thoroughbred charities of america | Horse Racing Free Tips

TCA Awards Annual Grants

Grants totaling over $788,000 were awarded this year, Thoroughbred Charities of America announced Wednesday.

Eighty two grant applications were received earlier this year during the organization's annual grant cycle. Ultimately, 69 organizations were approved for a grant, including 46 aftercare organizations, 14 backstretch and farm worker programs, five equine-assisted therapy organizations, three Thoroughbred incentive programs, and one research organization.

Included in the granting total is over $12,000 expended from the Horses First Fund, an emergency fund, administered by TCA and established LNJ Foxwoods, that assists Thoroughbreds and their caretakers in need of emergency aid due to large scale neglect, natural disaster, or other catastrophe. The Horses First Fund aided in a food-assistance program at Woodbine Racetrack earlier this year for backstretch workers left without an income when COVID-19 halted racing at the track. The Horses First Fund also assisted Equine Rescue of Aiken with an emergency grant for a catastrophic barn fire earlier this year.

TCA's 2021 grants to organizations that provide health and human services for backstretch and farm workers were bolstered by support from Fasig-Tipton and buyers at Keeneland's September Yearling and November Breeding Stock Sales as well as the January Horses of All Ages Sale. Over $100,000 was raised and awarded to approved organizations.

“Fundraising has been a challenge over the last year and a half for many nonprofits,” said Erin Crady executive director of TCA. “We are happy to be able to assist nearly 70 organizations with a grant to help them carry on their vital work with Thoroughbreds and backstretch and farm workers. Our grants are only possible thanks to our generous donors.”

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The Horses Of The Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Mega-Makeover

It's been a long road to Kentucky for the Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) Mega-Makeover classes of 2020 and 2021, between the event's postponement in 2020 and the constantly changing landscape as a result of the global pandemic. The final entry period for the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA), has passed, which means we have our first full look at the horses impacted by the Makeover process.

Here's how the field of registered horses emerged over the months since the last Thoroughbred Makeover in 2019:

December 1, 2019: horses were eligible to start retraining for the 2020 Makeover and trainer applications opened
February 14, 20 entries were accepted into the 2020 Makeover
July 7, 2020: the RRP annou20: 616nced the postponement of the 2020 Thoroughbred Makeover and the intention to run an expanded double event in 2021; entered trainers were given the opportunity to either retain their 2020 entries or roll their entry status to the 2021 competition year
December 1, 2020: horses were eligible to start retraining for the 2021 Makeover and trainer applications opened
February 15, 2021: 480 entries were accepted to the 2021 Makeover, combining with 322 trainers from the postponed 2020 competition for a total pool of over 800 trainers for the Mega-Makeover
July 31, 2021: trainers for both competition years had through this date to register the horses they intended to compete. 573 horses were registered for the 2020 competition year, and 454 were registered for the 2021 competition year, making a total of 1,027 horses that were in training for the Makeover
August 15, 2021: at the close of Final Entry, 525 horses were entered for the final Makeover competition

Let's take a closer look at that deep field of registered horses!

Height

While the average height of horses comes right in at 16.0 hands, the measured heights of registered horses range from 15.0 hands all the way up to 18.0 hands — with one unique outlier, our 14.0 hand entry Lucky Ribot.

Gender

As is typical of past years, geldings make up over two-thirds of our total entries. Six horses were listed as stallions at the time of registration.

Year Foaled

The minimum age for Makeover registration is three years old. In both competition years, 4- and 5-year-olds were the most popular age group at the time the horses were acquired (taking into consideration that the 2020 class is another year older than when horses may have started their Makeover journey). While a large number of registered horses are in that 4-to-6-year-old range, we're once again seeing a strong representation from the so-called “iron horses” that will be 10 or older by the Makeover!

State Bred

While Kentucky once again bred over a third of our Mega-Makeover horses, New York and Florida are also well-represented with 10 percent or more of the class.

Sires and Dams

We love looking at bloodlines and which of the breed's stallions are represented: many of those we see over and over again are racing's top sires, but some lesser-known names often crop up every year which can indicate both regional popularity as well as recognition of ability of offspring in sport. Forty-seven stallions are represented by multiple registered offspring for the Mega-Makeover; we've highlighted those with five or more below.

Additionally, 19 of the top 20 leading sires of 2021 are represented — only Constitution is missing.

We're looking forward to the meeting of full brothers Our Paul Thomas and Good Timing Man at the Mega-Makeover; both are by Overdriven out of Gorman's Wynn. Five other dams are represented by sibling offspring this year as well.

Public Auction

North America's leading public auctions are all represented at the Mega-Makeover, and in total, both classes of horses brought over $38 million at the sales!

Racing History

On average, Makeover registrants made 20 starts with two wins, averaging earnings of $65,665 each. In total, registered horses made 20,081 starts, crossed the wire 2,442 times in front, and earned a whopping total of $67,438,338.

To be eligible for the Thoroughbred Makeover, a horse must have been in training to race and must have at least one published work — and for about 8 percent of our registered horses, that's as far as their racing careers ever went. Others achieved “war horse” status, making more than 50 lifetime starts.

We're looking forward to seeing some of the stars of recent seasons of racing embarking on their journey to a second career. Here are some of the stakes horses you can expect to see in person at the Mega-Makeover: Flatlined, Granny's Kitten, Hawaakom, Ashleyluvssugar, Moonster, Sixes, Show King, Pepe Longstocking and more.

How Makeover Registrants Were Acquired

The acquiring of Makeover horses represents the crossroads between the racing and sport horse worlds, and can provide valuable information for how those worlds are interacting and working together.

About half of the horses registered for the Mega-Makeover were acquired directly from their racing connections, and those horses on average spent about 100 days between their last start on the track and finding their post-racing home. Resellers and non-profit aftercare organizations represent two other routes that horses take after racing. Eight horses across both competition years were reported as “self-rescues” by their Makeover trainers, acquired from auctions or “kill pens” — this number is down from 10 in 2019.

The overall average price paid by Makeover trainers for their horses is $2,230, which is up from $1,960 in 2019 and $1,200 in 2018.

The most popular aftercare organizations:

It's always interesting to see from which tracks Makeover horses retired: these trends indicate that more horses are retiring from lower-tier tracks, populated by mid- to lower-level claiming competitors. They can also indicate where rehoming programs and aftercare organizations are making an impact.

To learn more about the horses of the Mega-Makeover, browse the list for familiar names, or look at final entry, please click here. The Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, takes place October 12-17, 2021 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.

Sales Industry Support TCA Charities

Donations from several of last season's sales raised over $100,000 to assist backstretch and farm worker-focused Thoroughbred Charities of America charities. The funds will be awarded to approved grant applicants during TCA's current granting cycle. Heading the 2020 participating sales were Keeneland's September Yearling Sale, November Breeding Stock Sale, and the January Horses of All Ages Sale, which offered buyers the opportunity to donate .05% of their total sale purchases to TCA via a voluntary contribution on their invoices. Fasig-Tipton also made a significant direct contribution in support of these fundraising efforts.

“Our workforce is vital to our industry and it is imperative that we take care of them,” said Mike McMahon President of TCA. “During the height of the pandemic, many of our human-focused charities incurred significant additional expenses to care for workers affected by COVID-19, so we asked Keeneland and Fasig for their help in raising money for these charities. We are very grateful to the buyers and sales companies for their contributions.”

Last year, TCA distributed grants totaled nearly $1,070,000. A total of 70 organizations were approved for a grant, including 45 aftercare organizations, 16 backstretch and farm worker programs, five equine-assisted therapy organizations, three Thoroughbred incentive programs, and one research organization. Grant recipients from the last three years can be found on www.tca.org.

Additionally, the Horses First Fund, an emergency fund started in 2016 by LNJ Foxwoods and managed by TCA, provided $79,900 in Coronavirus relief, including backstretch organizations, aftercare organizations and feed assistance programs.

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Thoroughbred Charities Of America Check-Off Program Raises Over $100,000 From 2020 Auctions

Thoroughbred Charities of America announced today that over $100,000 has been raised to assist backstretch and farm worker-focused charities. The funds will be awarded to approved grant applicants during TCA's current granting cycle.

Keeneland's September 2020 Yearling Sale, November 2020 Breeding Stock Sale, and the January Horses of All Ages Sale offered buyers the opportunity to donate one-half of one percent (.05 percent) of their total sale purchases to TCA via a voluntary contribution on their invoices. Fasig-Tipton made a generous direct contribution in support of these fundraising efforts.

“Our workforce is vital to our industry and it is imperative that we take care of them,” said Mike McMahon, president of TCA. “During the height of the pandemic many of our human-focused charities incurred significant additional expenses to care for workers affected by COVID-19, so we asked Keeneland and Fasig for their help in raising money for these charities. We are very grateful to the buyers and sales companies for their contributions.”

Since 1990, TCA has distributed over $24 million in grants to approved charities working to provide Thoroughbred aftercare as well as health and human services for backstretch and farm workers.

Last year, TCA distributed grants totaling nearly $1,070,000. A record 92 grant applications were received during the organization's annual grant cycle. Ultimately, 70 organizations were approved for a grant including 45 aftercare organizations, 16 backstretch and farm worker programs, five equine-assisted therapy organizations, three Thoroughbred incentive programs, and one research organization. Grant recipients from the last three years can be found on www.tca.org. Additionally, the Horses First Fund, an emergency fund started in 2016 by LNJ Foxwoods and managed by TCA, provided Coronavirus relief funding to three backstretch organizations, seven aftercare organizations and supported two feed assistance programs earlier this year. The total expended from the Horses First Fund was $79,900 bringing the organization's total 2020 grantmaking over the $1-million mark.

TCA's mission is to fund and facilitate 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. TCA is the charitable arm of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA).

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