Second Chances | Horse Racing Free Tips

Journeyman’s Horse Fever Statue to Go Through OBS Ring for Charity

A most unusual offering will be up for sale at the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. The last hip to go through the ring on Tuesday, Mar. 16, will be “Clockwork Fury,” a horse statue with an intriguing history that is part of the Horse Fever 20/20 public art project. The public art, which features life-sized horse statues by various artists, has given over $350,000 in grants to artists and organizations.

Breeders will be familiar with Clockwork Fury as he has greeted visitors at Ocala’s Journeyman Stud, owned by Brent and Crystal Fernung, for the past decade. The winning bidders of the statue about 10 years ago recently had him upgraded by his original artist, Mark Hershberger, and are sending him through the ring to raise funds for Florida Thoroughbred Charities (FTC) and Marion Cultural Alliance (MCA).

“This past year [due to the COVID-19 pandemic], FTC didn’t get to have their gala, had to cancel their big golf tournament. They lost a lot of money,” said Crystal Fernung. She said FTC supports Second Chances, where incarcerated women care for retired racehorses and get vocational training in horse care. “Second Chances is such a great program. I drive by it every day. With FTC being the major source of income, we thought if there was a way we could donate ‘Fury’ and get him sold, we could help. OBS is a game changer.

“Anyone from anywhere can buy him,” continued Fernung. “Creech Horse Transportation has philanthropically offered to deliver him to wherever they have a truck going. We’ll have internet bidding and people can see him in person at the [OBS] January sale [Jan. 26-27].”

Clockwork Fury is the official anniversary ambassador for the Horse Fever project, but is unique in that he has been donated back to the program by the Fernungs. His recent upgrade by his original artist has been monumental.

Clockwork Fury at Journeyman Stud | Courtesy of Crystal Fernung

“He’s made it through four hurricanes,” said Fernung. “There’s bluebirds that come to nest in him every year. Mark has preserved their nest and placed it inside him. Now he has 2020 technology, has fiberoptics in him. There’s so much more Mark could do now. He’s fiberglass, like all the others. But when Mark created him 20 years ago, he had him cut up in different shapes, painted him to look like metal, then put all that back together. His eyes are antique opera glasses that Mark had found. His star is a solar panel. His tail is these big, heavy chains, and when you move his tail, his head moves. We had no intentions of buying anything when we saw him 10 years ago, but when Mark had dry ice coming out of his hips and nose, it was, ‘Whoa.’ When they knocked him down to us for $15,000, Brent looked at me like, ‘What did you just do?'”

Fernung said she wants the “horse” that has served their farm so well to be able to continue to help others by the use of his proceeds.

This will be the fourth Horse Fever event in Ocala after projects in 2000, 2005, and 2011. Many of the statues from the earlier installations can still be seen around Ocala, while some have even traveled out of state. There will be a total of 15 horses for Horse Fever 20/20, all of which are scheduled to be unveiled Feb. 8. For more information, visit mcaocala.org/hf-2020.

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Artist Jamie Wyeth Adopts 10 Racehorses In Honor Of Late Wife

Renowned artist Jamie Wyeth lost his wife of over 50 years, Phyllis Mills Wyeth, on January 14, 2019. To honor her heart and spirit, Wyeth recently adopted 10 retired racehorses from the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, who live at Pastures of Point Lookout in Chadds Ford, PA. The farm was owned by the couple for many years before being transformed into a retirement sanctuary for racehorses in 2020.

Mills Wyeth is best known for breeding and owning Union Rags, the winner of the 2012 Belmont Stakes. Many of her racehorses were trained by Graham Motion, who became a good friend of the Mills Wyeth, as did Motion's wife, Anita. Anita is the executive director of Pastures of Point Lookout and oversaw the adoption for Wyeth.

The 10 horses Wyeth adopted are part of the Second Chances program at Wallkill Correctional Facility in Wallkill, NY. The program uses Thoroughbreds to help rehabilitate inmates and prepare them for possible employment after incarceration.

California-Based TRF Second Chances Program Celebrates First Anniversary

On Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, ten student/inmates began a new semester at the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's Equine Care Program at the Pleasant Valley State Prison (PVSP) at Coalinga, California.

There was no better way to celebrate its one-year anniversary.

“The four groups that made this happen – the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, the (California) Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, West Hills College and Harris Farms – worked extremely well together,” said Heidi Richards, whose work with the Equine Care Program earned her the CDCR's 2020 Corrections Officer of the Year Award. “We had 30 student/inmates in the first class, and 28 were certified. We are very excited about how successful the program is.”

The Equine Care Program at PVSP opened Oct. 16, 2019 and coincided with the prison's 25th anniversary celebration. The program is an extension of the TRF's Second Chances/Groom Elite Program that began in 1983 at the Wallkill State Correctional Facility near New Paltz, NY. Former racehorses enjoy a tranquil sanctuary home at Second Chances, which is now offered at prisons in New York, California, Kentucky, Florida, Illinois and South Carolina. In return, the horses provide hands-on vocational instruction in horse care as well as lessons in mutual respect, compassion, responsibility, and trust.

In collaboration with West Hills College, PVSP's Equine Care Program is a two-semester course that, at conclusion, not only certifies its participants to work at entry level jobs within the racing industry but gives them six transferable college credits. The program at this minimum-security facility is offered to student/inmates within five years of parole.

The fledgling program managed to hold strong despite the turmoil of 2020.

“Our biggest concern was the pandemic,” said Richards, who also is the West Hills College instructor for the program. “But our COVID-19 numbers were low enough to open the program this semester. Warden Scott Frauenheim and everyone here did a great job in maintaining the program. They kept testing everyone at the gate and, additionally, the staff was tested every 10 days. They were really on top of it.”

Warden Frauenheim, who will retire on Friday (October 30) after 26 years of state service and the last seven as PVSP's warden added: “I am proud and honored to have been the first Warden with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to start an Equine Care Program. I am grateful to provide a unique rehabilitative program that helps incarcerated people follow a new path in their lives. Although COVID-19 placed a hold on Pleasant Valley's Equine Program, Pleasant Valley State Prison has commenced with the program and its college courses. The Pleasant Valley Equine Program just completed its first year of program, and I foresee many more successful years to come.”

Presently, the student/inmates are working with two former racehorses. Michael the Man, a 13-year-old Kentucky-bred who had 60 races and earned $197,724 from a record of 11-8-9 and California-bred Slycy, who is also 13, earned $230,606 and posted a record of 14-10-7 from 52 starts.

The horses live on the Equine Care Program's two-acre facility that student/inmates built and help maintain in addition to their work with the animals.

A CDCV grant of $300,766 was secured last year with the help of the West Hills Community College District to fund the Equine Care Program at Pleasant Valley State Prison until 2022.

“It is hard to believe that the program is only a year old with all that Heidi has accomplished,” said TRF Executive Director Pat Stickney. “We are incredibly grateful to all the groups that came together to launch this Equine Care Program which, under Heidi's leadership, will continue to have such a positive impact on the graduates and the horses for years to come.”

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TRF Blackburn 2020 Horse Show Goes Virtual

Building on the success of the 20th Anniversary TRF Blackburn Horse Show hosted in 2019, the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) and the Blackburn Correctional Complex (BCC) will host a virtual edition of the TRF Blackburn 2020 Horse Show. A global audience will tune in to experience a compelling demonstration of horse-handling skills, equine knowledge and transformational impact of the TRF Second Chances Program.

Event Details:

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020
8pm Eastern Time (one hour duration)
Streaming live on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter (Thoroughbred Retirement accounts)
No Tickets or RSVP Required. Details at: https://www.trfinc.org/event/blackburn2020/

“Last year, we welcomed the Lexington community to Blackburn to see the men and horses of the TRF Second Chances Program “in action” and the response was extraordinary,” Paul Saylor, Chairman of the TRF Blackburn Advisory Committee said. “This year we've re-imagined the Horse Show and will make the experience accessible to individuals across the country and around the world.”

“The awareness and understanding created by the 2019 Horse Show has had a powerfully positive impact on the TRF Second Chances Program at Blackburn”, shared Acting Warden Abby McIntire. “By bringing employers and business leaders to meet the men and horses at the Second Chances barn last November, we have significantly improved the impact of the program on the long-term future of the offenders in our program. We are optimistic about the impact of this year's event, and hope it will inspire even more engagement in the program across Kentucky and the country.”

As a direct result of the 20th Anniversary Horse Show, three graduates of the TRF Second Chances program have received job offers from employers in the equine industry. Thus far in 2020, despite the challenges of COVID-19, two program graduates have completed their sentences at BCC and re-entered society with jobs in hand. These men will share their stories within the TRF Blackburn 2020 Horse Show program.

A Collaborative Cross-Industry Effort

Notable support from Horse Show Media Sponsor, the Thoroughbred Daily News (TDN), and Workforce Development and Promotional Partners, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP), have contributed meaningfully to the 2020 Horse Show. The TDN editorial team has undertaken the filming and production of the live-action demonstrations and interviews which will be presented on October 20th via Livestream. This in-kind support has made the 2020 Horse Show possible. Meanwhile, the Horse Show Workforce Development Partner, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce (through the work of the Kentucky Chamber Workforce Center and KEEP) has facilitated invaluable connections with employers across the Commonwealth of Kentucky to promote fair chance hiring in the workplace and connect Kentucky's returning citizens with meaningful employment.

Sponsorship donations received for the Horse Show directly support the care of the 49 horses residing at the program at Blackburn. The 2020 Horse Show has been generously sponsored by Mary and Gary West, the Heider Family Foundation with supporting sponsorship from Churchill Downs, Godolphin and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association.

More than fifty Promotional Partners have joined the TRF to promote the 2020 Horse Show to their audiences. Several partners will be cross-posting the livestream event on their websites on October 20th and more than a dozen “watch parties” have been scheduled across the country and around the globe. This diverse team of individuals, nonprofits, membership organizations, racing partnerships and businesses are expanding the reach of the livestreaming event to more than 250,000 people through their social media networks.

Promotional Partners include: America's Pastime Stables, Amplify Horse Racing, Belmont Child Care Association, Bergen Stables, Brookledge Horse Transportation, Community Ecology Institute, Dark Horse Mercantile, Denali Stud, DV8 Kitchen, Fasig-Tipton, The Fletcher Group, Florida Thoroughbred Owners' and Breeders' Association (FTBOA), Groom Elite, Herringswell Stables, Horse Country, Impressions of Saratoga, Jaeger 2, Joanne Y. Pierce Fine Art, Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP), Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club (KTFMC), Lex on Tap, Making Strides Therapeutic Horsemanship, Inc., Maryland Horse Council, Maryland Equine Transition Services (METS), Midway University, New York Racing Association (NYRA), New York Horsemen's Association, National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Old Smoke Clothing Co., Pierce the HeArt Lessons, Rainbow's End Racing Stable, Renaissance Equestrian Foundation, Retired Racehorse Project (RRP), Rood & Riddle, Semper Fortis Financial LLC, Spy Coast Farm, Stable Duel, Starlight Racing and StarLadies, Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA), Thoroughbred Charities of America, VisitLex, WinStar Stablemates and numerous passionate individuals are also spreading the word to their personal and professional networks.

Horse Show Media Partners include: At the Races with Steve Byk, The Daily Racing Form (DRF), The Equiery, Equidaily.com, Going in Circles Podcast, Horseracing Nation, In the Money Media, StreamHorseTV, The Paulick Report, Thoroughbred Daily News (TDN) and Wire to Wire.

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