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Alex Waldrop To Retire As NTRA President At End Of 2021

National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) President and Chief Executive Officer Alex Waldrop announced Wednesday that he will retire at the end of 2021 after 15 years at the helm of the organization.

Waldrop has had a distinguished career in the horse racing industry, serving as President of Churchill Downs and later as Chair of the equine, gaming, and entertainment practice group at the Kentucky-based law firm Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, where he served as the NTRA's general counsel before joining the organization full-time in his current role.

During Waldrop's tenure at the NTRA, the association transitioned from a member dues-driven organization into a self-sustaining, program-driven operation with more than 90 percent of the entity's revenues now derived from programs that support the industry.

Under Waldrop's leadership, the NTRA grew its footprint in Washington, D.C., solidifying its position as the industry's leading voice and the entity that represents all segments of the Thoroughbred industry on Capitol Hill. As the trade association for the Thoroughbred industry, the NTRA has focused its lobbying on legislation having a direct and material impact on its members and their business activities as they relate to horse racing, breeding and pari-mutuel wagering.

“My decision to step down at the end of this year is driven by the knowledge that the NTRA is now financially strong and strategically well positioned to lead on key issues affecting Thoroughbred racing,” said Waldrop. “It's the right time for new leadership to take the reins and lead the organization in new and exciting directions. While I will truly miss my colleagues at the NTRA, I am certain they are prepared to meet the challenges ahead. I also have great confidence in the NTRA Board to lead the organization through this time of transition.”

Throughout much of 2020, the NTRA worked to ensure that the industry was not left behind as federal lawmakers crafted numerous important pieces of economic stimulus legislation tied to COVID-19 relief. Another major focus of the NTRA over the past two years was the ultimate passage of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), which became law in December 2020. The NTRA played a key role in bringing together various factions of the industry represented on the NTRA Board to find common ground in their support of HISA.

Support of and by horseplayers led to one of the biggest highlights during Waldrop's time at the NTRA when in 2017 the U.S. Treasury Department formally adopted modernized regulations regarding the withholding and reporting of winning pari-mutuel wagers. The new regulations were the culmination of nearly a decade of work on Capitol Hill by the NTRA, and overnight resulted in dramatically reduced reporting obligations for horseplayers and practically eliminated withholding on winning wagers, allowing horseplayers to retain more of their winnings and leading to higher pari-mutuel handle.

Waldrop also serves as President of NTRA Horse PAC®, the Federal Political Action Committee of the NTRA that has raised more than $5 million through voluntary contributions to support political parties and candidates for elective office at the federal level.

In 2008, Waldrop and the NTRA led an industry-wide effort that resulted in the creation of the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance, an entirely new program and self-regulatory body that for more than a decade has identified and implemented national safety and integrity standards at many of the nation's leading racetracks. Since its inception, the Alliance has helped spearhead reforms in the areas of improved medication and testing policies; guidelines for injury reporting and prevention; safety research; providing a safer racing environment; and post-racing care for retired race horses.

During Waldrop's tenure, the NTRA National Horseplayers Championship grew from an event offering just over $500,000 in prize money to one that now offers purses and awards totaling nearly $4 million.

The NTRA's group purchasing arm, NTRA Advantage, realized unparalleled success during Waldrop's tenure. Advantage surpassed $1 billion in sales to the equine industry in 2019 and has provided nearly $200 million in savings to industry participants. Longtime Advantage partner John Deere is among the industry's longest-running sponsors through its support of Churchill Downs, the Breeders' Cup and the Advantage program.

Earlier in Waldrop's career, as President of Churchill Downs racetrack, he led the effort to develop a master plan for renovation of the historic Churchill Downs, which led to a $126 million modernization of the facility and paved the way for future capital investments on the property that continue to this day.

“Alex was the right person at the time to lead the NTRA. He stabilized the organization, refocused its mission and core functions and produced results that have and will continue to benefit our industry in the future. He led the organization's unparalleled achievements in Washington, from modernizing the law governing withholding of winnings to benefit our horseplayers, to tax reform for our breeders and owners, pandemic relief for all stakeholders and safety, health and welfare standards for our equine athletes. Most importantly, through his quiet but tireless leadership, he was able to bring consensus among competing industry stakeholders for the industry's best interests during challenging times. He deserves our gratitude and respect.”

Alan M. Foreman, Chairman of the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (THA) and the NTRA's longest serving Director.

“On behalf of the Breeders' Cup, we want to thank Alex for his time and dedication to the NTRA and the overall Thoroughbred industry, including his commitment to equine safety through the Safety and Integrity Alliance and support for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act.”

Drew Fleming, President and Chief Executive Officer, Breeders' Cup and NTRA Board Director

“Under Alex's leadership, Del Mar has been a longtime supporter of all of the major NTRA programs—the Safety and Integrity Alliance, NTRA Advantage, the National Horseplayers Championship ― and the NTRA's federal legislative activities in Washington that are so vital to all segments of the horse racing industry. Each of these programs has realized sustained growth while providing ongoing value to members like Del Mar.”

Josh Rubinstein, President of Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and NTRA Board Director.

The NTRA board of directors has begun a formal transition process and is conducting a search for Waldrop's successor. Interested candidates are invited to send their resume to CEOposition@NTRA.com.

The post Alex Waldrop To Retire As NTRA President At End Of 2021 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Japan Racing Association Takes A Long-Range View Regarding Retired Racehorse Care

Though Japan's Thoroughbred industry is smaller than that of the United States, both face similar issues, including the question of what to do with racehorses when they retire from racing. Japan has approximately 7,000 Thoroughbred foals born each year. Per the Japan Racing Association, any horse that hasn't won at least one race by the middle of their 3-year-old year must retire from racing.

The JRA has subsidies in place to support high-end retiring racehorses, but maintaining a retired racehorse still costs between $600 to $1,000 per month. The Japan Times reports that previously, those that did not qualify for these were “culled,” which often means they were sent for slaughter. Horse slaughter is legal in Japan.

In 2018, the JRA launched a program that focuses on finding retired racehorses second careers and improving their environment when they retire. The JRA is investigating new ways to support Thoroughbred aftercare, with particular focus on programs that allow children to learn from OTTBs.

The Japan Times notes that it remains difficult to find the physical facilities or skilled personnel to support a robust aftercare initiative in that country.

This Side Up: A Wise Example for Every Horseman

Nobody was paying a great deal of attention to him back then, either. But before ceding the weekend headlines to those storied Oaklawn handicaps, the GI Apple Blossom and GII Oaklawn, perhaps we can all take a step back and pay an overdue tribute to a novice who came to Hot Springs in the winter of 1977. Charlie LoPresti had just turned 20 and, learning the ropes under trainer Joe Cantey, was able to count Cox's Ridge and Miss Raja among the first Thoroughbreds to stimulate the skill and devotion that would find their ultimate measure in one of the most accomplished turf runners of modern times.

Cox's Ridge won the Oaklawn H. the following spring, and Miss Raja the Apple Blossom a year later. LoPresti was hooked. He had not had a conventional grounding, his passion first ignited by an uncle's carriage horses stabled in the basement of the family brownstone in Brooklyn. But he turned out to be one of those people whose innate qualities–patience, application, acuity, more patience–dovetail ideally with the needs of a Thoroughbred. Long before he steered Wise Dan (Wiseman's Ferry) toward the Hall of Fame, LoPresti had in various farm roles already contributed to the making of Arazi, Carr de Naskra and Blushing John.

The hardboots knew how good he was. Just about the best Kentucky horseman of my acquaintance chose LoPresti not only to break his yearlings but also to educate his own son. Further afield, however, people clearly decided that Wise Dan must be a freak. In the year he made his debut, the barn housed 14 other starters. By 2020, five years after bidding farewell to a dual Horse of the Year, LoPresti found he had taken one step forward and two steps back. In the fall, having started just a dozen horses, he quietly disbanded his stable.

So quietly, in fact, that his exit only reached the press this week, after LoPresti surfaced on the Keeneland backstretch for the first time since. Marty McGee of Daily Racing Form found him visiting the barn of his nephew and former assistant Reeve McGaughey, who had taken on most of his staff and horses. “Didn't want to make a big deal about it,” LoPresti said of the way he had slipped away.

As such, the last thing he will want is anyone making a fuss now. Like so many horsemen of the old school, he saw that there was no turning back for an industry that nowadays builds its dominant brands on volume rather than nuance. For a long time Hall of Fame trainers, no less than breed-shaping stallions, reached their ceiling at 30 to 40 horses for any given campaign. But LoPresti, who began training in 1993, had to contend not only with the new “super trainers,” but also with some whose stats are harder to explain. And as we saw from his unobtrusive departure, he was never the type to shout even his deeds with Wise Dan from the rooftops.

A familiar sight: LoPresti at Wise Dan's side | Horsephotos

A lot of horsemen feel this way. They are humbled by their fortune in stumbling across an animal that amplifies their skills in a way that requires no embroidery: in this case, 23 wins in 31 starts through five campaigns, for over $7.5 million earnings. Because they invest precisely the same devotion and skill to the meekest claiming horses. And you know what? They not only hate the idea of blaring “great job” to themselves on social media; they don't even want to clutter up the shedrow with the kind of owners who go for that stuff. As a mutual friend remarks of LoPresti: “He's quiet because he's always listening.”

Nor was Wise Dan a meteor across an empty sky. Despite those limited numbers, LoPresti had other Grade I winners in Here Comes Ben (Street Cry {Ire}) and Turallure (Wando), while Wise Dan's half-brother Successful Dan (Successful Appeal) was only taken down by the stewards at that level and so had to settle for multiple Grade II success. But every single one of LoPresti's graded stakes winners was homebred. He never pumped commercial patrons and, besides, he views the evolution of a young horses as a continuous, holistic project. He thinks that any ugly creases in a horse's temperament are put there by human clumsiness, and duly preferred to break in himself the horses entering his barn. His name was on the racecard and if they couldn't run, well, he didn't want to blame anyone else. “When he trains your horses,” says one patron, “he eats breakfast, lunch and dinner with them.”

At home with Successful Dan | Christie DeBernardis

It was good to read LoPresti assuring McGee that he has resisted resentment and, still only 63, is instead enjoying the release from an unequal fight, “happy and healthy and doing things I want to do.” That includes still breaking in babies with wife Amy at Forest Lane Farm, where Wise Dan, now 14, is also enjoying his retirement from the track. I am assured that this extraordinary horse might never have achieved the same fulfilment in other hands. Both LoPresti and owner-breeder Morton Fink gave him all the time he needed. But Fink died in 2019, just months before Wise Dan acceded to the Hall of Fame, and LoPresti evidently sensed his cue.

Hopefully he will derive much pleasure from future success for his nephew, who can of course benefit from the same, exemplary template of horsemanship through his father Shug. In the end, after all, LoPresti's story is actually one of hope. Our business is full of people who just need a break. This week Luis Miranda put his life on the line to run into a smoke-filled barn at Belmont and help save another trainer from catastrophe. Miranda was on hand because, well, he's there up to 18 hours a day tending a handful of horses. The hero of the hour has had 13 winners since he started training in 2012, and none since a claimer at Saratoga in August 2019. He acknowledges himself to be “in a big hole,” professionally. But it's all he wants to do.

You know what keeps Miranda going; him, and countless other horsemen, struggling from coast to coast. Someday he hopes that his Wise Dan will walk through the door. Thanks to Charlie LoPresti, he knows that need not be an idle dream. It does happen. And therefore it still could.

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Classic Heroine Even So Sold to Japan

Classic winner Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}-Breeze Hill {Ire}, by Danehill), has been sold by Coolmore to Japan for broodmare duties, Irishracing.com reported on Saturday.

Lyons's brother and assistant Shane Lyons told Irishracing.com, “Even So has gone breeding and has been sold to Japan. She was an absolute lady, had a beautiful Dr Devious-pedigree so hopefully she does well over in Japan for her new connections.

“She was a superstar and to win a Classic on home soil, you couldn't get any higher. It's what dreams are made of and she served us well.”

The April foal was bred by Lynch Bages in Ireland and, sent to trainer Ger Lyons, saluted in the 2020 G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks last July. She also won the Listed Naas Oaks Trial earlier that month and was third in the G3 Park Express S. Owned by Mrs. John Magnier and Mrs. Paul Shanahan, she retires with a record of 8-3-0-2 and $231,791 in earnings.

Even So is the star foal out of her dam, who won in New Zealand as a 4-year-old. Breeze Hill is a half-sister to Irish champion sprinter Archway (Ire) (Thatching {Ire}), English highweight Dr Devious (Ire) (Ahonoora {GB}), who won the G1 Derby, G1 Dewhurst S., and G1 Champion S. and was runner-up in the G1 Irish Derby, the GSW Royal Court (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) and the SW & GSP Shinko King (Ire) (Fairy King). Another half-sister produced English highweight, G1 Epsom Oaks and G1 German Oaks heroine Dancing Rain (Ire) (Danehil Dancer {Ire}). This is also the family of G1 2000 Guineas hero Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen victor Suzuka Phoenix (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) and G1 Emirates S. winner Awesome Rock (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}).

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