At a Sept. 1 summit presented by the New York State Gaming Commission on racehorse aftercare, the New York Racing Association pledged that it would donate $5 per start at its tracks to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. NYRA follows in the footsteps of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, which in 2014 began contributing $5…
If you follow me on Twitter, you’re going to get – in addition to tweets about New York City, politics, feminism, and the New York Rangers – lots of tweets about cats. And cat rescue. And the treatment of animals in factory farms. And cruelty-free products of various sorts. You’re also going to get a…
That’s the question that producer Doug Tribou and host Bill Littlefield asked me a couple of weeks ago, and over the course of an hour in the NPR studio in New York, I tried to answer it. For obvious reasons, the full hour of conversation didn’t make it into the segment, but some of what…
At the close of the second Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit in March 2008, the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and The Jockey Club, underwriters and hosts for the event, released eight recommendations, developed by the working groups that participated in that summit held in Lexington, Kentucky. Recommendation #7 reads: “Find solutions for unwanted…
Buyers of Thoroughbred racehorses in 2014 got an early Christmas present when H.R. 5771, the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, became law earlier this month. Retroactive through this past year, a provision of the law renews the three-year tax depreciation for racehorses, which allows taxpayers to depreciate racehorses 24 months of age and younger…
If you look at the numbers, it’s a very good time to be a breeder in New York. Yesterday the New York Racing Association held its first Saratoga Showcase Day of New York-breds, building on the success of the original day in October at the Belmont fall meet and last year’s addition of the Big…
On December 11, the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance announced its first significant round of accreditations, giving its stamp of approval to 20 organizations across the country. Among them were four Mid-Atlantic facilities: Angel Acres Horse Haven in Pennsylvania, Virginia’s ReRun, and MidAtlantic Horse Rescue and Thoroughbred Placement Resources, both in Maryland. Though applicants characterized the process…
At Pimlico last month, more than 600 people attended a two-day exhibition produced by the Retired Racehorse Training Project. Dozens of retired Thoroughbreds performed in a variety of disciplines, showing off newly learned skills in hunting, jumping, polo, and even police work. The weekend provided an opportunity for retired Thoroughbreds to demonstrate their adaptability and usefulness…
“Spectacular.” That was the word the Keeneland Association used to describe the results of its Thoroughbred yearling sales last month. The 12-day sale started with a bang, with four horses selling for at least $1 million on the first day; by the time it was over, the sale price for 18 yearlings had reached seven…
TAA press release New York, N.Y. – October 11, 2012 – The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) announced today that several industry groups, including 13 prominent breeding farms in Kentucky, The Jockey Club, two racetracks of the Stronach Group, the California Retirement Management Account (CARMA), Keeneland Association, Fasig-Tipton, Barretts Equine Limited and Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company…
Brooklyn Backstretch 