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Letter to the Editor: Carrie Brogden

So I think this kind of sums up our industry, this attached photo. This weekend my daughter and I went to show her warmblood at WEC Ohio. It was a very successful weekend and we were lucky enough to stay at an Air BnB on a horse farm.

They had a book there with the check-in instructions and the history of the horse farm. I was reading the history of it, and I just wanted to share what to them is insignificant as just facts, but to me, it just hit me on the head as the truths we all need to face.

The show hunter world my daughter is riding in is absolutely booming… I mean it is much more popular now than when I was a kid growing up and showing my ponies. All of the stalls here are full and there are tons and tons of horse-loving people spending gazillion dollars to get zero return on their investments, other than their daughter or son's happiness.

It is going to be through the leadership in the horse racing world to change the trajectory that has been the same for us since I was a child at my parents Thoroughbred farm in Ocala in the 1980s. Funny as I remember the mixed sale catalogs there literally being three books and six days long in Florida.

I am no longer encouraging my daughter who wants to be a Grand Prix rider to eventually shift over to the Thoroughbreds.

Sadly, I have come to the realization that barring major change and intervention, there will be nothing left of our industry. By the time she is my age. (I am 51 she is 17)

Do you know the funny thing is about it all… We both have the most amazing draw and special thing to our industry… the HORSE!!!

But as one industry thrives the other dies.

Until it is about the sport and the horse like it is here in the show jumping world, my life, and the majority of people that I deal with in the Thoroughbred world will continue to contract in their businesses and farms…. As it is now, it is very hard for anything but the professionals to stand and be successful.

I mean, I know the expenses are all rising, as for labor, feed, hay, etc., all of the essentials, but this is the same here in the show world, so what have we done so horribly wrong? That they have done so horribly right?

To figure that out, and to move forward away from the horrendous go baby go campaigns and thought process that no longer appeals to our modern-day society… Then we might have a chance.

There is no person on the planet that wants the Thoroughbreds and our industry to thrive and succeed more in their heart than me. I know that there are many of us, but historically most of us have not had any voice and no seat at the table where it really counts.

The table settings just keep getting smaller and smaller and instead of baking more pies, we're all just fighting over the existing slices.

I don't have all the answers, but I certainly know that there are answers out there. There has to be the willingness to implement them in a unified voice in the current “leadership,” which is not easy in anything we do. I am certainly optimistic that maybe things will change with the new program of light up racing.

The first meeting is this Monday afternoon and I certainly hope that anyone that cares like I do will be there. I want there to be something left for my children to be proud of.

Sincerely,

Carrie Brogden, Machmer Hall

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Real Rider Cup Returns to Maryland

Edited Press Release

Following a record-breaking inaugural run in Lexington last month, the Real Rider Cup, a charity show jumping event created by Anita Motion to benefit Thoroughbred aftercare, returns to its home at the Fair Hill Thoroughbred Show the evening of Friday, Sept. 16.

Past winner Penelope Miller returns for her fifth Real Rider Cup, riding once again for Team Racing Media. Past top fundraiser Keira Nygaard, whose parents Erik and Pavla own and operate Thor-Bred Stables, was among the leaders in Kentucky and comes now to Maryland with her eyes on the top prize. Paddock analyst and host for America's Day at the Races and Saratoga Live, Maggie Wolfendale Morley, returns for her second Real Rider Cup. 1/ST Racing once again maintains a strong presence with Maryland Jockey Club's marketing & events manager Brittlan Wall and analyst/broadcaster Kali Francois, among others. MidAtlantic Equine Medical Center also steps to support, furnishing a team of its own. Team Racing Kids is also back with a strong lineup.

All proceeds benefit the Retired Racehorse Project, New Vocations Thoroughbred Adoption and the Fair Hill Thoroughbred Show. For additional information and to donate, visit therealridercup.com.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: From Show Jumpers To Racehorses, Hall Of Famer Knows How To Spot A Good One

The path to a career as a Thoroughbred trainer can take many forms.

For some, it starts with a love of racing—perhaps a parent who imparts their passion for the game onto their child from an early age. For others, it might start with a job on the backstretch, working as a hot walker or a groom—if you work long enough, you can usually find a mentor willing to detail the finer points of the sport.

But for trainers like Rodney Jenkins, the desire to race is an expression of a larger career trajectory that began in the show ring and ends at the racetrack.

“I always liked racing when I was younger but since I rode show horses, I was just a little too heavy to ride a racehorse,” joked Jenkins. “But I love racehorses, they're beautiful animals and to be honest, that's why I went back to training.”

As modestly as he mentions his show jumping career, Jenkins was anything but the typical rider on the competitive circuit. Born in Middleburg, Va., Jenkins first began riding with his father, Enis, an avid huntsman and active with several fox hunting groups.

Jenkins' first professional foray into show jumping came when he was 17. While showing remained his central focus, he dabbled in racehorse training on the side.

Beginning in the late 1960s, Jenkins established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the show ring. His most famous mount was Idle Dice, a former Thoroughbred racehorse whose second career would more than eclipse his modest record on the track.

Together, the pair would win the Grands Prix at New York, Devon, Detroit, and Cleveland; the President's Cup in 1971 and 1972; and the Grand Prix Horse of the Year in 1977, among many other accolades. Idle Dice was the first horse inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 1987.

The most decorated rider in the history of U.S. show jumping, Jenkins himself was inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 1999. In total, he won a record 70 Grand Prix-level competitions before retiring in 1989.

When he show jumping career came to an end, Jenkins decided it was time to pivot his career back to racing. In 1991, he struck out on his own, training primarily in the Mid-Atlantic area where he remains today.

“I started training steeplechasers first and the only reason I really did that was because they were jumpers,” said Jenkins. “I really enjoyed it but as far as the business goes, I knew that racing on the flat was where the business was. There is so much more opportunity to do that.

“While I was doing steeplechase, I was running a few horses on the flat at the same time. After a while, I got a couple more horses running on the track, so I just began to gravitate away and do only that.”

For Jenkins, the challenge of training racehorses comes in the observation. While he admires their natural speed and athleticism, he admits that working with show jumpers was an easier transition for his skills as a horseman.

“For me it was a little bit different moving only to racing because show horses, when you ride, they will show you what kind of ability they have,” said Jenkins. “With racehorses, you have to go a lot by breeding and really pay attention to the way they move. Show horses were always easier because I could jump them myself, and I felt like I knew what it took for a horse to be a good show horse.”

Thirty years after he made the decision to train Thoroughbreds full time, 77-year-old Jenkins remains as enamored with the horses and the game as ever. Based out of Laurel Park, he has logged 927 victories from 4,573 starts to date with just over $24 million in purse earnings.

Currently, Jenkins has 17 horses in training in his barn, but continues to shop the sales for his clients each year, buying yearlings and breaking 2-year-olds—many of them Maryland-breds—ahead of starting them on the track.

Among his current contingent is his most successful trainee, Cordmaker, who most recently captured the Richard W. Small Stakes on Nov. 27 at Laurel Park. With $734,640 in purses and an 11-4-7 record from 33 starts, the 6-year-old son of Curlin has more than proven himself to Jenkins.

“It's been a thrill to see him do well,” said Jenkins. “He was a slow comer, but he's really turned it around and turned into a really nice horse. We haven't thought about what he'll do in 2022 yet. We have a race (Robert T. Manfuso Stakes) coming up next Sunday at Laurel Park, so we will run him there and then see what happens after that. We have quite a bit to look forward to.”

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For Sale: Former Balmoral Park, Now Show Jumping Facility, Listed At $4 Million

Balmoral Park in Crete, Ill., hosted its final race in 2015 before the property went into bankruptcy. Purchased for $1.7 million in 2016, it was then transformed into a show jumping facility by New York-based Horse Shows in the Sun, or HITS, which hosted its first horse shows in 2017.

Now there are 10 arenas, renovated stables, and the racing grandstand with 4,400 seats still on the property.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Balmoral property is back on the market with an asking price of $4 million.

The 2016 deed for the 200-acre property prohibits gambling until 2026, but HITS confirmed last year that it had a pending deal with real estate developer Phil Goldberg, who planned to reintroduce harness racing and build a casino. Neither Goldberg nor HITS commented on the listing.

Balmoral was built as Lincoln Fields in 1926, and the name change to Balmoral came with a sale in 1955. The track has hosted both Thoroughbred and harness racing during its history.