Thirty Two Years and 5,794 Starters Later, Rick Schosberg Calls it a Career

There would be no fairytale ending Thursday at Aqueduct for trainer Rick Schosberg. Silken Dollar (Central Banker), the last horse he will start before retiring from training, finished eighth in Thursday's fourth race at Aqueduct. That's OK. Schosberg, 61, learned a long time ago that the life of a horse trainer is never that easy.

“Obviously the game has changed with the emergence of unlimited stall allocations,” Schosberg said. “It's really affected the competitiveness of it. It used to be that every barn had a different outfit. Now there are trainers that take up five barns. That has really hurt the smaller trainer. It's hard to compete. I have nothing against Todd [Pletcher] or Chad [Brown]. They did nothing wrong and played by the rules. More power to them.

“There are a lot of reasons I'm doing this now and certainly the financial part of it was a factor.  It's hard to work seven days a week living in New York and taking home $55,000.That just covers the property taxes around here.”

But Schosberg is not complaining on his way out the door. Nor is he about to disappear. Schosberg will remain active on several fronts and will continue to spend much of his time working on horsemen's issues and advancing the cause of Thoroughbred aftercare. He is a vice president with the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and the president of two aftercare initiatives, Take 2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program and Take the Lead. He also sits on the board of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. He has been called the “conscious of the backstretch.”

“Something had to change,” he said. “We needed a system whereby the horsemen had an avenue that included a safety net for the horses. The industry has a responsibility to take care of these horses once they transition off the racetrack. Seventy-five percent of their lives comes after they are done racing. It's daunting task to be able to find facilities and organizations that are up to standard to make sure these horses are taken care of and rehabilitated for purposeful second careers. This work is very important to me.”

Schosberg will also continue to work with the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority and is on that organization's horsemen's advisory committee. There's more: he will continue on as an owner and has some horses in partnership with Clear Stars Stable. He also sits on the board of Marx Realty, a Manhattan-based commercial real estate company that was started by his grandfather.

“I'm still going to be around,” he said. “It's just that I don't have to get out of bed at 3:30 in the morning any more. Trust me, that gets old fast.”

Schosberg, a Cornell graduate, worked for trainers Tom Skiffington, Sid Watters and Walter Kelley before going out on his own in 1988. He won 62 races in 1993, 63 in 2000 and will finish his career with 876 winners from 5,794 starters and earnings of $38,278,409. His best horse was Maria's Mon, the champion 2-year-old colt of 1995 and the winner of the GI Champagne S. and the GI Futurity S. He also campaigned Affirmed Success, whose career included wins in the GI Cigar Mile H., the GI Carter H. and the GI Vosburgh S. Schosberg won 25 graded races.

“I've had a wonderful career and have been lucky to have wonderful clients and owners,” he said.

With his stable including about 15 horses through much of this year, Schosberg has won 12 races in 2022. He won seven last year and six the year before. He will officially continue on as a trainer for the remainder of the calendar year, but does not have any horses entered for the rest of 2022. His horses will be dispersed, some going to trainer David Duggan and the rest to trainer David Donk.

For Schosberg, Thursday was like so many other days, thousands of them in fact. He got up early, worked, drove back and forth between Aqueduct and Belmont, ran a horse who didn't live up to her 5-1 odds and put in a 13-hour day. But now that's all done with.

“How did it feel? I don't think it has sunk in yet,” he said when asked about starting his last horse.

Come Sunday and the beginning of the new year, he can catch a couple extra hours of sleep and won't have to deal with the pressures of trying to grind out a living with a medium-sized stable. It figures to be a good day.

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Schosberg Makes Matching TAA Donation

Rick Schosberg celebrated his retirement from training by making a pledge to match all donations up to $1,000 to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance's Holiday Giving Campaign Friday.  After 35 years, 5,973 starts, and over $38 million in earnings, the New York horseman saddled his final runner Dec. 29 at Aqueduct.

“Funding aftercare should be a top priority for every industry participant,” said Schosberg. “The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance does a great job vetting aftercare organizations to ensure the safety of retired Thoroughbreds, but the industry must envision more unique and creative funding mechanisms to generate more resources for the retirees that have so gallantly kept the sport going. I hope you'll join me in donating today to the TAA's year-end giving campaign.”

The TAA's Holiday Giving Campaign, which began Nov. 29, is scheduled to concluded New Year's Eve.

To learn more and donate to the TAA's Holiday Giving campaign, visit: ThoroughbredAftercare.org/HolidayCampaign. Donations may be made by texting DONATE to 56651.

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TERF Named TAKE2 August Donor of the Month

The Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation (TERF), an offshoot of Thoroughbred Charities of America established to provide focused funding for equine education and research, has provided funding to the tune of $4,000 for an aftercare education program and for its generosity, has been recognized as 'TAKE2 Donor of the Month' for August.

TAKE2 set a goal of raising $10,000 a month for 10 months in honor of its milestone 10th anniversary this year. With the generous help of previous 'Donors of the Month' Len Green and the Green Group, TAKE2 competitor Patricia Hurter, Empire Racing Club's Kyle Emmich, the New York Thoroughbred Breeders and New York Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund, and Michael Sternklar of Clear Stars Stable, the campaign is on track to meet its goal. More than $55,000 has been raised over the first 5 1/2 months of the year.

“We like to fund pilot studies by young researchers,” said Dr. Kathy Anderson, co-chair of TERF's board of trustees. “We want to support projects that are small enough that they fly under the radar of large funding agencies.”

The Labor Day event at Saratoga will feature TAKE2 Executive Director Andy Belfiore; TAKE2 President Rick Schosberg; and Dr. Keith Bogatch, an equine veterinarian who will speak to participants about the relationship between Thoroughbred owners and veterinarians and about how to decide when it's time to retire a racehorse.  Also scheduled to speak are Monique Coston from Akindale Thoroughbred Rescue; and Deanna Mancuso from Lucky Orphans.

Held at the Spa Verandas, located at the top of the stretch, the event will include a day at the races from a trackside seat; a light lunch; and the aftercare presentation. Tickets are $25.

For additional information or to RSVP, contact Andy Belfiore at take2breds@gmail.com. Tickets are limited and the deadline to RSVP is Friday, Aug. 26.

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Schosberg Claims Multiple Stakes Winner Twisted Tom To Retire Gelding At Age Eight

Twisted Tom, an 8-year-old multiple stakes winner and frequenter of the New York racing circuit, was claimed for $10,000 over the weekend so he could be retired.

The Daily Racing Form reported that trainer Richard Schosberg dropped the claim after hearing from breeders Drs. William Wilmot and Joan Taylor expressing concern for the gelding.

Twisted Tom boarded a van bound for ReRun Thoroughbred Adoption the next day.

Schosberg is the president of Take The Lead, the New York Racing Association's Thoroughbred retirement arm.

Twisted Tom leaves the track with $939,135 in earnings, picked up wins in the private Terms and Federico Tesio, as well as the New York Derby and Albany Stakes early in his career. More recently though, he had made appearances on the claiming circuit.

Schosberg told the Form's David Grening that he thought the horse may make a good jumper someday.

“We want to make sure these horses retire before they have major issues,” Schosberg said.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form

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