New York Racing Toughens Stand on Horse Slaughter

A chestnut Thoroughbred Mare currently on a feedlot in New Jersey, is a tattooed, ex-racer earned over $ 77,000 and is a direct descendant of Secretariat.





The New York Racing Association in a published release last Thursday, announced an official anti-slaughter policy that would introduce harsh penalties for offending horsemen. The policy would also encourage horsemen to use and support horse rescue and retirement adoptive initiatives as a recourse to sending a horse to a feedlot (knowingly or unknowingly).





According to NYRA policy any owner-trainer stabled at a New York Racing Association (NYRA) track found to have directly or indirectly sold a horse for slaughter will have their stalls permanently revoked from all New York tracks.





"We are fully committed to protecting our sport's equine athletes" said NYRA president, Charles Hayward.





Other tracks have stated similar policies, however there remains little enforcement as horses every day are sent to feedlots. Currently in New Jersey (see photo above) there are three, tattooed thoroughbreds along with a couple standardbreds. In California last Saturday, six tattooed thoroughbreds were on the lot. Several yearlings from a commercial breeder where found on the lot as well. Each state can site a tattooed, ex-racer on their lots at any given time.





The language of NYRA's policy may have a loophole in it that a horsemen could stand by, and that is stating that a horse is "sold" for slaughter. Often times an offending (or again an unwitting owner or trainer) stand by their innocence due to "giving away" a horse. The three degrees of separation is evoked often when a rescue or retirement group calls a former, owner, trainer or breeder of a located horse.





While I applaud all racing associations and race tracks that take a stance against slaughter of the very horses that employ them, I am curious how each of these tracks is actually enforcing their stances?.

Nationwide 15 race tracks have adopted no-tolerance policies that bar owners and trainers. However, the vague intrepretation and the lack of transparency into these policies by interested groups, such as The Second Race when requested, leaves public knowledge and enforcement of these same policies, difficult at best.





Time well tell, in the meantime, the thoroughbred on this page desperately needs to be saved. Her "sands of time" runs out on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EST. Donations can be sent via PayPal to workingforthem@gmail.com

POST SCRIPT: I received word today 12/13/09 at 9:49 a.m. PST, that all of the horses that were at the auction, were saved. Including the chestnut mare. This was accomplished by using social networking sites such as Facebook, and networking emails. The sole reason for creating The Second Race, was to harness technology and the modern way we communicate, to save and help horses. Glad that this one had a happy ending!

New York Racing Association & Other Groups Pledge Support to Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation

July 9, 2009 (Edited Press Release)

INDUSTRY GROUPS ANNOUNCE PLEDGES TO THOROUGHBRED RETIREMENT FOUNDATION
The New York Racing Association (NYRA) and many members of the Jockeys’ Guild who ride at its three racetracks, along with the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (NYTHA) and The Jockey Club, have jointly pledged more than $100,000 in financial support in 2009 to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF), which provides humane retirement options for Thoroughbreds at the end of their racing careers, it was announced today. NYRA will contribute $50,000 while NYTHA and The Jockey Club will donate $25,000 each. All 29 of the regular NYRA-based riders have pledged to donate, through a voluntary checkoff program, $1 from each mount.“This is an example of industry stakeholders working together to do the right thing for the welfare of racehorses when they can no longer race,” said Diana Pikulski, executive director of the TRF. “We are very grateful to NYRA, NYTHA, The Jockey Club and the Jockeys’ Guild and we would encourage organizations and individuals at other racing circuits around the country to follow their example.”“This is an interim step while the New York racing community works out a more comprehensive and detailed plan to deal with this issue,” said Hal Handel, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NYRA. “We want to have something in place that we can all be proud of.”“We make our living because of these horses,” said John Velazquez, four-time leading NYRA jockey. “Because of that, we love to be a big part of helping out with retired horses and enabling them to be better cared for.”“After the situation with the Paraneck horses, I felt strongly that we needed to do something to make sure these horses are well taken care of after their racing careers,” said Richard Migliore, a fixture of the NYRA jockey colony. “They give us so much that it is really important we try and take care of them when they are done racing.”The NYRA jockeys’ donations will be retroactive to June 27.
“Regardless of the amount raised through the checkoff, we will guarantee our $100,000 matching donation to each of those two charities,” said Alan Marzelli, president of The Jockey Club. “In so doing, we will earmark $25,000 of the contribution to TRF for this New York-based effort.”The Jockeys’ Guild is an organization that was formed and is governed by Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse jockeys who ride throughout the United States .
Founded in 1983, the TRF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to retiring Thoroughbred racehorses after they are finished racing. TRF operates retraining and adoption facilities and satellite farms across the country as well as vocational training in equine care for inmates at nine correctional facilities nationwide. TRF currently maintains approximately 1,800 horses. Additional information is available at trfinc.org.