Nearly 20,000 thoroughbred foals are born every year, according to the Thoroughbred Daily News. Only 20 will go to the Kentucky Derby.
What to do with former racehorses is a concern of many in the racing industry. Adoption groups like ReRun and New Vocations, along with the Retired Racehorse Project, work hard to prepare these sensitive beauties for new careers, hopefully matching them with new, forever homes.
Two Fulton area horse trainers, Gretchen Pani and her student, Alyssa Mathis, will travel to Kentucky Horse Park in early October to compete their off-the-track thoroughbreds. Both are primarily hunter/jumper riders, but Pani is taking her chestnut gelding, Malone's Empire, in a different direction.
"We'll be doing (competitive) trail and (working) ranch horse at the makeover," she said this week.
This won't be her first "rodeo," however.
"This is my third makeover," Pani said. "I did the first one in 2016."
Mathis will compete her mare, Jazzi Maria, in show hunter and show jumper, she said.
To give some perspective on the enormity of this event: Imagine a horse show with 794 accepted trainers who include four-star eventers, dressage riders who have earned their U.S. Dressage Federation Gold Medals, A-circuit hunter riders, grand prix show jumpers, high-goal polo players, decorated barrel racers, and other equestrians. This year, these trainers will represent 40 states and the District of Columbia, plus three Canadian provinces.
The application process for the 2018 Thoroughbred Makeover requires trainers to demonstrate their skills and expertise through competition results, videos and references. They are evaluated by a selection committee.
Some trainers bring two horses. They compete in one or more disciplines: barrels, competitive trail, dressage, eventing, field hunters, polo, ranch work, show hunters, show jumpers and freestyle. At the end of the competition, some of the horses will be for sale, and all are vying for the top spot: America's most-wanted thoroughbred.
Malone's story
Malone's Empire, age 5, last raced Sept. 23 at Belterra Park in Cincinnati.
"He finished seventh," Pani said.
In total, Malone had eight races, no wins, and won $809. He comes from a long line of fast, famous racehorses, including Native Dancer, Storm Cat and Secretariat.
"His sire was Thunder Gulch," Pani said, the 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner. "He was bred to run, but didn't."
His life might have made a wrong turn after his former owner surrendered him to a racetrack in Kentucky. A veterinarian with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kandace Brooke DeWitt DeBolt, came to Malone's rescue, finding him a place to crash while looking for a new owner. Another series of events and generous people furnished him with a good farrier and a trailer ride to a place where Pani could pick him up.
"He came off the track with a tendon issue that's been properly rehabbed, and he's cleared for all activity," Pani added.
Jazzi's story
Mathis, 21, obtained her mare, Jazzi, in December from American Star Racing Stables in Illinois.
"Her last race was November 26, 2016," Mathis said. "She raced at Hawthorne and Arlington."
Both of those racetracks are in the Chicago area. Jazzi had eight starts and one win, earning $10,990.
Her sire, Jazil, raced in the 2006 Kentucky Derby (fourth) but then won the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown.
Originally from St. Charles, Mathis is a fourth-year student at William Woods University, majoring in equine general studies and art. This will be the second makeover for Mathis, an adult amateur, who went with her other horse, Lionel, in 2016. She and Lionel came in 27th out of 60-some competitors in one class.
Mathis rides as much as she can.
"At the makeover, my goal is to place in the top 10 in either discipline," she said of hunters and jumpers. "I decided I won't move on to the next discipline until after placing in the top 10."
Mathis laughed, "I'll be here for awhile, jumping sticks."
Going with some experience under their belts is a confidence builder.
"Doesn't it seem easier once you've done it once?" Pani asked Mathis.
Mathis agreed, adding of her mare, "She's a lot smarter than Lionel."
Both women said they were about 7 years old when they started riding.
"My dad was an Air Force pilot and he got me riding lessons," she said.
Riding was something Pani could continue, no matter where the family moved.
"There's never been a time when I haven't been into horses," she added.
In 1994, Pani graduated from William Woods with a degree in equestrian science, and then she got married. The next February, she and her husband, Doug, bought Maplewood Farm, just north of Fulton.
"We had no ring, and just the old red barn; it didn't have any stalls," she said.
A second barn with a tack room was built, along with a legitimate arena and multiple paddocks. She boards horses for students and other people, trains at several barns, and continues to ride and train hunters and jumpers.
"I have an eventing background," Pani said. "I also spent two or three years breaking (western futurity) horses for people."
At the 2016 makeover, Pani took Chuck's Turn and competed in field hunters, taking fifth.
"It's like a mock fox hunt with hounds and 30 other racehorses that raced, like, yesterday," she said, laughing.
In 2017, Pani and her horse Emile took fourth place in competitive trail out of 68 competitors. She also competed in jumping with Saylers Creek.
There are strict rules to this competition. The horse has to have been raced or worked at a track within a prescribed time period. It has to be a thoroughbred, and there are rules as to when retraining begins. The reason: To create an even playing field.
"So you have to start over every year with a new horse," Pani added. "It forces you to stretch a little bit and look at the horse in a different way."
Pani is already thinking about next year.
"I would like to do all 10 disciplines at the makeover eventually," she said, adding she's eyeballing polo and barrel racing in 2019.
All in all, the point of the exercise is to show people former racers can have new careers so they don't wind up in unfortunate circumstances - or worse. However, some horses find that accomplishment easier than others.
"It's tough," Pani said. "They're coming out of the track environment, and you have to give them about two months off in the field."
Sometimes, it's more than two months before they're ready for new training. The adjustment period can difficult for many off-the-track horses.
"Their feet fall apart. I've seen their tails fall out, just because of the change in environment," Pani added. "Emile was what you call a war horse. He raced through his seventh year. He spent years and years in that environment."
While racehorses are usually well treated, their lives are different from an average horse belonging to an average owner living in a quiet barn behind their owner's house.
"They work, they go on a hot walker, and back in their stalls," Pani said. "(Off the track), they have to learn to be a horse."
Pani said she has one goal at this year's makeover.
"I want to win trail," she said.
When it's all done, Jazzi will come home with Mathis, but Malone is for sale. However, Pani said she's got a wish for him.
"I'm hoping the track vet that rescued him will take him when I'm done," she said. "It will be like a Cinderella story."
The Retired Racehorse Project makeover is Oct. 4-7 at the Kentucky Horse Park. For more information, go to tbmakeover.org