Bloodstock Briefing - opinions on enhancing yearling sales

Compiled by - Jordin Rosser

The ecosystem of the Thoroughbred racing industry, like all ecosystems, requires its components to be interconnected and interdependent to be a functional system. If one of the components disappears or is compromised, the ecosystem as a whole suffers. Today, the racing industry has shown trends that the middle market is on the decline, risking a lack of market diversity. To restore the Thoroughbred racing industry ecosystem to its full potential, other areas need to be supportive – the bloodstock industry is one we can start the discussion with. 

To discuss ideas on how the bloodstock industry can strengthen the middle market, we gathered the opinions of racing secretaries, bloodstock agents, and middle market buyers. Keith Doleshel, a NYRA racing secretary, and Tracy Egan, the executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund, bring to light the benefits of auction races to New York’s racing program. Clark Shepherd of Shepherd Equine Advisors, a well-known bloodstock agent in addition to a respected pedigree analyst, weighs in on middle market client strategies at auctions. Lastly, Charles Weston: an experienced and knowledgeable middle market buyer who has seen success over the last 30 years through partnerships and bloodstock selections. 

Q: What can the bloodstock industry do to support the middle market? 

Note: This is strictly opinion and does not reflect the stance of any organization. These points are intended to be read as conversation starters and used to fuel the discussion around what might be good for the health of the industry.

Based on the panelists’ experiences as a bloodstock agent or as a middle market buyer, they have compiled a list of suggested starting points: 

Education for New Investors 

Many new investors may be overwhelmed at the amount of knowledge required in selecting new additions to their stable, the processes of training horses, and general strategies on how to be a successful racehorse owner. Shepherd is an avid believer that the new middle market investor can learn the skills to see a horse’s “potential value” to give confidence in the process and in their agent’s decisions but only if they in turn are trained on what is expected. 

Technology Advancements

Auction houses’ ability to provide transparency and information accountability has given rise to more disclosures thereby improving information surrounding the bloodstock for sale, in turn making it more important to purchase the “right '' horse. Shepherd recommends genetic testing, cardio scans, and performance analytics to give more insight on purchasing the “right” horse, who will be both successful and profitable. 

Breed for Racehorses not Commercial Horses

Recently, breeders are becoming more “savvy” according to Shepherd with regards to breeding their bloodstock to become racehorses instead of commercial horses (meaning horses for the sales ring). Racehorse attributes include the right pedigree and conformation to be quality horses destined for the track. With the continued decrease in commercial horses, the ratio further trends towards more quality racehorses for owners to become more profitable. 

Create more ‘Coupons’

Weston affectionately calls registrations, certifications, auction races, and other nominations by the term ‘coupons’. These provide incentives for extra purse money for owners, breeders awards, and more to go into the pockets of middle market buyers and breeders. When attempting to make their bloodstock investment profitable, one strategy Weston uses is to have certifications and nominations be as geographically local as possible which allows for easy shipping between tracks for options in race conditions, incentivized purse structure, and in the case of auction races the ability to be competitive. 

Partnerships

One of the main concerns discussed amongst the industry is rising costs in training bills and initial purchase prices due to supply and demand concerns. Partnerships can provide an avenue through which buyers can own significant percentages of a horse but split the costs of ownership amongst others. A strategy Weston uses is to send his horses to a trainer who wishes to be a co-owner as it allows for the individuals’ training bill to be lowered and incentivizes the trainer to select the best racing conditions while offsetting risk.

Q: Does breeding to the sons of top stallions for less in stud fees provide a benefit to the middle market? 

A consensus was reached among the panelists indicating the profit margin is most apparent in bloodstock whose sires are sons of top stallions with the exclusion of the top freshman stallions. Due to the stud fee being cheaper, the initial cost needed to break even with respect to the stud fee as a breeder is significantly lower compared to other stallion options. Thus, when the breeder wishes to sell, the profit margin may not be as large as if the bloodstock was by a top stallion with a good conformation or movement, but it still does provide the opportunity for profit – particularly if the resulting bloodstock does have good conformation and movement. From a middle market buyer’s perspective, if a horse is purchased anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000 and requires class relief to the claiming ranks to be competitive, the purchaser is less likely to be impacted negatively as there is opportunity to offset both the initial and recurring costs.  Weston has found success with this method with many purchases he has made for himself or in partnerships inclusive of Con Lima, who was a multiple graded stakes winner earning nearly $900,000 and sired by the A.P. Indy stallion Commissioner.  

Q: If the large-scale introduction of auction races were to be implemented, how would that affect the market? 

Thoroughbred racing in Europe launched auction races into prominence with their racing programs and due to their popularity, the concept was brought to America via tracks in New York and Kentucky. Many of the benefits of these races include giving “trainers and owners who do not own expensive horses a chance to win at important venues”, an “outlet for middle market and regional stallions to sire winners in what has become a hyper competitive marketplace”, and “an opportunity to play on a level [playing] field” according to Tracy Egan. Given the overfilling of auction races in New York, Keith Doleshel believes the idea will begin to “trickle down” to other racetracks. In general, striking a balance between the different levels of racing is required to maintain a high-quality meet, and these auction races provide additional opportunities for the middle market to find success and stand out.

For the racing industry to flourish, the middle market is needed not only at the auctions but at the racetrack. If the middle market were to shrink further, the purchases of middle market horses would primarily be conducted through claiming races. Given breeding operations need a healthy profit margin to continue through auction purchases, claiming horses would only incentivize breeders to narrow their operations. Beyond this, racetracks need bloodstock at all levels to be sustainable and continue to be competitive for the racing enthusiasts, betters, and horsemen. How else can one progress otherwise, after all? Racing is a global economic engine and to preserve it, a successful middle market must exist. To do this, we must come together as a community to bring new blood into the market in a well-informed manner where the newcomers believe they have a genuine chance at success.

Alan Balch Column - Principles of Marketing

Article by Alan F. Balch

When I first joined the management of Santa Anita in 1971 (that’s right, over a half-century ago), one of the earliest meetings I had with its leadership made an everlasting impression on me.

Indoctrinating me were Robert Strub, son of the track’s founder Charles H. “Doc” Strub, and General Manager Fred Ryan, who had worked for Eugene Mori (of Hialeah, Garden State Park, and Tanforan fame).  Giants of American racing evolution.  

I had been placed in charge of ‘public relations’, which included advertising, promotion, and publicity.  The term ‘marketing’ had only recently become relevant to most businesses and had not yet been applied to racing management anywhere in the world.  The first thing I had to remember, I was told, was that free admission to boost attendance was never to be suggested.  As Mori had once famously said, “the view alone at Santa Anita is worth the price of admission.”  Ryan added, “we have the tightest gate in racing, and it’s going to stay that way.”  Non-betting sources were 50% of revenue then, remember.  

Then, Strub had his say.  “My father always warned that we can’t let ourselves go the way of buggy whips.  We continually need new, young thinking, and that’s why you’re here.”  I guess I don’t have to add that way back then, there was a thirty-year age gap between mine and the next older department head on the track staff.  My assigned task, my only task, was to drive attendance.  “Don’t worry about anything else,” Strub advised, “you get them here, and the betting will take care of itself.”  True then.  Still true.

Marketing for profit never changes.  What’s old is new.  In these pages two years ago, I extolled the virtues of Royal Ascot.  Especially its continually advancing marketing, under Ascot’s director of racing and public affairs, Nick Smith, who says (and way more important, does) the right things.  

So, too, says (and does) Mark Taylor, of Taylor Made Farms and through Medallion Racing a partner in a Royal Ascot Group 1 winner Porta Fortuna. 

Both of them understand marketing in the old Santa Anita way, now lost from much of American racing, especially in California.  Real marketing is an investment, not principally an expense.  It is also an attitude.  A way of doing business.  The only way ancient businesses (which racing and breeding certainly are) can survive a constantly changing and increasingly competitive world.  Engaging and funding proper marketing, rightly understood, is the necessary if not the sufficient condition for the survival of any business enterprise in the modern world.  And, sad to say, most of what now passes for ‘marketing’ in California racing is anything but.

Here’s Taylor, for whom Royal Ascot was “beyond my wildest expectations.  However they have done it, everybody who works there genuinely takes an interest in the customer experience.  What I really took away from it for our organization is more training and spending more time getting each employee to really put themselves in the customer’s shoes.  And say, ‘how can I make this an incredible experience for them and let the person know I care.’”  

This very quotation could have been lifted right out of Philip Kotler’s foundational textbook, ‘Principles of Marketing’,  which was the inspiration for modern marketing beginning in the late 1960s.  “Marketing is sales from the customer’s point of view.”  Further, Kotler advised that marketing point of view had to be ingrained in all functions of any organization, from operations to finance to production, in order to optimize success.  And that was no easy task, since that marketing point of view . . . as it begins to succeed at all levels and results in growth . . . creates more and more hard work for everyone in every function, as well as a new mindset. 

Emphasizing the critical nature of attendance at the races, not just betting, Ascot’s Smith mirrored those comments:  "Hospitality was at record levels this year, with 13 Michelin stars across the kitchens, but that top-end fine dining option is quite resilient whereas general ticket sales aren't always.  The racing is at the heart of it for a lot of people.  You have a competitive interest betting product as well as racing at the highest level, and all of these things need to come together.  We have huge positives which we need to promote and be proud of.  This is a time to step back and say let's look at what's really good about the sport, promote it, be proud of it and build from it."  Amen, I say.

Where racing is struggling (including California), failures of marketing and management are critical reasons.  Even Del Mar, long the brightest light in the West, has dimmed.  Where boisterous big turnouts of over 40,000 stormed the track in the last decade, the largest attendance last year was barely over 20,000.  For the last three years, just over the 10,000 mark attended its marquee $1-million Pacific Classic, half to a third of what it had drawn historically, supposedly in the name of ‘superior customer experience’ for the relatively few present!  The abysmal attendance at the last Breeders’ Cups at Santa Anita, and on its own prestigious days, were actually fractions of the figures announced. 

Since its origination some 300 years ago, racing as a sport and enterprise has been relentlessly confronted by change and competition.  That it has survived at all is remarkable, I suppose, but also a tribute to its majesty and allure . . . when presented, managed, and marketed properly.  Look not just to Ascot, but also to Belmont at Saratoga, to Keeneland, and to Churchill Downs:  investment, renewal, and sophisticated, integrated marketing, both industrial and consumer, with all its modern tools, are essential to racing’s future.

Many say that the future of racing has little to do with attendance at the track.  If that is so, where will all the breeders, trainers, owners, and bettors come from?

#Soundbites - What's the hardest aspect of training?

Christophe Clement

You’ve got to be kidding. The list would be too long and you will not have enough room to cover it in one page. You’ve got to find the talent; you’ve got to find the help; you have to keep your owners happy; you have to find the right races. The list is endless. It’s not getting any easier. That's all I can tell you. In 2024, compared to twenty years ago, it’s not a one-man job anymore. It’s a team job now. It cannot be one individual. It’s got to be a team, I’m very lucky. I’ve got a great team.

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David Donk

Overall, probably the administration work. Managing the regulatory and administration of the business. With horses, I don’t think there is one. Just be patient and do the right thing every day.

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Joe Sharp

The most difficult aspect of training would probably be the human resources, managing people’s expectations and things like that. I would say that the animals are the easy part of the business.

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Tony Dutrow

I think the most difficult aspect of training for almost all trainers is the quality of the horse, trying to get their hands on a good horse. Now, once I have that good horse, I don’t think there’s anything difficult about training a good horse. A good trainer, and there are a lot of them, knows how to train. I can only hope that I’m on the same page as my client. That’s where I want to be. The client and the trainer can’t be feuding and fighting about where he is going to run and the details of all that. The horse will feel that.

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Mark Glatt

The most difficult thing about training is keeping horses racing sound. They’re athletes, of course, and they get injured. We have to put them in the best situation we can. Keeping them from getting injured is a difficult task.

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John Kimmel

That’s an interesting question. I think the most difficult thing is to run it as a business model that actually doesn’t cost you money. It’s a poor business model to begin with. For all the time and effort, if you just look at what it takes to train horses, the increasing labor costs, the increase of feed price, it makes it very difficult to train a horse and break even. It’s basically a negative cash flow pattern. That to me is the most difficult part of the business. I think the biggest problem that we face as trainers is trying to be somewhat cost effective. I think that’s why a lot of people are dropping out. It’s very tough to run things the proper way. 

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Craig Dollase

The horses don’t talk back. They can’t speak for themselves. You have to be a good horseman, always do the right thing by the animal. Dealing with the animals who don’t speak back to you is the tough part of training. You’ve got to be inquisitive about things and always put the horse first. It can be a difficult task at times. You have to be in tune with the horses.

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Eoin Harty

Where do I begin? I would say the most difficult aspect of training is obtaining new owners and keeping the owners you have happy. It’s a very competitive industry, and there’ll always be somebody that seems a little bit more attractive than you do. So you have to constantly deal with that, you can never rest; you can never turn your phone off. You need to appease a disgruntled client or attract a new one.

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Scott Lake

(Laugh). Honestly, it’s probably dealing with all the different personalities in the industry. Each owner handles good news and bad news differently. Your help might not like the way you say something.  One guy’s fine with you yelling at him; the other guy’s not. In every aspect of the business, there are different personalities.

#Soundbites - Why are the average number of starts and field size declining annually?

Article by Bill Heller

The 2024 Jockey Club Fact Book showed that the average field size run in 2023 races was 7.40, down from 7.59. Thoroughbreds’ average number of starts also dipped from 6.01 to 5.87. Back in 1990, the average field size was 8.91 and the average number of starts 7.94. Why are the average number of starts and field size declining annually?

Todd Pletcher

I think the number starts, in a lot of cases, is management. I think over the years trainers have become more conservative about how many starts horses have with more time between races. More rules about when you can train your horses may be a factor. And the foal crop is having an absolute impact.

Dale Romans

That’s a good question. It’s above my pay grade. I’d say the reduction in foals every year. Also, it’s a lot more difficult to run a horse. More horses are scratched by veterinarians.

Barclay Tagg

The horses just aren’t as hardy as they used to be. Justify, he ran six times and he’s one of the leading sires in the country. And he didn’t start until his three-year-old season. You can’t do basic therapy anymore. These horses are athletes and you need to take care of them. You’ve got to be able to train your horses. They make it really hard. You can’t pinfire your horses’ shins. You can’t blister a horse any more. Horses don’t even feel that. It’s about the calmest thing you can do. They’ve got the wrong people making these decisions.

Wayne Catalano

It’s very simple. The foal crop has been down for a long time. It should be 40,000 (In 1990, it was 40,333; last year an estimated 17,200). Obviously, it’s going to catch up with us. Also, you’ve got the new ruling body. It’s a different game these days. You have people coming up that don’t know how to take care of horses.

Brian Lynch

Is it the foal crop? That would be my answer to that. There’s always concern that the tracks haven’t been the best. There have been more breakdowns than I’ve ever seen. More to the point, it’s the foal crop.

Mark Casse

I think it’s pretty simple. I run over a thousand starts a year. I have to enter over 3,500 times to do that. I would have 50 percent more starts if there were races for me. That tells you. I’m lucky because we have options. I can look at different tracks. But I can have 15 horses in my barn with no races for them.

When I first started, they didn’t publish every trainer’s statistics. They’re all worried about their percentages. Their horses stay in the barn. 

The other thing, in my opinion, the state programs have really hurt, and I’ll tell you why. Fifteen, maybe 20 years ago, I went to California, I never got a long maiden long race. The Cal-bred horses did. That’s another factor. 

Ron Ellis 

The truth is with HISA coming in and veterinary restrictions, we can’t run the horses as often as we used to. All the restrictions and all the veterinary requirements, including expensive scans we’re under now, are certainly one of the reasons. We have a lot more restrictions.

Karl Broberg

Golly, where do you begin? I was looking at the Fact Book last night, and what I was most concerned with was looking at foal crops by region. I began shaking my head. Every region is down. In the future, there’s only going to be racing in Kentucky and New York. It’s returning to the sport of kings. I think what’s missed, due to the economics, is that people are giving up on horses much quicker. That’s a huge factor. Also, there are fewer opportunities. 

Tom Proctor

Wow. You would need more than a sound bite. I’d be forever telling you why. I don’t have a say in how this business goes. There are people who win a zillion races and their opinions don’t matter.

#Soundbites - how can trainers improve racing's public perception / image?

Article by Bill Heller

Bruce Levine

Can you ask an easier question? The only thing I can say is, if more people came out in the morning to see a horse train, you’d get a better handle and feel on how fragile the horses are. When you run horses, injuries are going to happen. You watch football players, they don’t put them down, but they cart them off. Horses’ ankles are so much smaller. It’s a fact of life.

D. Wayne Lukas

I think that they should probably interact more with the general betting public and the fan base, and let the general betting public and fanbase know there are some real sound people training. Let them get to know personalities.

Richard Mandella

I would say that you have to deal with the public when you have a chance to, to explain what we do. Be as open as possible so we don’t keep training a secret, so that the public can appreciate what we do. It’s a very important question because we need to do everything we can to gain respect for the sport that we seem to be losing.
Mark Hennig

Do things the right way would be one thing. I think there’s a lot of negativity, especially in social media, but there are positives, too. Trainers can explain what goes on every day. We have so much love and care and admiration that goes into these horses. I don’t know if we do a good job getting that message out.

Mike Stidham

I think the most important thing is every trainer taking responsibility for his job to do the very best they can to keep the horses safe and healthy. Always do the right thing. Keep the horse first. Make the horse the priority. Because I think when you’re out in the public with people who don't know racing, they worry about horses dying. They see horses die. As trainers we don’t have total control over that, but we can make a difference by doing the right thing for the horses, giving them the benefit of the doubt. To me, that’s the most important thing. 

Mike Trombetta

You know, obviously that’s a good question. I think the answer to that is of all the things that happen in racing, the good majority are upbeat stories. In our world, too much emphasis is on the negative. Just watch the news. It’s horrible to watch. If something bad happens, you hear about it five minutes later. With racing, there’s a million good stories we never hear about. It’s not talked about quite enough. Perception is reality.

Tim Hills

Be more accessible to the people at the races and the media. We’re always full disclosure. We’re not hiding anything. We love what we do and we want to share it with anyone who wants to know.

#Soundbites - Which other trainer do you most admire on the backstretch, and why?

Article by Bill Heller

Bret Calhoun

Brendan Walsh

Wayne Lukas never ceases to amaze me. He’s out there every morning. He’s at the sales and still competing at the highest level. He’s a guy that amazes me.

Brendan Walsh

There are a lot of trainers on the backstretch that I admire for different things. Some are good with stakes horses. Some of them are good with young horses. There’s almost too many to mention. I don’t really want to name one.

Todd Fincher

The ones I admire the most are the ones who started in the grass roots and worked their way up and became successful. Most of those guys have a true love of horse racing. It’s not an easy profession. It’s an unending job. Those guys that fought through adversity are the ones that I admire most.

Peter Miller

There are a lot of them I admire. Here in Southern California, I admire Richard Mandella and John Sheriffs because they limit the number of horses they take. I can’t do that. I’m a horse junkie. I admire Brad Cox and Steve Asmussen because they run such a huge operation with success at all levels. That shows a lot of organizational skills as well as horsemen skills. They also know how to delegate. I don’t even know how they do it. You can also throw in Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown. I’m at 80 horses, and I’m at my wit’s end!

Gary Contessa

That is a no-brainer: Wayne Lukas. He revolutionized the entire racing industry, and people took his lead. He came to the East Coast, and he showed us how to talk to clients; showed us how to develop young horses; and showed us what a barn should be like. Look at the history. What trainer in America has developed more good trainers than he has? Nobody. He’s developed horses and people.

Ron Moquett

There’s a lot of people you admire for different reasons. Probably the older guys like Bernie Flint, Jinks Fires and Wayne Lukas. They’re forever evolving. To be involved in this business for so many years and compete at a high level, it’s impressive. They do it year after year.

Larry Rivelli

Larry Rivelli

Wesley Ward—because he’s one of the very few jockeys that have become successful trainers. A lot of them tried and failed. He didn’t. He’s at an elite level.

Why HISA matters - A farrier's perspective

Article by Mark Hickcox CF

I wrote the following article titled “Why HISA Matters” for the February/March 2023 issue of No Foot, No Horse, the American Farrier’s Association newsletter magazine. This is one farrier’s perspective of HISA shoeing regulations written to other farriers. The majority of AFA members do not plate racehorses exclusively, but might hear about HISA horseshoe regulations and have questions regarding the effect on the farrier industry. The raceplater farriers are well aware of the effects and confusion surrounding HISA shoeing regulations and are doing their best to stay up to date with the track-specific rules and enforcement that are vastly differing from state to state. Track stewards and paddock blacksmiths have been given no HISA-specific measurement training, updated enforcement guidelines, or detailed specifications other than the non-enforcement on dirt announcement on July 29, 2022. 

Farrier industry or racetrack jargon regarding traction devices and shoe modifications can be confusing and subjective even among a group of farriers. Here’s the scenario: HISA and a group of horsemen are making a decision on a toe grab length that may vary less than the thickness of a dime, based on studies that have never been conducted because the shoe to test this toe grab hasn’t been manufactured, nor can they recognize a front shoe from a hind shoe, this does not set them up for success. The farrier industry is willing to be the experts in the room for such an occasion but weren’t invited for a collective comment until the regulations were well over 6 months old.

In 2023, it seems that HISA has bigger fish to fry, and legal rulings will take precedence over a horseshoe regulation specifications guide or clarification of the process of enforcement, in general. So, when will we see the non-enforcement announcement rescinded? We don’t know. Will the farrier industry be consulted in advance of the next decision to make sure that the shoes being specified will exist this time? We don’t know. Who, what, when, where, and how will enforcement happen at each racetrack and training facility? We don’t know. Are the rumors of new types of injuries due to a lack of traction? We don’t know. 

I have to believe that HISA administration will decide that they should speak with and listen to the Farrier Industry Association; the members include: the farriers, the companies that make the horseshoes, and the supply houses that stock and sell them to the farriers. After all, the title of the AFA magazine should remind them that it’s No Foot, No Horse.

WHY HISA MATTERS

You may have heard from a raceplater friend or seen a post somewhere about new shoeing regulations for Thoroughbred horse racing in the U.S. Most farriers would say it doesn’t affect them because they don’t work on race horses. True, the new law won’t change how most farriers shoe horses today. The new law may have a far greater reach however, by introducing government regulations to farriers and the farrier industry.

United States farriers are a pretty self-regulating bunch of individuals historically. Our education, certification, and proficiency under the horse are not something that is mandated to be a farrier. Whether it’s your full-time career or a skill that you possess to make some extra money, your business is your business. Other countries have laws that govern farriery, and you cannot apply a device to a horse’s hoof without attaining qualified farrier credentials. These regulations are always created for protecting horse welfare and come with a price for someone seeking qualified farrier status. This article is not meant to argue the merits of qualification, certification, education, continuing education, etc. Opinions vary, and agreement is not necessary in regards to HISA, but HISA is a law that does reach into the farrier industry nonetheless.

HISA is the acronym for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, and it was created when the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act was signed into law in 2020.

“HISA is responsible for drafting and enforcing uniform safety and integrity rules in thoroughbred racing in the U.S. Overseen by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HISA was created to implement, for the first time, a national, uniform set of rules applicable to every thoroughbred racing participant and racetrack facility. HISA is comprised of two programs: the Racetrack Safety Program, which goes into effect July 1, 2022, and the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, which will go into effect in January 2023.” 

“The Racetrack Safety Program includes operational safety rules and national racetrack accreditation standards that seek to enhance equine welfare and minimize equine and jockey injury. The Program will expand veterinary oversight, impose surface maintenance and testing requirements, enhance jockey safety, regulate riding crop use, and implement voided claim rules, among other important measures.”

Most often, horseshoers are the first to notice an issue with a horse’s health that may need veterinary intervention. We are horse men and women that care about an animal’s well-being when they are in our care. We can be held liable for issues related to our services and can keep horse owners up to date with best practices regarding the care of their horse. The service that farriers provide can be life changing, with regard to soundness, and life-saving, with regard to lameness, in many instances. This role is sometimes overlooked by the outside world because we “just shoe horses.” Our products and services can be lumped into a commodity purchase of goods and a service.

Unfortunately for HISA, implementation of the new shoeing regulation has demonstrated that the farrier industry (as a whole) is large, diverse, and multi-faceted just like other industries in our country. We have farriers as the end-user of products purchased from suppliers that are manufactured around the world by many companies that specialize in highly engineered pieces of steel and aluminum. Manufacturing processes require months of planning for raw materials, energy, transportation, labor, packaging, and distribution before a product gets on a supplier’s shelf—in all sizes and shapes necessary. This meant that a shoeing regulation approved by the Federal Trade Commission on March 4, 2022, that affects all racing or training Thoroughbred race horses in the U.S. on July 1, 2022, was idealistic at best. I’m sure that when it was published in the Federal Register on January 5, 2022, it seemed pretty simple.

2276. Horseshoes

(a) Except for full rims 2 millimeters or less from the ground surface of the Horseshoe, traction devices are prohibited on forelimb and hindlimb Horseshoes during racing and training on dirt or synthetic racing tracks.

(b) Traction devices are prohibited on forelimb and hindlimb Horseshoes

(c) Traction devices include but are not limited to rims, toe grabs, bends, jar calks and stickers.

Again, I know that a lot of farriers don’t shoe racehorses. This law will not affect how you shoe horses today, but then I read the following in this magazine:

“Purportedly, bar shoes, pads, glue on shoes, quarter crack patches may only be applied by a covered veterinarian. Those official regulations, however, will come in another phase of the bill.”

This is why we should all care. If the government can pass and implement a law that defines what we can nail on a horse’s hoof in any discipline of equine competition, then it can do it in all of them. This isn’t alarmist rhetoric to start fights or anarchy; it is information to attempt to protect our whole industry: manufacturers, suppliers and farriers. HISA still has legal challenges to clear, enforcement issues to fix, and a newly formed horsemen’s advisory council to blend into the decision-making process. Farriers and other farrier industry professionals should be consulted moving forward because our connection to elite equine athletes is often understated but cannot be ignored. Remember, a lot of folks think that it’s “just shoeing horses.” 

How do I stay informed/get involved?

• Keep advocating for our industry as a small business owner in your community: Chamber of Commerce member, high school trade fair booth, 4-H or pony club demonstration, equine emergency services volunteer, ag community organizations, etc. Remember, your business is your business!

• Stay involved in farrier industry organizations: clinics, contests, certifications, trade shows, supplier’s open house, hammer-ins, virtual education opportunities

• Be aware of industry changes/regulations: multi-discipline knowledge, state laws, federal laws, litigation affecting our industry, new products/technology

• Grass roots activism: Write an email or a letter to political leaders, start a  hoofcare education group for horse owners, improve farrier/vet relations in your coverage area, write an article, publish a yearly farrier newsletter for your clients. 

• Ride-along days: “The hardest door to open is the passenger side of someone else’s farrier truck.”

• Spend one day at a farrier school: Explaining how you do something is a great way to re-evaluate your own work process.

Did you know?

1. The American Farrier’s Association is a member of the American Horse Council. AHC is the only organization that represents the entire horse industry in Washington, DC.

2. The American Veterinary Medical Association spent over $860,000 per year since 2017 as their total lobbying expenditure and had 15 paid lobbyists in 2022.

3. Only 5% of U.S. veterinarians practice on large animals.

4. In 1978, Ada Gates became the first female farrier to become licensed to shoe Thoroughbred racehorses in the U.S. and Canada.

5. The International Union of Journeyman Horseshoers (IUJH) was established in the U.S. in 1874 (also known as the Heavy Horse Union).

6. If you Google “horseshoe regulations,” all results on the first page are about the game.

#Soundbites - What do you look for when you evaluate a yearling at sales, and are there sire lines that influence your opinions?

Linda Rice

Linda Rice

I look for a good shoulder, and usually that will transcend into a great walk, an athletic walk. I do that for the length of stride. I like to buy young mares. Of course I have preference for some stallions I have had success with like City Zip. And then stallions everybody likes: sons of Into Mischief, sons of Curlin, sons of McLain’s Music. I’ve done well with them. If they have a great shoulder and a great walk, I’ll take a shot on an unproven stallion.

Brad Cox

The first thing, from a physical standpoint, is you have to consider his size. Is he too big or too small? As far as sire lines, you’re looking for signs. You totally have to have an idea what the yearling will look like. Will he look like his sire? You pay attention.

Graham Motion

Graham Motion

I think many of us get influenced by stallions’ progeny that we have trained before. There are other ones that we avoid if we haven’t done well with a sire’s prodigy. I think the one thing I look for is athleticism in general. I’m not overly critical of conformation.

John Sadler

John Sadler

We’re looking primarily for dirt pedigrees for California. I have a good idea what works here, what doesn’t  work  here. Obviously, I’m partial to some of the sires I trained, Twirling Candy, Accelerate, and Catalina Cruiser who’s off to a very fast start. On the conformation side, I look for a well-conformed horse that looks like an athlete. As an experienced trainer, you look for any little things. You learn what you can live with or without. Then, obviously, I’m looking for Flightlines in a couple of years!

Simon Callaghan

Simon Callaghan

Generally, I’m looking for an athlete first and foremost. Conformation and temperament are two major factors. Yes, there are sire lines I like—not one specific one. Certainly it’s a relatively small group.

Tom Albertrani

Tom Albertrani

I’m not a big sales guy, but when I do go, I like to look at the pedigree first. Then I look for the same things as everyone else. Balance is important. I like to see a horse that’s well-balanced, and I like nicely muscle-toned hindquarters.

Michael Matz

One of the things, first of all, is I look at the overall picture and balance. We always pick apart their faults, then what things that are good for them. You look for the balance, then if they’re a young yearling or an older yearling. Those are some of the things I look at. If you like one, you go ahead. There are certain sires if you have had luck with them before. It all depends on what the yearling looks like. I would say the biggest things I look at are their balance and their attitude. When you see them come out and walk, sometimes I like to touch them around the ear to see how they react to that. That shows if they’re an accepting animal.

Alan F. Balch - Elephants

Article by Alan F. Balch

Among my earliest childhood memories is loving elephants. As soon as I first laid eyes on them in the San Diego Zoo, I was fixated. I still am. Not too long ago, at its relatively new Safari Park, I stood for an hour watching these pachyderms of all ages in their new enormous enclosure, enjoying a massive water feature. Now, every time I fire up YouTube, it knows of my interest; I am immediately fed the latest in elephant news and entertainment.

Right up there with horses and racing.

You probably know, however, that you’ll never see elephants in a major American circus anymore. No more elephant riding, either. Even that is endangered in parts of the world where it goes back centuries, along with forest work. Zoos now breed their own.

Which brings me to the difference between animal welfare and animal “rights,” which is the crux of the problem horse racing faces everywhere it still exists, not to mention all horses in sport.

Owing to many, many factors, animals in our contemporary world have increasingly and vocally been portrayed as having rights, just like humans. (Or as humans should, we might more exactly say.) Even some of the more moderate organizations that oppose horse racing couch their fundamental opposition in the bogus claim that there is no critical difference among species, human and non-human (just as there is none among races of humans) . . . that to believe there is such a difference is to be “speciesist.” Which, to our enemies, is at par with racist on the continuum of odious and repulsive.

Truth be told (not particularly important for those who would destroy equine sport), there are in fact critically important differences between species, and types of sentient beings.

The most critical is that only humans among all species can conceive of the very notions of welfare and conservation! Other sentient beings cannot, even if they experience rudimentary “feelings.” Nor can they conceptualize their own welfare, let alone of the welfare of other animals or sentient beings. Only humans can make intellectual choices.  Don’t these simple irrefutable facts order the species, in favor of humans over all others?

Humans formed the first (and only) animal welfare organizations. Animals didn’t. Humans developed conservation. Animals didn’t. Humans developed veterinary medicine, not animals, as well as genetics, domesticated breeding programs, and on and on.

For better or worse, humans also discovered and elaborated anthropomorphism . . . the attribution of human behavior or characteristics to animals. Insects. Or objects. The world now has humanistic talking and thinking animals of virtually every description—crickets and ants, and even cars, machines, weapons, and airplanes. We think nothing of it, do we? Yet it tempts us—dangerously—to consider all of those as members of our own family.

To do so is fantasyland.  “Alternate realities and facts,” products of humans, are counters to objective truth. They threaten all humans. And, therefore, all animals. This kind of “intelligence” is not just artificial, it’s destructive. Its potential ramifications are frightening, to any human capable of fear. Would anyone like to see a “friendly” nuclear weapon arrive? Nor can I forget the three young jokesters in 2007 who thought a tiger in a San Francisco zoo might be fun to provoke—until she killed one of them.

The anthropomorphist or vegan humans who hate racing and all organized activities with non-humans (including pet owning), which they claim must require the animals’ “informed consent,'' seriously threaten the future of all equine sport. They have captured the attention of the world’s media; they capitalize on the contemporary and widespread emotion that animals are part of our own family, exploiting any relatively rare incident of abuse or sheer accident as a reflection on the whole of sport. The media embraces and embellishes the controversy without understanding the dangers of its origin.

Sadly, it is we who have bred these elephants in our room.  Even though horse racing above all other equestrian activities has advanced the equine standard of care and veterinary medicine immeasurably and inexorably—for centuries now, worldwide, that exceptional standard has collided with market economics and human greed, to the detriment of the race horse—imperiling the very sport itself.  We have increasingly been breeding potential unsoundness to unsoundness for at least half a century, then disguising and possibly amplifying conformation defects with cosmetic surgeries. And we wonder why our horses are more fragile?!

In America, our breed registry’s grandees have looked everywhere but in the mirror for the sport’s villains. In so doing, they have invited, stimulated, and even enhanced horse racing’s growing disrepute. They have cast blame for our woes on trainers, veterinarians, therapeutic medications, track operators, state regulators, and even the bedrock of American law—due process—but not on themselves. Their new, elaborate, often indecipherable enormity of national rules wrongly purport to address every potential weakness in the sport. But not weakness in the breed itself, for which they themselves must be held responsible.

The aim of breeding a better horse is the foundation of horsemanship. Or it should be. By “better,” for a couple hundred years, we meant both more durable and more tenacious for racing—racing as a test of stamina, substance, and soundness. “Commercial” breeding, for the sake of breeding itself and financial return at sales, not to mention glory at two and three, with quick retirement to repeat the cycle, is failing the breed itself. Obviously.

Our sport’s aristocrats, who are so fascinated with the efficacy of their new rules, have long needed a look at their mirrors. Let’s see if they can also regulate their own house—registration, breeding, selling—developing effective deterrence to and prohibitions on the perpetuation of fragility and unsoundness. Can they incentivize breeding for racing, to test substance and stamina? 

That’s the elephant in our room: the critical, fundamental need to breed a sounder horse. 

Opinion: Earle Mack - No More Dirt

Earle Mack

In the wake of the tragic deaths of 12 horses at Churchill Downs, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has called for an emergency summit. This presents both a moment of leadership for HISA and an important test for the independent directors of the Churchill Downs Corporation to protect shareholder interests and ensure the survival of the entire horse racing industry. They must step up and meet the moment or step down. This can be achieved by ending dirt racing in America and transitioning to synthetic surfaces.

These heartbreaking events in recent weeks have forced the horse racing industry to confront a harsh reality. On average, two Thoroughbred horses lose their lives every day on U.S. tracks. If we fail to take decisive action, the Triple Crown and horse racing itself may soon be mourned as relics of the past.  Animal rights groups, emboldened by each equine death, are gaining traction in their campaign against horse racing. The calls to ban or severely restrict the sport grow louder with each life lost. We cannot afford to lose this race for the soul and survival of our sport.

Tradition holds great power in our sport, with our most prestigious races historically being run on dirt tracks. However, the stark and troubling statistics demand a shift in thinking. We must abandon old norms and embrace new practices that prioritize the safety and welfare of our noble equine athletes.  The benefits of synthetic tracks are not mere conjecture; they are a proven truth. Their superior safety record and fewer injuries make their adoption not just an option but an ethical imperative.

Skeptics may argue that altering the character of the Triple Crown races would alienate fans. However, declining attendance at Thoroughbred races tells a different story. Fans are turning their backs on a sport they once adored, disheartened by the undeniable fact that their entertainment comes at a deadly price. When other sports have bravely evolved to improve safety and gameplay, we must question why horse racing clings to traditions that increasingly prove deadly.

Certainly, progress has been made. Since 2009, fatal injuries during races have declined by 37.5%. But when we consider that synthetic tracks have been proven to be three times safer than dirt tracks, it becomes glaringly apparent that we have only scratched the surface of what we must achieve. We have solid evidence, compelling data, and a clear path forward. It is time we summon the courage and resolve to embark on this path. Ironically, despite their proven safety record, synthetic tracks are in decline. This is primarily because our marquee Triple Crown events remain steadfastly tied to dirt. The stubborn adherence to tradition in our industry's pinnacle races is a disparity we can no longer afford. Shifting the surface of the Triple Crown to synthetic would be a revolutionary step, igniting an industry-wide transformation and ensuring a safer, fairer field for our equine athletes.

This is where the independent directors of the Churchill Downs Corporation can make a historic difference. Independent directors have played a crucial role in preserving shareholder value and rebuilding consumer trust for some of the world's largest companies.

In 2015, Volkswagen faced a scandal involving emissions test cheating, leading to the resignation of the company's CEO and the appointment of a new board of directors, the majority of whom were independent. The new board took swift action to address the scandal, and Volkswagen is now working to rebuild its reputation.

In 2017, companies such as Uber and The Weinstein Company appointed independent directors to address workplace harassment following a series of scandals in that regard.

In 2018, companies like Equifax and Marriott appointed independent directors to improve their cybersecurity measures after experiencing a series of data breaches.

Today, the challenges facing both the Churchill Downs Corporation and our industry provide an opportunity for its independent directors to lead by proactively and boldly addressing the crisis of equine safety instead of reacting to a growing regulatory and societal movement to ban the sport.

That is why I am calling on the independent directors of the Churchill Downs Corporation, Daniel P. Harrington, MBA, CPA, Ulysses Lee Bridgeman Jr., and Robert L. Fealy, CPA, to get on board today and publicly support this change.

The responsibility lies with horse racing's governing bodies, influential race track directors, and all key stakeholders to rally behind a transition to synthetic tracks. Their public endorsement and commitment to safer racing conditions would signal the beginning of the transformative change our industry desperately needs. But Churchill Downs Corporation must lead the way.

Fortunately, we are not without hope. NYRA's Belmont Track, a vital component of the Triple Crown, is already leading by example, planning to install a synthetic track for its 2024 spring meet. This serves as the spark we need to ignite a safety revolution.

Next year marks the historic 150th anniversary of the Kentucky Derby. This milestone should be more than a nostalgic reflection on the past; it should be a fervent pledge for a safer future. A future where our sport remains a thrilling spectacle but also evolves into a beacon of safety, integrity, and respect for our equine athletes.

The prestigious Triple Crown races–the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness S., and the Belmont S.–now stand on the edge of a daunting, dark abyss. Each life lost serves as a deafening alarm, signaling that change is urgently needed and indeed horse racing as a whole hangs in the balance. We owe it to our equine athletes, our loyal fans, and future generations to ensure that our sport does not crumble into a mournful memory of bygone times.

We stand at the threshold of a monumental shift. Our response to this crisis must be immediate, bold, and unwavering. The clarion call for a race towards a safer future is sounding. Switching surfaces will mean fewer breakdowns and fewer drugs in the sports. Let us answer this call with the courage and determination our horses display every time they take to the track.

This is our defining moment. Let us ensure that the Triple Crown not only continues to sparkle with excitement and glory, but also radiates a renewed commitment to the safety and well-being of our equine companions. The reins of the future of horse racing are in our hands. We must grasp them firmly and steer our sport towards a safer, more responsible era. The heart of horse racing beats in the chest of every horse that runs for us; let us honor them by championing a sport that safeguards their lives.

#Soundbites - How closely do you follow your veterinarian’s advice if it conflicts with your gut feeling about your horse?

Article by Bill Heller

Bruce Brown

         That’s a good question. I usually have a good enough relationship with my vets. I really trust their judgment. It seems like nowadays there aren’t many vets who would do something you don’t want, something that you really don’t need, whatever it takes to get a horse in a race. That’s not in our game anymore. I have in my head what I think, but usually it matches well with my vets. 

Kelly Breen

I probably use a vet’s recommendation, maybe 85 percent of the time. I have gone against their recommendation because of my gut. Usually, my gut is the right answer. For sure, there are times when my gut is wrong. But sometimes the scientific answer is not always correct. Generally, the advice given from the vet is the textbook version, and not everything is textbook in horse racing.

Charlie Baker

Well, if it conflicts with my gut feeling, percentage wise, I would say 65 percent I’d follow the vet. It all depends on the situation. Is it one I’ve dealt with in the past? If so, I would use my experience, especially if it’s a younger vet, one fresh out of school. If I’m totally confident in my vet, I listen to him.

Carla Gaines

That’s a good question. You always want to do what’s best for the horse. You kind of have to go along with the veterinarian. These days, with just being way more cautious—not that it was irrelevant before—if you have a gut feeling that a horse is fine, you still do diagnostics to make sure your horse is fine.

Ian Wilkes

Ian Wilkes

You talk to him. Common sense prevails.

Burl McBride

  I stick with my gut feeling, but I do trust my vets because I can’t see an X-ray. I can’t see an ultrasound. I’m pretty opinionated. These horses will talk to you if you listen. 

Leonard Powell

A lot of times, I would use the vet for a sounding board. I’d really consider his opinion. Ninety-ninety percent of the time we come to a consensus.

Tom Proctor

I don’t ask a veterinarian for advice. I have a license. They have a license.

#Soundbites - if you ran racing, what would you do?

Article by Bill Heller

Kenny McPeek

Kenny McPeek

I’d make it easier for fans to watch. I just think it’s very difficult. You have to open an account or have a credit card or get a satellite dish. The restrictions are constricting our ability to grow the sport. If you don’t live in one of 38 racing starts, [you] can’t open an ADW account. We make it too difficult for the fans.

Tom Amoss

Wow. I would make mandatory, random blood testing for all stables and barns; and I would do that immediately. What I’m saying is that the problem with racing today is we only test on race day. We’re not catching people who break the rules. We have to test the barns other days.

Kathleen O’Connell

Kathleen O’Connell

Stop the overkill with rules and regulations. Some of them don’t even make sense. The federal government stepped in. It’s too much. It needs to be more organized and organized by horse people. Say a horse ships in to me from another state. The racetrack wants the serial number for the vaccine from the other state. Some of these things are impossible. It’s just going to cause more trauma. The other thing is that licensing has become so difficult for owners. Fingerprints from every state. It puts a damper on things. My owners are not happy with the bookkeeping system. They’re chasing people from the business by putting a bad taste in their mouths. I would definitely change that.

Jamie Ness

That’s a tough one. Obviously, the horses come first. To me, the bettors and the owners are the people who put this sport on. These are the people we have to take care of. I think we’re regulating ourselves out of business—more rules, more rules, more hoops. And the people holding the bag are the owners and the trainers. I have a couple new owners. The license process is difficult. They can’t claim a horse if they haven’t run one. How do they get into the business?

John Servis

John Servis

Wow. I think I’d have to hit the lottery to afford doing everything I wanted to do. Random testing across the board. I think I would try to make it a little bit more friendly for the fans: less takeout, maybe some more gimmicks. They seem to be doing very well.

Al Stall

I would make adjustments according to the declining foal crop. It seems like horse populations are getting cannibalized by overlapping races and overlapping dates. It’s simple math. Twenty-five years ago, we had close to 30,000 foals; and now we’re below 20,000 roughly. That would help the horses, which is the most important thing; then the horsemen and owners.

Mitch Friedman

It’s a good question. I would listen to the horse people—ask trainers for their opinions more. Ask the trainers what you think of the track every day. I would give more input to people who are on the backside every day with the horses. More input for exercise riders, grooms, clockers and vets, every day. Then meet every week with management and have them discuss that.

Alan Balch - Remembering where we come from

Victor Espinoza photo

Like so many of us in racing, I’ve been horse crazy my entire life.

Some of my earliest memories are being on my dad’s shoulders, going through the livestock barns at the San Diego County Fair, and then lighting up when we got to the horse show . . . which, back then, was located just outside the turn at Del Mar into the backstretch, at the old 6-furlong start, long before the chute was extended to 7/8. All their horse barns back then were the original adobe, open to the public during the fair, and we could walk down the shed rows talking to the horses, petting those noses and loving the stable smells.

At least I did. My mom was appalled, of course.

She assumed, I’m certain, that I would grow out of my weird fixation. But the way those things go at certain ages, the more I was discouraged, the more obsessed I became. The fact that our family was decidedly not elite in any respect, certainly not educationally or financially, became a great opportunity for me to work at what I loved the most: taking care of the horses, to begin with, and camping at the barn whenever possible. At first, I wasn’t getting paid at all—except in getting to learn to ride by watching and listening and then riding my favorite horses without having to rent them. Lessons were out of the question.

I gradually learned that the people who owned and showed and raced horses had to have the money to do it, and being able to do that myself was beyond my imagination. I don’t remember ever caring. Nor do I remember ever being mistreated because of my lowly station. In fact, it was a great bonus for me to get out of school at times to travel to shows and live in a tack room in the stables. And, as I grew older, to start getting paid actual wages for my work.

Making it through college and graduate school without having to wash dishes in the dining hall led to my loving equestrian sport in a different way and at a much different level—especially when I met Robert Strub at the Forum International Horse Show in Los Angeles (which I was managing while attending school). He offered me a position at Santa Anita. 

Elite equestrian sport, racing and non-racing alike, became the rest of my distinctly non-elite life. And, I venture to say, my fellow non-elites in these sports vastly outnumber the elites. 

Almost all trainers, jockeys and racing labor on the backstretch, who make the game go from hour to hour, day to day, month to month, and year to year, weren’t elite when they started out, at least by any definition except the one that counts: their merit, their specialized skills, and their commitment to horses and the sport. I remember how moved I was a decade ago when one of international racing’s most elite trainers got choked up when describing how it felt to be appointed a director of an esteemed racing association. “I’m just a trainer,” he said, as though his accomplishments and expertise didn’t qualify him to rub shoulders and contribute to deliberations alongside wealthy and powerful elite decision-makers. They did. And they do.

In this greatest of all sports . . . where the interdependence of all its critical components is its essence . . . elites of accomplishment and merit, like him, comfortably perform alongside all the other elites, including those of birth, inherited or self-made wealth and royalty.

Horses have brought us all together, and many of us have been lucky enough to know—and be appreciated by—some of the world’s most famous personages.

So it was when Victor Espinoza, the self-proclaimed “luckiest Mexican on Earth,” won the Triple Crown, and later had occasion to meet and joke with Queen Elizabeth II at Royal Ascot. Doesn’t his story sum it up? And remind most of us where we came from?

The eleventh of twelve children, born on a dairy farm in Tulancingo, Hidalgo, growing up to work in a manufacturing plant and the stables, Victor drove a bus to pay for jockey school. Anyone who has endured Mexico City traffic knows the elite skills that must have been required! He aspired to more; his skill and determination resulted in successes reserved for the very fewest of the world’s top athletes. As the famed Dr. Robert Kerlan – who treated athletes at the highest levels of every major sport – once observed, “pound for pound, jockeys are the greatest.”

When honored by the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation, which has raised over $6 million from the racing community in 20 years—of which 98% is dedicated to backstretch programs including scholarships for its children—Victor again cited his luck in achieving what he has without much school, as well as his amazement at the Gregson’s success in its scholarship program. Hundreds of backstretch community children have gone to college because of it—in fields ranging from mechanical engineering to biology, nursing, graphic design, criminal justice, life sciences, sociology and everything else.  

A few are now even among the world’s elites in architecture and medicine. The backstretch teaches tenacity.  

And isn’t that just one reason why her late Majesty the Queen loved horses, racing, and its community, above all her other pursuits?