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Thoroughbred Charities Of America Returns As Title Sponsor Of Thoroughbred Makeover

Fulfilling its commitment to improving the lives and welfare of Thoroughbred racehorses both on and off the track, Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) has returned as the title sponsor of the Retired Racehorse Project's Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium. The 2021 edition of the RRP's banner event is being called the “Mega-Makeover” and will welcome horses eligible for the 2020 postponed competition as well as the regularly scheduled 2021 year.

The TCA Thoroughbred Makeover is a retraining competition, featuring trainers from across North America who have worked throughout the year (or past two years in the case of 2020 trainers) to prepare recently retired Thoroughbred ex-racehorses to compete for more than $100,000 in ten equestrian sports. Trainers compete as professionals, amateurs, juniors and teams. Horses from the 2020 and 2021 competition years will compete separately.

“We are very happy to again support the Thoroughbred Makeover,” said Erin Crady, executive director of TCA. “Through the Makeover, educational events, clinics, and expos, the Retired Racehorse Project successfully works to increase the demand for Thoroughbreds among equine enthusiasts. Over nearly the last decade, the RRP and its signature Makeover event have increased the market for Thoroughbreds retiring from the track. We look forward to the Mega-Makeover and to watching hundreds of Thoroughbreds excel in new disciplines.”

TCA's support for the Makeover is part of its annual grant-making activity. This year, TCA granted over $775,000 to nearly 70 approved organizations. For over three decades, TCA has worked to support not only Thoroughbred aftercare, but also programs that provide health and human services for backstretch and farm workers.

“For more than 30 years, TCA has had a profound and lasting impact on our industry, identifying programs and initiatives poised to make a meaningful difference for horses, backside and/or farm workers and seeding them with the funds to help them flourish,” said RRP executive director Jen Roytz. “Having come on as the title sponsor in 2012, TCA is one of our longest standing partners in putting on the Thoroughbred Makeover. Last year, when the pandemic forced most events to outright cancel, TCA's unwavering commitment allowed us to postpone rather than cancel the Makeover, thus retaining the opportunity for the class of 2020 to compete.”

For some participating trainers, the road to the Mega-Makeover has been a long journey that began for the 2020 competition year as early as December of 2019 when applications first opened. Applications opened again in December 2020 for trainers interested in competing in 2021. All trainers demonstrated on their applications their ability to successfully transition a horse off the track through narrative, references, and video. A total of 525 horses were entered for the Mega-Makeover after the Final Entry process, which captured additional data about their individual retraining processes.

Each horse and trainer will compete in one or two of the ten disciplines offered at the Thoroughbred Makeover and will be scored on performance and progression in training. Featured sports include barrel racing, competitive trail, dressage, eventing, field hunter, polo, ranch work, show hunter, show jumper, and freestyle (a freeform discipline allowing trainers to demonstrate any skill of their choosing). The top five scorers in each discipline will compete in a Finale competition, and an overall winner, as scored by the judges from all ten disciplines, will be crowned Thoroughbred Makeover Champion. The 2020 and 2021 competition years will each have their own Finale and their own Thoroughbred Makeover Champion.

In addition to the competition, the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium offers several events throughout the week that reflect its status as the largest gathering of individuals and organizations with an interest in rehoming Thoroughbreds: the Thoroughbred Aftercare Summit takes place on Tuesday, October 12. On Friday, October 15, the Makeover Master Class retraining demonstration will take place, followed by educational seminars on health topics pertaining to the ex-racehorse. Throughout the week, competitors and spectators can shop the vendor fair, as well as watch, try, vet and buy or adopt Makeover entrants who have been listed for sale through the ASCPA Makeover Marketplace.

A full schedule of events can be found at TBMakeover.org.

The Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) is a 501(c)3 charitable organization working to increase demand for off-track Thoroughbreds in the equestrian world. In addition to producing the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, the organization also publishes Off-Track Thoroughbred Magazine, hosts off-track Thoroughbred retraining clinics and programming at major horse expos and events around the country, and maintains the online Thoroughbred Sport Tracker (the internet's only user-driven database tracking second career talent and accomplishments of registered Thoroughbreds). Visit the RRP online at RetiredRacehorseProject.org.

TCA funds and facilitates the support of Thoroughbreds and the people who care for them. TCA distributes grants to several categories of Thoroughbred-related nonprofits including rehabilitation, retraining, rehoming and retirement organizations; backstretch and farm employee programs; equine-assisted therapy programs; and research organizations. Since its inception in 1990, TCA has granted over $25 million to more than 200 charities. TCA is the charitable arm of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA).

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Thoroughbred Makeover’s Arrival Exam, Finale Jogs Sponsored By Keeneland

The Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) announced Wednesday that Keeneland has returned as the sponsor for the Arrival Exam and Finale Jogs at the combined 2020 and 2021 Thoroughbred Makeover. The Arrival Exam and Finale Jogs are the most prominent equine safety and welfare initiatives at the Makeover.

First instituted at the 2019 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, the Arrival Exam requires each horse to have proof of current vaccinations, vitals (temperature, respiration and heart rate) within a normal range, be scanned for a microchip that has been registered with The Jockey Club, pass a walking soundness exam, and score a four or higher on the Henneke Body Condition Scale (the industry standard for assessing a horse's condition and fat coverage).

The Finale Jog was originally intended to debut at the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover, which was postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Now instituted for the first time for both the 2020 and 2021 competition years, the Finale Jog will ask the top five finishers in each of the ten disciplines offered to present their horses in-hand at the jog for a ground jury consisting of at least two veterinarians and the chief steward the day prior to competing in their respective discipline championships.

“Keeneland has long been a global leader in Thoroughbred racing and sales, and through their support of aftercare and welfare initiatives like the Arrival Exam and Finale Jog, they demonstrate their dedication and commitment to the breed,” said Jen Roytz, executive director of the RRP. “Their support offers credence to our hundreds of competitors who invest their time, effort, money and skill in transforming these former racing athletes into viable sport horses.”

To help participating trainers prepare their horses for the Thoroughbred Makeover, the RRP provides educational resources throughout the year leading up to the event, including interactive webinars with veterinarians and nutritionists as well as educational videos and articles. The RRP's consulting veterinarian, Dr. Shannon Reed, also makes herself available as a resource for trainers throughout the year, answering questions and helping to connect competitors with appropriate resources and support in their local equestrian communities.

“Equine safety and welfare remain a top priority for Keeneland, and our sponsorship of the Arrival Exam and Finale Jogs is another opportunity to strengthen that commitment,” Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. “We are proud to support the Thoroughbred Makeover and its work to showcase the talents of former racehorses who have entered the next phase of their careers.”

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The 2021 Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium will be a double competition, with horses from the postponed 2020 event competing in their own classes alongside the regularly scheduled 2021 competition year. The combined event will take place October 12 through 17 and will include two Finale days on Saturday and Sunday. In total, over 800 trainer applications were accepted between 2020 and 2021, and as many as 900 horses could be competing this October.

In addition to competition, the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium will once again feature the ASPCA Makeover Marketplace, a unique horse shopping experience in which more than 150 of the well-started Thoroughbreds competing in the event will be available for purchase or adoption. This year, the Marketplace is also open to listings for 2022 Makeover prospects from non-profit aftercare organizations. The Makeover will also include seminars on topics pertinent to transitioning racehorses to new disciplines, the Thoroughbred Aftercare Summit, the Master Class (a racehorse retraining clinic), and a vendor fair.

About the Retired Racehorse Project: The Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) is a 501(c)3 charitable organization working to increase demand for off-track Thoroughbreds in the equestrian world. In addition to putting on the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, the world's largest retraining competition for recently retired racehorses, the organization also publishes Off-Track Thoroughbred Magazine, hosts off-track Thoroughbred retraining clinics around the country, maintains the Thoroughbred Sport Tracker (the internet's only user-driven database tracking second career talent and accomplishments of registered Thoroughbreds) and presents programing at major horse expos across the country. Visit RRP online at therrp.org.

About Keeneland: Since its first race meet began 85 years ago on Oct. 15, 1936, the Keeneland Association has devoted itself to the health and vibrancy of the Thoroughbred industry. The world's largest Thoroughbred auction house, Keeneland conducts four sales a year, in January, April, September and November, and presents online auctions through the Keeneland Digital Sales Ring. Graduates of Keeneland sales dominate racing across the globe at every level. In April and October, Keeneland offers some of the highest caliber and richest Thoroughbred racing in the world. Keeneland hosted the Breeders' Cup World Championships in 2015 and 2020 and is holding the event again on Nov. 4-5, 2022. Uniquely structured, Keeneland is a privately held company with a not-for-profit mission that returns its earnings to the industry and the community in the form of higher purses and millions of dollars donated in support of horse industry initiatives and charitable contributions for education, research, and health and human services throughout Central Kentucky. Keeneland also maintains the Keeneland Library, a world-renowned public research institution with the mission of preserving information about the Thoroughbred industry. To learn more, visit Keeneland.com.

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RRP to Host T.I.P. Barrel Racing Champs

The Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) and The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.) will hold the inaugural T.I.P. Barrel Racing Championships at the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium this October at the Kentucky Horse Park. The annual T.I.P. Championships features competition in disciplines including hunters, jumpers, English pleasure, Western pleasure, and classical and Western dressage. The 2021 T.I.P. Barrel Racing Championships will feature prize money and additional prizes for the top horses.

“Thoroughbreds have made their presence known in recent years in Western disciplines, particularly barrel racing, so we are happy to be able to showcase yet another area in which these horses excel through the inaugural T.I.P. Barrel Racing Championships,” said Kristin Werner, senior counsel for The Jockey Club and administrator of T.I.P. “Hosting this event in conjunction with the Thoroughbred Makeover will provide the deserved spotlight for these Thoroughbreds that are excelling in careers that may not be typically associated with the breed and will allow us to potentially grow the Championships in future years if there is enough interest from barrel racing participants.”

Click here for more information about the T.I.P. Barrel Racing Championships.

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Retired Racehorse Project To Host The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program Barrel Racing Championships

The Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) and The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.) jointly announced today that the inaugural T.I.P. Barrel Racing Championships will be hosted at the RRP's flagship event, the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, this October at the Kentucky Horse Park.

T.I.P. was created to encourage the retraining of Thoroughbreds into other disciplines upon completion of careers in racing or breeding. The annual T.I.P. Championships features competition in a variety of disciplines, including hunters, jumpers, English pleasure, Western pleasure, and classical and Western dressage. T.I.P. champions in eventing are determined at the American Eventing Championships held each year. The 2021 T.I.P. Barrel Racing Championships will be the first time a championship event has been offered in the discipline. The event will feature thousands in prize money and additional prizes for the top horses.

Featuring competition in 10 different disciplines for recently retired racehorses and over $135,000 in prize money each year, the Thoroughbred Makeover (Makeover) and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, is the largest and most lucrative retraining competition in the world. This year, the event will feature two competition years, including horses from the postponed 2020 event as well as 2021-eligible horses. Makeover entries in the Barrel Racing discipline will have the option to cross-enter the T.I.P. Barrel Racing Championships and roll their time from their Makeover runs into the championship standings.

The T.I.P. Barrel Racing Championships will be sponsored by The Western Thoroughbred, a grassroots organization that recognizes the contributions of the Thoroughbred to the Western horse industry and celebrates the achievements of Thoroughbreds in Western sports. The Western Thoroughbred's founder, Katelin Bradley, is serving as organizer and steward of the event, and The Western Thoroughbred will be sponsoring buckles for average round winners.

“I am honored to help T.I.P. and the Retired Racehorse Project in organizing and hosting the inaugural T.I.P. Barrel Racing Championships,” said Bradley. “This event will be the biggest all-Thoroughbred barrel race in the country. We hope to attract open competitors and encourage Thoroughbred Makeover trainers to participate as well. It should be an excellent showcase of what these horses are capable of achieving in all levels of barrel racing!”

Entries for the T.I.P. Barrel Racing Championships will be open to qualified and declared Thoroughbreds in August. Thoroughbred Makeover Barrel Racing entrants for 2020 and 2021 will have the option to cross-enter at the time that they make their Final Entry to the Makeover. Outside non-Makeover participants for this inaugural event will be invited to enter, with preference given to horses that were declared for the barrel championships by the early declaration deadline of June 30, 2021. All participants will need a T.I.P. number to enter.

“We're excited for the opportunity to partner with T.I.P. and the Western Thoroughbred in this way,” said the RRP's managing director Kirsten Green. “The work of our three organizations is so closely aligned and we're happy to come together to offer more recognition to those who are blazing a path for OTTBs to become more of a staple in Western show pens. Katelin and the Western Thoroughbred Ambassadors have contributed heavily to improving the level of competition we offer for our Western Makeover disciplines and we're grateful for her assistance organizing this special event.”

More information about the T.I.P. Barrel Racing Championships can be found here.

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