Respect Regulatory Veterinarians
Thank you for your article "Stats Suggest Reg Vets Protecting Vulnerable Horses." I fully support the people who serve as regulatory vets. Their job is hard enough without having to endure criticism from connections.
I am a microshare owner of eight horses and I have had one scratched by a regulatory vet. Yes, it is disappointing and a financial loss, but it is part of the game and at the end of the day I would rather have my horses be happy and healthy.
I think the industry needs to do more to support regulatory vets. First and foremost, giving them the best tools to do their job. But also, OwnerView could include information on regulatory vets including the stats from your article. Perhaps racetracks could have a Veterinarian Day to recognize their contributions and educate fans. Perhaps Breeders' Cup or the Eclipse Awards programs could include recognition of the role of the regulatory vet.
There is a lot that could be done and the status quo is probably not going to work.
Karen Lockhart
San Diego
Proposal for KTDF
The decline in the national horse population and the struggles of the regional breeding programs have been well documented. The corresponding loss of many racetracks in recent years has sent alarm bells through the entire industry. Other than Kentucky and New York, racing and breeding are suffering throughout the country, but it is in the interest of Kentucky and New York that the rest of the industry thrives (or survives).
The 3,000-plus yearlings sold at Keeneland (mostly Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund-eligible) for an average in excess of $170,000 (56 for a million or more, 266 for $500,000 or more) are going to need more opportunities to run than just in New York or Kentucky.
The Kentucky program with the KTDF purse supplements dwarfs what other states can provide to the extent that there is a significant impact on the sale price for any horse selling in Kentucky that is not KTDF-eligible, even if it is Kentucky-sired. Consequently, the majority of regional breeders can't afford to send their horses to Kentucky to sell and, with fewer and smaller sales, have a tough time getting fair value for their horses. Breeding in the regional markets is gradually being reduced to "breed to race."
Of all the ideas and current practices discussed during a workshop conducted by The Jockey Club and TOBA in November, none are going to save the regional breeding industries without the support of Kentucky. Other than New York, none of the other regions have a critical mass of mares that can develop and support decent regional stallions. Probably roughly half of breeders in these regions send their mares to Kentucky, supporting the Kentucky farms and paying sales tax that supports the Kentucky breeders program.
If simply being by a Kentucky stallion would qualify for KTDF, undoubtedly breeders not based in Kentucky would send more mares to Kentucky stallions and sell more horses at Kentucky sales. The impact on KTDF would be minimal. Of the six days of racing from Nov. 7-14, advertised KTDF funds were $1,646,100 and the amount that would have been earned by Kentucky-sired horses that were not foaled in Kentucky would have been $72,490, less than 5%. The benefit to Kentucky stallions in terms of increased bookings and increased sale averages and race earnings would certainly justify this change.
Katy Voss
President, Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association
A Couple of Ideas
Following up on BloodHorse Daily's recent "Looking Ahead to 2026" series, here are a few ideas from a local breeder and owner.
In terms of increasing the foal crop, allow Kentucky-sired horses to run for the enhanced Kentucky purses. There are too few mares in the smaller state programs to "make a sire." Consequently, there are no regional sires exciting enough to incentivize an investor to add a mare to a broodmare band.
We own farms and infrastructure that we need to use. Having to foal a mare in Kentucky depletes our resources to maintain our own farms, which has a negative effect on local racing economies. If running for the whole purse isn't palatable, 75% of the enhancement.
The sale price of a Kentucky-sired horse foaled in another location is discounted at least 30% at the sales. How does this help the industry as a whole? Racing is like baseball; the "farm teams" are a necessary component of the longevity of baseball. The same holds true for racing. Kentucky is definitely dominant, but they are shooting themselves and racing as a whole in the foot by not including a larger segment of the industry to run for their enhanced purses.
Breeders' Cup should return to its original format of a one-day program. Use the other money to enhance stakes nationally. Whoever heard of over 20 champions? It's an "every kid gets a trophy" mentality.
So much of the money goes overseas. The more money that is circulated through all racing programs in the States, the better United States horse racing will do. Spread more Breeders' Cup money throughout the country for a few years to bolster our horse racing.
Ann Merryman
Sparks, Md.
Improved PostRacing Options Would boost Breeding Numbers
I read with great interest the recent article on the Thoroughbred foal crop decline. Some of the ideas, like breed-to-race incentives, make sense because breeders are the ones who bear all of the up-front costs. We also need more TV and other media coverage, which requires advertising incentives.
However, I would like to address the elephant in the room—what to do with Thoroughbreds after they are done racing. They need post-career jobs, and we need to promote that. The Jockey Club and large breeding/stallion farms need to promote other disciplines for their stallions' offspring—Thoroughbred showing, whether it be jumping, hunter under saddle, barrel racing, etc.
A central governing body would help, as we ultimately are all on the same ship. We do not want to see it sink. We need to be more farsighted and less "immediate gratification."
Most breeders care about what happens to their "four-legged children," and as soon as they realize that finding a viable second career is difficult, they either greatly curtail or cease breeding altogether.
Thoroughbreds in general do not currently have a favorable reputation among nonracing horse owners. We need to change that image, primarily through promoting viable second careers.
Randy P. Brungard
Howard, Pa.
Extra Spacing
As a passionate fan, I would like to see the Triple Crown races spaced further apart to encourage the best horses to possibly run in all three races. As trainer Mark Casse points out, horses don't come back in two to three weeks following a race anymore to run again, and maintaining the current Triple Crown schedule is no longer practical.
I personally see it as stressful to the horses to bring them back to race so soon. It is also disappointing for fans when the Kentucky Derby (G1) winner (and many other horses in the race) do not return for the Preakness Stakes (G1).
I'm not sure I'd favor four weeks between races, but maybe the Preakness is run three weeks after the Derby, and then the Belmont is run four weeks after the Preakness? I would want it to remain a challenge to win all three races. I would keep the distances as they currently are.
Jon Patterson
Laingsburg, Mich.
Signals Crossed
How about showing all of the Breeders' Cup races on broadcast TV?
NBC is the worst coverage of racing of all time. They have the Breeders' Cup jumping between five different channels on three different streaming platforms. They televised the last race each day only on Peacock. If they think I'm going to buy Peacock, may a 3-year-old kick them in the head.
FOX is now providing the best racing coverage since the days of Kenny Mayne and ESPN.
Tom Chambers
Chicago
Not Connecting
I am a small Breeders' Cup bettor with a $500 budget. This year, it was like throwing my $500 at Powerball tickets.
I felt I had no advantage over fellow bettors, despite the 10 days I spent watching FanDuel TV morning shows and online handicapping videos. Then, to add insult to injury, at the end of Saturday's racing card, one of my horses on multiple horizontal bets gets scratched at post time for some unknown reason; so I also wasted money on a horse not even running. Not even the trainer knew the reason for the scratch.
I am retiring from watching and betting on the Breeders' Cup. I will let the Breeders' Cup for the bigger bettors. And redeploy my budget to the Kentucky Derby where I feel I have had more success eliminating win candidates based on historical breeding analysis and enjoy a more fun day of betting.
Paul Rosati
San Jose, Calif.
Numbers game
Declining foal crops and field sizes are not necessarily bad. My horse raced in several six-horse fields, which allowed her to clear her conditions faster. The three wins helped reduce my losses. The fourth win in open company was even better. However, I still lost money mostly due to the cost associated with breeding, which might explain why fewer horses are being bred.
R. Neil Braithwaite
Owner/breeder
Orange, Calif.
Options Needed
I wanted to offer my opinion and dismay at the attempt to decouple racing in Florida. I was appalled at the closure of Golden Gate Fields by 1/ST Racing (Stronach) and I'm now appalled at the ugly prospect of the same thing happening in Florida solely for the benefit of this family.
There was a time when they were considering selling Santa Anita Park as well but it was derailed for several reasons.
Since these instances are all Stronach-related I have to ask why the focus on the wealth and aggrandizement of the family and the consideration of a sale of Golden Gate, Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park, or the other tracks they're involved with, are dismissed with no thought to allowing others in the industry to make a bid to keep these venerable tracks alive and not dismiss them to the trash heap of history.
Family is truly important as is being trusted by the sport they decided to play in. More and more the decisions they make give pause to the real concern and focus to which they ultimately decide to do.
I realize they have spent a great deal of money updating these tracks and they've done the right things in the past but I fail to see the need to change direction just to pad the financial statements.
Denis Weber
Agoura Hills, Calif.
