TAA Well Represented Over Derby Prep Weekend

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) will be featured on two big race days at Gulfstream Park and Turfway Park Saturday to promote aftercare awareness on the undercard of the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks and the GI Curlin Florida Derby. A presentation of a TAA blanket and swag bag to the winning connections will be made following the running of each race. Gulfstream's Race 2 presented by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance will go off at 11:59 a.m. A limited number of patrons will be in attendance for the action-packed Florida Derby day at Gulfstream. Aftercare support will continue under new ownership at Turfway, where the TAA is set to present race 3 at 2:10 p.m. prior to the 50th running of the Jeff Ruby Steaks. Due to construction in preparation for the new racing and gambling property, Turfway is not permitted to host fans for live racing at this time.

“The TAA is grateful to both Gulfstream and Turfway Park for their commitment to include the TAA during such exciting race days,” said Stacie Clark, TAA Operations Consultant. “Race presentations help the TAA fulfill its mission to spread awareness of accredited Thoroughbred aftercare which facilitates the funding of our 81 accredited organizations.”

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The Deputy Rescued from TX Kill Pen

The Deputy (Ire) (Petardia {GB}), winner of the 2000 GI Santa Anita Derby and second choice in that year's GI Kentucky Derby, was rescued from a kill pen in Texas earlier this month by his old connections, Barry Irwin's Team Valor, Gary Barber and trainer Jenine Sahadi. The 24-year-old, who had stood stud in several states, was reportedly bought cheaply in Iowa and sent to a feedlot north of Dallas, at which point word quickly spread on the internet and made its way to The Deputy's past connections. By utilizing the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance network, Irwin, Barber and Sahadi enlisted Donna Keen to pick up and transfer The Deputy to her TAA-approved Remember Me Rescue in Burleson, TX, where he will live out his days.

“We decided to have Donna quarantine The Deputy for a while, do some diagnostic work including bloods and a fecal and not reveal anything about the rescue until we were certain that he was healthy, as Donna warned us that horses from feedlots can contract diseases quite readily,” Irwin said. “When the tests all came back negative [Wednesday] and the vet-check proved unremarkable, we decided it was time to tell the story, not to portray ourselves as heroes, but to put an end to the salacious, untrue and unfounded tales that had been circulating online. We want to thank those horse lovers who helped us in our endeavors.”

“We are thrilled to have been able to help the original connections and to be able to take care of the horse and share him with visitors to our rescue,” Keen said, “He is, as could be expected, a bit underweight at this time, but when he fills back up and once again looks the part we look forward to showing him off here in Texas. We are very honored and proud to have been selected as his forever home.”

Barber said, “I have always had a soft spot in my heart for The Deputy. He was my first Grade I winner.”

Sahadi added, “He was the easiest horse to be around. All class. He meant a lot to me and my barn.”

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Canter For The Cause Draws Over 75 Participants To Gulfstream Park

More than 75 equine enthusiasts, many with retired Thoroughbreds, walked, trotted, or cantered their horse across legendary Gulfstream Park Monday morning as part of the second annual Canter for the Cause.

The event attracted riders from throughout Florida, as well as several retired Thoroughbreds with the Davie Police Department's Mounted Patrol Unit and the City of Coral Gables mounted unit.

The event, which ran Monday morning and afternoon for all equine enthusiasts, benefited the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that accredits, inspects, and awards grants to approved aftercare organizations to retrain, retire, and rehome Thoroughbreds using industry-wide funding, and Florida Thoroughbred Retirement and Adoptive Care (TRAC), an accredited TAA facility.

Canter for the Cause was sponsored by Gulfstream, the Florida Horsemen's Protective and Benevolent Association (FHBPA), Seminole Feed and Purina.

“This is a fun day for us at Gulfstream Park. I guess it's the equivalent of playing softball at Yankee Stadium,” said Aidan Butler, Chief Operating Officer of 1/ST Racing. “It gives us a chance to not only showcase what we do on the track here but showcase what horses do for aftercare. A lot of people don't know this but Thoroughbreds, while born and bred to race, are awesome at all kinds of other disciplines. We have some police horses here, we have a bunch of polo ponies, dressage and show jumpers, and other cool disciplines that racehorses excel at. And with the benefit of Florida TRAC and the TAA, which are the beneficiaries of this charity event, we hope to do even more.”

Katie Schmit, farm manager and trainer at Florida (TRAC), said: “I think it's awesome to do things like this and encourage people to see off the track thoroughbreds. We just need to keep raising awareness of aftercare. We need our focus on what horses are going to do after their racing careers and raising awareness at the track, and involving the horsemen is really special.”

Some of the retired Thoroughbreds returning to the track were Shadow Boxer, who is training for eventing, mounted police horses Tizrobertcharles and Guidoinaspeedo, Sweet Karen Sue, who became a hunter, and Cicerone, who went on to be a jumper.

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Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation Seeking Donations For ‘Lucky Horseshoe’ Drive

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF), an equine retirement facility accredited by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA), is asking horsemen to drop off their used horseshoes at trainer Rick Schosberg's barn as part of a fundraising drive.

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) and its horsemen are committed supporters of the TAA, which accredits, inspects, and awards grants to approved aftercare organizations to retrain, retire, and rehome thoroughbreds using industry-wide funding.

The TRF is asking that horsemen collect their used horseshoes and drop them off in the blue barrels located outside Barn 42 on the Belmont Park backstretch. The drive ends on Friday, March 12.

Following March 12, the TRF will gather the horseshoes, clean them, and tie ribbons to them in preparation for a St. Patrick's Day fundraiser that will see donors who give $30 or more to the horses of the TRF receive a “lucky horseshoe” from the NYRA racetrack community.

For more information about the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, or to sponsor a horse at Wallkill or at one of the 500+ retired racehorses in the TRF Herd, please visit https://www.trfinc.org/you-can-help.

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