical problems or even more rare, behavioral problems, that make it very difficult for them to be adopted. Sometimes, it is in the best interest of the horse to live out their days at one of our Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance-accredited facilities.

If you love horses, have a connection to a particular horse, love racing, are an animal lover or just want to do something that makes you feel good, please consider “sponsoring” one of our beautiful Thoroughbreds this holiday season. The list of sponsor horses can be found here. Please include the name of the horse with your PayPal donation at the top of the PayPal page.

Current sponsor opportunities include hay for a week ($25), shoes for a month ($125), X-rays for a checkup ($250), one month of board ($300), or any other amount.

Read more here.

The post Maryland Tracks To Institute Aftercare Funding Initiative January 1 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Icabad made a splash on the horse show scene, winning the Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makover's “Most Wanted Thoroughbred” title in 2014. The gelding then advanced through the CCI2* level with Dutton aboard before becoming the mount of Dutton's daughter, Olivia. 

After breaking a bone in his hind leg, Icabad returned to competition with Olivia before being taken over by Dutton's wife, Evie, who rode and jumped Icabad, but didn't compete him.

Never a horse to enjoy a slower-paced life, Dutton recognized that the gelding was bored. He called Motion, who took Icabad back to the track as a pony horse at Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland, where Motion keeps his primary racing string. 

The Chronicle of the Horse reported last week that Motion uses Icabad as his personal mount to pony horses currently in training. Icabad often leads the horses out on gallops in the field or watches them while they work on the track. Motion notes that Icabad's great disposition and brain have allowed the gelding to excel at many jobs. 

Motion credits Icabad and Dutton for bringing attention to how much Thoroughbreds can accomplish when they retire from racing. Dutton is quick to point out that Motion is deeply vested in racehorse aftercare, ensuring horses that race for him retire to quality homes. 

Read more at the Chronicle of the Horse. 

The post Retired Racehorse And Eventing Star Heads Back To The Track In New Role appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Dr. Lillian Hellmann and colleagues from the University of Sydney, Auburn University, and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences created a study to try to better understand why those outside the racing industry often hold preconceived notions that many Thoroughbreds are dangerous or behave erratically. The team was interested in determining if these stereotypes affect the transition of retired racehorses into new homes and second careers.

The researchers hoped the information gleaned from the study would help develop and modify programs that transition horses into careers after racing. The researchers surveyed 313 horse owners, requesting information about breed, sex, birth year and discipline, as well as owner-perceived information about their horse's behavior.

The results included four main disciplines: eventing, dressage, show jumping, and pleasure riding. Owners of retired racehorses generally felt that their horses are more social than other sporthorse breeds. They also believed their horses possess greater self control, but that their horses also appeared to be more dominant and aggressive. Overall, they felt their horses behaved better than other breeds. The researchers conclude the belief that Thoroughbreds are not well-suited for specific disciplines because of their temperament is not supported.

Read the abstract here.

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Dr. Kshitiz Shrestha of the University of Melbourne and a research team emailed a questionnaire to the last registered trainers of a sample of the 2,509 Thoroughbreds listed as “inactive” in that timeframe. An “inactive” horse is one that has not worked or raced in the last six months of the racing season, or those horses that were recorded as inactive by Racing Australia.

In total, 1,750 responses were received. Of those, 43 percent had only temporarily left racing; those horses raced the following year. One-third of the retirements were because of injuries, predominantly tendon or ligament issues.

The study determined that the median age of the 780 horses that were retired was 5 years. Females were 1.2 times more likely to be retired than males, but male horses were more likely to become riding horses than females, many of which went on to breed.

The scientists also found that 90 of the 96 horses that died did so because of injury or illness; 54 percent of the horses had experienced an injury while exercising — 24 of them while racing and 19 while training. The other 6 were injured while participating in a trial.

The researchers note that their findings are consistent with previous Australian and New Zealand studies that report that most racehorse retirements are voluntary in nature because of poor performance or owner request.

They note that the decision to retire is based on an accumulation of factors, including performance. The median age of retirement shows that most horses are not forced to retire because of an injury. This information can be used as a benchmark to evaluate programs designed to track Thoroughbreds as they leave racing.

Read the study here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

The post Australian Study: Why Do Thoroughbreds Retire? appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Born the daughter of an eventing and Pony Club coach in New Jersey, Napravnik spent her childhood competing at the lower levels of eventing and participated in her last event at the Training level when she was 12 years old. For the majority of the following 15 years, her life was consumed by racehorses.

“From the time I was 17 years old till I announced my retirement, I lived for racing,” she explained. “I was blessed to be a part of the absolute best of racing and I loved all of it, but when my husband and I decided to start a family it was time for me to retire.”

Her retirement announcement came on the day she won the Breeder's Cup Distaff and, in an overwhelmed state of emotion, she made the announcement in the winner's circle to the entire world on national television.

“Winning that race was truly my storybook ending,” Napravnik stated.

Already six weeks pregnant at the time, she took a brief hiatus from the saddle but continued to work in the training side of things with husband Joe Sharp till the birth of their first son in June of 2015.

“Joe and I just worked so well together because we both really respect each other's areas of expertise,” she detailed. “We met when I was riding at the stable where he was an assistant trainer in 2009. He went out on his own shortly before I found out I was pregnant and for the brief amount of time I rode for him we were an extremely successful team.”

Shortly after ending her racing career, she committed to the idea that she would return to eventing after giving birth. That vision came to life with the purchase of a horse she had won several races on in her previous career. She followed the mount closely and bought him in a claiming race and then produced the older mount up to the Training level despite his laundry list of physical ailments.

“That horse is what lit a fire in me for retraining racehorses before it was even a big thing,” she confirmed. “It wasn't something I had ever really considered before, but his strength and continued determination inspired me.”

Napravnik now runs her own Off-Track Sporthorses where she specializes in retraining and competing retired racehorses for the eventing sport as well as rehabilitating various injured or laid-up Thoroughbreds. She takes on many horses from the string in her husband's facility under the tutelage of Dorothy Crowell.

“Working with Dorothy has been truly invaluable in my riding endeavors; she is a Thoroughbred guru,” Napravnik laughed. “More than anything, it has made me addicted to learning new things and having new experiences with the Thoroughbreds.”

Her current partner, Sanimo, a 6-year-old Thoroughbred gelding (Smart Strike x Sanima) came out of her husband's training program as a young 3-year-old and after a year hiatus was already the clear winner in the eventing section of the 2019 Retired Racehorse Project.

This season has been both Napravnik's and Sanimo's debut at the Preliminary level, but she continues to look forward to their future development with excitement.

“Everyone assumes that because I was riding at such a high level in the racing that I must be competing at a very high level of eventing, but that is not the case,” she said. “At this point, I have had several top clinicians tell me they think we have what it takes to continue to move up and my plan is just to keep going until I either run out of money or get scared! I have had my glory days, so to be able to do this with no pressure and just enjoy myself and enjoy the horse has been an incredible experience.”

Read more at USEA.

The post Champion Jockey Rosie Napravnik Takes OTTB To First Eventing Championship appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Here's how the field of registered horses emerged over the months since the last Thoroughbred Makeover in 2019:

• December 1, 2019: horses were eligible to start retraining for the 2020 Makeover and trainer applications opened
• February 14, 20 entries were accepted into the 2020 Makeover
• July 7, 2020: the RRP annou20: 616nced the postponement of the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover and the intention to run an expanded double event in 2021; entered trainers were given the opportunity to either retain their 2020 entries or roll their entry status to the 2021 competition year
• December 1, 2020: horses were eligible to start retraining for the 2021 Makeover and trainer applications opened
• February 15, 2021: 480 entries were accepted to the 2021 Makeover, combining with 322 trainers from the postponed 2020 competition for a total pool of over 800 trainers for the Mega-Makeover
• July 31, 2021: trainers for both competition years had through this date to register the horses they intended to compete. 573 horses were registered for the 2020 competition year, and 454 were registered for the 2021 competition year, making a total of 1,027 horses that were in training for the Makeover
• August 15, 2021: at the close of Final Entry, 525 horses were entered for the final Makeover competition

Let's take a closer look at that deep field of registered horses!

Height

While the average height of horses comes right in at 16.0 hands, the measured heights of registered horses range from 15.0 hands all the way up to 18.0 hands — with one unique outlier, our 14.0 hand entry Lucky Ribot.

Gender

As is typical of past years, geldings make up over two-thirds of our total entries. Six horses were listed as stallions at the time of registration.

Year Foaled

The minimum age for Makeover registration is three years old. In both competition years, 4- and 5-year-olds were the most popular age group at the time the horses were acquired (taking into consideration that the 2020 class is another year older than when horses may have started their Makeover journey). While a large number of registered horses are in that 4-to-6-year-old range, we're once again seeing a strong representation from the so-called “iron horses” that will be 10 or older by the Makeover!

State Bred

While Kentucky once again bred over a third of our Mega-Makeover horses, New York and Florida are also well-represented with 10 percent or more of the class.

Sires and Dams

We love looking at bloodlines and which of the breed's stallions are represented: many of those we see over and over again are racing's top sires, but some lesser-known names often crop up every year which can indicate both regional popularity as well as recognition of ability of offspring in sport. Forty-seven stallions are represented by multiple registered offspring for the Mega-Makeover; we've highlighted those with five or more below.

Additionally, 19 of the top 20 leading sires of 2021 are represented — only Constitution is missing.

We're looking forward to the meeting of full brothers Our Paul Thomas and Good Timing Man at the Mega-Makeover; both are by Overdriven out of Gorman's Wynn. Five other dams are represented by sibling offspring this year as well.

Public Auction

North America's leading public auctions are all represented at the Mega-Makeover, and in total, both classes of horses brought over $38 million at the sales!

Racing History

On average, Makeover registrants made 20 starts with two wins, averaging earnings of $65,665 each. In total, registered horses made 20,081 starts, crossed the wire 2,442 times in front, and earned a whopping total of $67,438,338.

To be eligible for the Thoroughbred Makeover, a horse must have been in training to race and must have at least one published work — and for about 8 percent of our registered horses, that's as far as their racing careers ever went. Others achieved “war horse” status, making more than 50 lifetime starts.

We're looking forward to seeing some of the stars of recent seasons of racing embarking on their journey to a second career. Here are some of the stakes horses you can expect to see in person at the Mega-Makeover: Flatlined, Granny's Kitten, Hawaakom, Ashleyluvssugar, Moonster, Sixes, Show King, Pepe Longstocking and more.

How Makeover Registrants Were Acquired

The acquiring of Makeover horses represents the crossroads between the racing and sport horse worlds, and can provide valuable information for how those worlds are interacting and working together.

About half of the horses registered for the Mega-Makeover were acquired directly from their racing connections, and those horses on average spent about 100 days between their last start on the track and finding their post-racing home. Resellers and non-profit aftercare organizations represent two other routes that horses take after racing. Eight horses across both competition years were reported as “self-rescues” by their Makeover trainers, acquired from auctions or “kill pens” — this number is down from 10 in 2019.

The overall average price paid by Makeover trainers for their horses is $2,230, which is up from $1,960 in 2019 and $1,200 in 2018.

The most popular aftercare organizations:

It's always interesting to see from which tracks Makeover horses retired: these trends indicate that more horses are retiring from lower-tier tracks, populated by mid- to lower-level claiming competitors. They can also indicate where rehoming programs and aftercare organizations are making an impact.

To learn more about the horses of the Mega-Makeover, browse the list for familiar names, or look at final entry, please click here. The Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, takes place October 12-17, 2021 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.

Read more here.

The post The Horses Of The Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Mega-Makeover appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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It's been nearly two decades since amateur rider Tracy Gould horse shopped, she wrote in a recent column for the Chronicle of the Horse. In the 2000s, it wasn't unusual for horses to go out on two-week trials or to find a plethora of horses for sale under $5,000 – specifically retired racehorses.

Now, green horses –including OTTBs — are being sold without trials and horses are selling on social media platforms within days of being posted. Gold writes she doesn't need anything fancy, but she does want a horse that could do a little bit of everything, especially as her daughter grows up and hopefully begins riding. She's reluctant to buy anything without the ability to test ride and see if they “click.”

Gold hypothesizes that the horse market is being driven by the meteoric rise in people taking riding lessons since the COVID-19 pandemic hit: kids began taking riding lessons as their team sports and indoor activities were cancelled, and it's easy to social distance while riding outside. Additionally, the stock market is booming, allowing even non-wealthy families the ability to afford horses, and many people are either working remotely or have moved away from the city, allowing them more access to horses and lessons.

As people return to in-person work schedules and schools, Gold wonders if it's possible the market may cool off. Still, most people in the business of selling OTTBs will tell you that day hasn't arrived yet.

Read more at the Chronicle of the Horse.

The post Waiting For A Cool Down In A Hot Horse Market? appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Jordan Sigmon had been keeping an eye on horses running in the claiming ranks when she came across Barry. She figured he must be a quality horse if he had sold for so much as a 2-year-old. In hopes that she could buy him before he started again, she called his owner and offered $3,200 – money she had been saving to buy a Thoroughbred weanling.

The gelding shipped to Sigmon's barn in Kentucky, where he had some down time to get used to the laidback lifestyle retired racehorses enjoy.

Sigmon is competing Barry Lee in the virtual Real Rider Cup, a charity jumping competition featuring retired racehorses. Sigmon noted that Barry Lee had less than 20 rides before the competition. Sigmon reached out to Sagamore Farm to see if they would sponsor Barry in the competition. The farm immediately signed on, donated to the fundraiser and sent Sigmon farm silks to wear while competing.

Learn more about the Real Rider Cup here.

Read more at StreamHorse TV.

The post Retired Racehorse To Again Compete In Sagamore Farm Silks appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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