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Hall of Fame Announces Call for Entries for Third Annual ‘Photo Finish’ Exhibit

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame has announced the return of its juried photography exhibition program, Photo Finish. The Museum is now accepting submissions for consideration from both amateur and professional photographers of scenes depicting Thoroughbred racing in America for its third annual exhibition. Racing scenes, portraits (both human and equine), whimsical, morning workouts, retired racehorses, etc., are all welcome; it is up to the photographer to interpret the theme and be as creative as possible. The Museum also welcomes photographs documenting what racing was like during the pandemic in this unusual 2020 season.

Photographs for consideration must be submitted by May 10, 2021. A panel of judges representing both the racing and arts communities will select the photographs for the exhibition, which will open in November 2021 in the von Stade Gallery.

Application forms will be available at the Museum front desk and can be downloaded from the Museum’s website here. If you have any questions, contact Curator Victoria Reisman at VReisman@racingmuseum.net or (518) 584-0400 ext. 113.

The second annual Photo Finish exhibition will remain on display in through Jan. 31, 2021. The online exhibition will be available on the Museum website through Summer 2021 and can be accessed here.

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International Museum of the Horse Launches ‘African-American Horse Stories’ Collaborative History Website

The International Museum of the Horse at the Kentucky Horse Park has launched the Chronicle of African Americans in the Horse Industry, a new website designed to increase awareness, education, and access to African-American history. The site builds upon information discovered for the museum’s permanent exhibit, Black Horsemen of the Kentucky Turf.

Through a collaborative effort between individuals, organizations, and communities, the goal of this digital history platform is to uncover, collect, document, and make accessible the history of African-Americans in the horse industry. The Chronicle relies on researchers finding archival materials, as well as family members sharing their stories, photos, documents and memorabilia.

The International Museum of the Horse invites African-Americans who currently work or have worked with horses, in any discipline, anywhere throughout the U.S. to contribute their history to the collection. The digital archive allows contributors to tell their personal stories without letting go of family treasures. Oral histories are archived at the museum’s partner repository, the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky.

To learn more about the contributing writers and teacher representatives, visit the International Museum of the Horse website here. To preview the website, click here for an introductory video. For more information about the Kentucky Horse Park, visit kyhorsepark.com.

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Steve Asmussen Op/Ed: Please Do What is Right for the Racehorse

With heightened accountability for the health and welfare of horses, trainers today are being held to the highest of standards–as we should. However, we can see every day that race tracks and track ownership groups are not held to that same standard.

A prime example is the unfortunate trend of closing a racetrack one day a week for training. This short-sighted cost-cutting move is not in racehorses’ best interest.

I feel that I’ve exhausted the proper channels to discuss this with people in charge of safety. We need all concerned horsemen and horsemen’s associations to explain to track management and regulators why being closed a day a week for training is not a simple scheduling hurdle for trainers but absolutely is not doing right by the horse.

Tracks have added multiple maintenance breaks during training hours in order to maintain the best track surface possible. But the practice of closing a racetrack one day a week funnels an unnecessary volume of horses to work over the same racetrack, which defeats the purpose of having a renovation break or multiple breaks.

At a time when horsemanship and reacting to the individual needs of a horse should be encouraged, a mandated training “dark day” does not allow taking into account variables such as weather, track condition on a given day, timing of races or just how the horse is doing–and how the horse performed in training one morning might necessitate an adjustment for the next day.

If there’s so much more accountability for the health of a horse, then let us do everything possible to get them over there in the best shape achievable.

Soundness keeps horses training and racing, and without sound horses there are no races. Denying an opportunity to train on a schedule tailored to the individual horse, rather than for someone sitting in an office, hurts the health of our racehorses.

From my Churchill Downs and Oaklawn Park veterinarian, Dr. William C. Hawk:
“It’s not a herd mentality, where we’re trying to milk a certain group of cows at a certain time every day. Mandated days off increase the incidence of the syndrome known as ‘tying-up,’ which can lead to muscle damage, with fillies particularly susceptible. Often those horses will have to be tranquilized as prevention the day after they don’t train. If they tie-up, we have to scratch them in order to treat them, and we can’t treat them to prevent it.

“Most horses can benefit from a day off. It just needs to be by the trainers’ discretion based on what they see with each individual horse, and we want these horses training up to the day they race. We don’t want the day before for sure, and usually a couple of days before that, off before exerting at full speed.

“There are metabolic issues. Proper movement affects hooves and legs, as well as the gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Proper exercise improves their circulation, digestion, flexibility, muscle and bone development, which in turn impacts their overall health and happiness.

“No athlete is scheduled to take a set day off every week because schedules change, weather changes and games are played on different days of the week. We find the same in horse racing.
“On top of this, the track cannot be at its optimum condition for morning training after a day with no maintenance. Putting sufficient amounts of water on the track is one of the most critical components to track safety. After missing a day, it can take another day or more–depending on weather–to gain back what was lost.”

It’s amazing the resistance you meet from people in position to make decisions for the safety of the horses. It’s not OK to do nothing. It’s 100 percent not what’s best for a horse.

I continue to see the layers of safety measures being put in place, the motivation of some edicts having more to do with the hope of changing perceived public perception rather than actually benefitting the horse. What I don’t see is horsemen being part of determining thoughtful measures that effect positive transformation. That must change, and the ill-advised practice of mandatory non-training days should stop now.

Steve Asmussen is a Hall of Fame trainer who has won more than 9,000 races. William C. Hawk DVM has practiced equine medicine at the racetrack for more than 40 years.

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From the TDN Look: Keeping the Faith, Victor Martinez Believes in King Guillermo

Five-time MLB All-Star Victor Martinez is following a dream with King Guillermo– already a graded stakes winner who, after a seven-month layoff, is set to return to Grade I company.

King Guillermo (Uncle Mo) will be in a tough spot when he starts in the GI Cigar Mile H.at Aqueduct. The 3-year-old colt hasn’t raced since May 2 and has never faced older horses. That’s fine by his owner, retired MLB All-Star Victor Martinez.

“I’m not a big believer in favorites,” he said.

That was the theme throughout his baseball career and helped him surpass the modest expectations when he was a skinny kid out of Venezuela who got a mere $8,000 signing bonus from the Cleveland Indians as a 17-year-old prospect. He still feels that way, his beliefs strengthened by the emergence of the horse who seems to do his best when it is least expected.

During his playing days, Martinez was a casual racing fan who was first introduced to the sport as a boy in his hometown of Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela. He retired in 2018 and just a few months later decided it might be fun for his family if he were to own a few racehorses. His agent from his playing days put him in touch with trainer Juan Carlos Avila, who had recently arrived in the U.S. after a distinguished career in Venezuela. Martinez didn’t want to just own horses. He wanted to own special horses.

“I sat down with Juan Carlos and I told him, ‘Listen you’re not going to get a horse just to go to the Kentucky Derby, you’re going to pick the horse that will win the Kentucky Derby,'” Martinez said. “He looked at me, like this guy is crazy. I’ve been dreaming my whole life, my whole career. I came to the United States with zero dollars in my pocket. Why not keep dreaming?”

Avila didn’t have the heart to tell Martinez that was being unrealistic. The two were soon headed to the 2019 OBS April 2-Year-Old sale in search of that special horse Martinez seemed to think was easy to come by. Martinez knew little about racing, breeding and the sales, but understood that Uncle Mo was one of the sport’s best sires. He wanted one.

“I just wanted a son of Uncle Mo,” he said.

The one he picked out was out of the Dixieland Band mare, Slow Sand. From six foals of racing age, she had produced five winners but no stars. Then there was the colt’s size. He was on the small side, something that would turn off a lot of buyers but not Martinez. He felt a connection with the horse.

“The way we got him, it made me reflect on my career,” he said. “He was a little guy and if he had weighed 100 more pounds we wouldn’t have been able to buy him. He would have cost way more. I was the same way. When I first signed in professional baseball I was 120, maybe 130, pounds. At the time, I was a shortstop and I only got an $8,000 signing bonus. I put a lot of work in to get where I did. He was a little guy that a lot of people didn’t pay any attention to.”

He broke in with the Cleveland Indians as a shortstop, but was told by that organization that the only way he could make it was if he switched positions and became a catcher. He was so discouraged by that decision that he called his mother and told her he was quitting. She refused to let him give up, maybe the best advice he ever received.

That scrawny kid from Venezuela bulked up to 235 pounds and became a five-time All Star. Martinez had 246 home runs and 1,178 RBI in his career, hitting .295. In 2015, he signed a four-year $68 million contract with the Detroit Tigers.

So there was something about this horse that reminded him of himself. For $150,000, a reasonable sum for an Uncle Mo, Martinez purchased the horse.

Click here to continue reading on the TDN Look.

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