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Quick Call to Be Laid to Rest at Saratoga’s Clare Court

This week, the New York Racing Association will bury the ashes of Saratoga legend Quick Call at Clare Court, the bucolic, half-mile jogging track located behind the track's seven-furlong chute named in honor of Clare Belmont, wife of the late August Belmont II. An unveiling of the memorial will be scheduled in July, along with a Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation event to celebrate his life in coordination with the running of the GIII Quick Call S. on Opening Day, July 15.

After winning nine of his 17 starts from 1986 to 1991 at the Spa, Quick Call transitioned in his post-racing career to another starring role in the TRF's pioneering “Second Chances” vocational training program, working with inmates at Wallkill Correctional Facility in upstate New York.

“Few Thoroughbreds ever had that kind of dual career and did it so well for so long,” said TRF Director of Major Gifts & Planned Giving Kim Weir of Quick Call, who died in October 2019 from the infirmities of old age, at 35. “He had an aura about him. Quick Call was a legendary horse who earned respect from the other horses and from the men at Wallkill. To know he'll be at rest at Saratoga Race Course, which he loved so much, is a great ending.”

Quick Call is the fourth horse to be laid to rest at Clare Court, following Fourstardave, Mounjare and A Phenomenon. Like the others, Quick Call will have a headstone commemorating his accomplishments.

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Churchill Downs Racing Club’s Warrior’s Club To Join TRF At Chestnut Hill Sanctuary

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) will welcome graded stakes winner Warrior's Club to the TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall through a generous $30,000 donation from the Churchill Downs Racing Club.

“The Churchill Downs Racing Club has been a real thrill and has generated hundreds of new Thoroughbred owners,” said Gary Palmisano, Churchill Downs Racing Club Director. “Warrior's Club has taken his members and the club on an incredible journey and he deserves, like all Thoroughbreds, to live out his days in a place where people can visit him and he can enjoy his retirement.”

Warrior's Club was the first horse for the Churchill Downs Racing Club which was started in 2016 and the son of Warrior's Reward took the 200 partners involved in his group on a whirlwind ride over the course of four years winning races at marquee tracks across the country with victories at Churchill Downs, Saratoga, Oaklawn and Keeneland. Trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, Warrior's Club amassed earnings of over $850,000 including a victory in the Grade III Commonwealth Stakes at Keeneland Race Course and competed at the sport's highest level, even participating in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (GI).

The Churchill Downs Racing Club has a commitment to aftercare. Through the success of Warrior's Club on the racetrack, the group was able to purchase several other horses, all of whom have gone on to second careers and homes after racing. To date, the club has either claimed back or purchased back all but two horses, both of whom are actively still racing, to ensure safe and happy retirements.

On behalf of Warrior's Club and the Churchill Downs Racing Club donations also were made to Second Stride, New Vocations, the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and Thoroughbred Charities of America.

The TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall opened in April 2021. The farm, a first-of-its kind, was designed to give the Louisville community and fans from around the world a direct connection to the horses at the heart of horse racing. The new TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall will be the permanent home of 11 horses from the organization's national herd of 500 retired Thoroughbred racehorses. These “herd ambassadors” will serve as educators to tell the story of the long life and diverse second careers that await these equine athletes when their racing days are done. Located on nearly 30 acres of historic farmland in Oldham County and featuring a beautiful farmhouse restored to serve as an event venue, Chestnut Hall has been created for the express purpose of connecting Thoroughbred horses to the people of Louisville, the Commonwealth of Kentucky and beyond. Starting mid-May, the farm will be open to the public for tours through Visit Horse Country and will be available as a unique venue for educational events and fundraisers for nonprofits across the Louisville community.

Breeders’ Cup Launches HorsePlayers Happy Hour Tour

Breeders' Cup announces the launch of the HorsePlayers Happy Hour Tour (“HorsePlayers Tour”) hosted by In the Money Media (ITMM), which will begin Thursday, April 8, at 3:00 p.m. ET. The HorsePlayers Tour will coincide with the popular HorsePlayers Happy Hour livestream featuring ITMM's Matt Bernier, Peter Fornatale and Jonathon Kinchen. Each week fans at home can play along with the ITMM team for a chance to earn tour points and qualify for the season-ending playoffs. One $10,000 Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) seat will be awarded to the player that finishes first on the regular season leaderboard and another will be awarded to the winner of the playoffs.

The HorsePlayers Tour kicks off on April 8 with a $20 feeder contest on HorsePlayers.com, where sign-ups are currently live. In addition to the tour benefits, the designated contests will also award one seat per 65 entries into that weekend's $179 BCBC qualifier on HorsePlayers.com. For more information and complete rules, visit BreedersCup.com/Happy-Hour-Tour.

Breeders' Cup will donate all proceeds from the HorsePlayers Tour online contests to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and the Thoroughbred Retirement Fund. In 2020, Breeders' Cup raised over $6,500 for its charity partners through the HorsePlayers Happy Hour program.

“HorsePlayers are the heartbeat of our sport and this exciting new format is a great way to keep them engaged all season long and reward them for playing in our online contests,” said Justin McDonald, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Breeders' Cup. “Being able to follow along and interact with the In the Money Media team during our weekly livestreams is a unique and fun component of the tour that new and avid fans will really enjoy.”

Each week players participating in the designated HorsePlayers Tour feeder contest will have a chance to earn tour points and qualify for the year-end playoffs. Points will be awarded to the top ten finishers each week, starting with 100 points to the winner and descending in increments of 10 points to each respective place below that, with 10 points awarded to the 10th-place finisher. The top eight scores for each player during the regular season will be used to calculate the final leaderboard scores. The person with the highest overall score will be declared the regular season winner and earn a $10,000 BCBC seat.

Once the regular season concludes, there will be an 80-player playoff that will consist of the top two finishers from each of the weekly HorsePlayers Tour contests, as well as the remaining top finishers on the regular season leaderboard who have not already qualified. Playoffs will start the week of Sept. 20 with 80 total players and be narrowed down to 40 players the week of Sept. 27, 20 players the week of Oct. 4, and 10 players the week of Oct. 18 for the Final Table. This schedule is subject to change. The Final Table participants will compete during a special livestream format that will be broadcast as the final show of the season, with the winner earning a $10,000 BCBC seat. Players can have up to three entries at the start of the playoffs, but only one entry can advance to the Final Table.

For schedule updates, more information and complete rules, visit BreedersCup.com/Happy-Hour-Tour.

To participate, players must have a valid Horseplayers.com account. To sign up for a free HorsePlayers account, visit HorsePlayers.com now. HorsePlayers Happy Hour hosted by ITMM's Matt Bernier, Peter Fornatale and Jonathon Kinchen is livestreamed weekly on Breeders' Cup's Facebook and Twitter pages.

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Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation Opens Louisville Sanctuary At Chestnut Hall

A national Thoroughbred aftercare charity with more than twenty years of history caring for retired Thoroughbred racehorses in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) will open a first-of-its kind farm designed to give the Louisville community and fans from around the world a direct connection to the horses at the heart of horseracing.

The new TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall will be the permanent home of 11 horses from the organization's national herd of 500 retired Thoroughbred racehorses. These “herd ambassadors” will serve as educators to tell the story of the long life and diverse second careers that await these equine athletes when their racing days are done. Located on nearly 30 acres of historic farmland in Oldham County and featuring a beautiful farmhouse restored to serve as an event venue, Chestnut Hall has been created for the express purpose of connecting Thoroughbred horses to the people of Louisville, the Commonwealth of Kentucky and beyond.

Starting mid-May, the farm will be open to the public for tours through Visit Horse Country and will be available as a unique venue for educational events and fundraisers for nonprofits across the Louisville community.

The TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall represents the realization of a dream of local businessman, Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs Incorporated. The new farm has been created as a gift to the horses of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and the citizens of Kentucky. On behalf of his family and community, Carstanjen was moved to purchase the property in Prospect to protect the historic farmhouse and pasture land from residential development.

Over the course of the past year, Carstanjen has personally overseen the restoration of the 25+ acre property to its former beauty as an active horse farm. Reflecting his deep personal appreciation for the horses at the heart of the Thoroughbred racing industry, Castanjen sought out the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation as his partner to provide a home for retired racehorses and to connect the Louisville community, broadly defined, to the majestic animals upon whom the Thoroughbred racing industry relies.

“Thoroughbred horses have enriched the lives of countless citizens and visitors to Louisville throughout history, but very few opportunities exist for the community to experience and interact with these extraordinary animals,” said Kim Weir, the Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. “It is with this goal in mind that Mr. Carstanjen restored the horse farm and historic home at Chestnut Hall with the express intention of giving the gift of the horses to the community of Louisville. Together, it is our hope that the TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall will provide a venue for education, inspiration and imagination for many years to come.”

Tour Booking and Private events: Visit https://www.trfinc.org/trf-sanctuary-farm-at-chestnut-hall/

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