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Study Shows Owners Of OTTBs Discount Breed Stereotypes

A new study has shown that owners of retired Thoroughbred racehorses feel that many stereotypes of the breed are ultimately untrue.

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.

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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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Australian Study: Why Do Thoroughbreds Retire?

A new study out of Australia has found that 17 percent of 37,750 racehorses retired during the 2017-18 racing season there left the track because of poor performance or at their owner's request. In addition, the study found that 2.1 percent of racehorses that left racing during that timeframe died.

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.

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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.

Champion Jockey Rosie Napravnik Takes OTTB To First Eventing Championship

Rosie Napravnik finished in 10^th place at the United States Eventing Association (USEA) Preliminary Rider division at the USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds. The 2021 event is both her and her horse, Sanimo's, first eventing championship ever. However, she is no stranger to standing in the winner's circle aboard a Thoroughbred. At only 33 years old, Napravnik is one of the most decorated Thoroughbred jockeys of her time, having achieved the status of highest-ranked woman jockey in North America by 2014 and had lifetime earnings of $71,396,717.

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.

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“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.”

The Horses Of The Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Mega-Makeover

It's been a long road to Kentucky for the Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) Mega-Makeover classes of 2020 and 2021, between the event's postponement in 2020 and the constantly changing landscape as a result of the global pandemic. The final entry period for the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA), has passed, which means we have our first full look at the horses impacted by the Makeover process.

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.