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Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation loses funding from Mellon estate, New York Times reports
23 March 2011
The New York Times has announced Tuesday that the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation has lost funding from its “primary benefactor”, the Mellon estate. The foundation has been under severe criticism since the New York Times released a story on March 17th claiming that “ex-racehorses starve as charity fails mission to care for them.”
The mission that failed?
“To save Thoroughbred horses no longer able to compete on the racetrack from possible neglect, abuse, and slaughter.”. The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation has been enforcing this mission statement since it formed almost 30 years ago, so why is it just now becoming a problem? According to Tom Ludt, chairman of the board of the TRF, the article in the New York Times by Joe Drape makes “statements [that] are mis-characterized.” The TRF is “disappointed that Joe Drape did not choose to discuss the herd evaluation with all parties involved.”
The veterinarian hired to investigate, Dr. Stacey Huntington, was fired on the 19th of March. According to the New York Times, the executors of the Mellon estate, Ted Terry and Beverly Carter, believe Huntington's only crime was doing her job too well; “The only problem Dr. Huntington had was that she was doing such a good job that she upset the management of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation,” Terry said.
drf.com reports that "The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation intends to continue evaluating about 1,200 ex-racehorses in its program
In an editorial for ESPN titled "Who will save the horses" journalist, Bill Finley discusses the racing industry's lack of commitment for taking care of retired race horses. “Instead, it has relied on a bunch of small charities without a lot of money at their disposal to solve its own problems, all the while knowing that the groups, well meaning or not, were going to war with peashooters.”
For now, Mellon estate says if the TRF wants to continue, it must do so on its own.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by jay hughes on
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Alright, the problem is set before us. We have an organization that has not done what they said they would do. Okay, where do we go from here? I believe in the mission of the TRF and have met some of their leadership in the past. If the leadership is not doing the job, it is time for new leadership that is committed. I'm sure it is a job that is difficult on the good days and nearly impossible on the bad days. There are no excuses and none will be accepted.. There is failure here at all levels. The great problem is that failure means death to a horse that didn't have to die, but lost their life as a result of people losing sight of the job. The job is to take the money given by generous benefactors and feed and care for the horses discarded by an industry who did not plan wisely, nor are good stewards. Whether folks believe it or not, there is a moral responsibility incumbent upon the leaders of the racing community. The old horse retirement home is a great bedtime story, but a cruel joke for the innocent animals that were brought into the world to win and if they did or didn't, no matter, off to a sweet little "farm" just north of the border.
Bring in a leader who is committed to the care and wellbeing of their charges, work with the Mellon family to ensure that their money is being wisely shepherded and regain their confidence and enlist all the supporters of TRF to actively check on their horses. The technology is here to snap a phot and upload it to the central database ot see what is going on.
Let's fix this and make this work again..
Jay Hughes
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Permalink Reply by Ashley on
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Very well said, Jay. I think you are spot on in that clearly something has thrown a wrench in the system, and the wrench needs to be removed before the gears crack, so to speak. The industry, in my opinion, needs to step up and take ownership of its responsibilities. If they produce these horses, they need to be prepared to care for them throughout their lifetime, or else provide the means for someone else to do so. It's not the responsibility of these retirement stables to take care of the horses that are ditched by the industry, but they do so out of the kindness of their hearts. I think it's time the industry coughs up the dough it owes these facilities. As far as the controversy involved, we can blame others all we want, but remember that for every finger you point, there are three pointing right back at you.
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Permalink Reply by Tracy McDermott on
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Why not make the owners who raise and race these horses pay a retirement fee that is collected along with the entry fee for each horse, also a retirement fee is collected from each race winnings (before customer pay out, it would be a % of winnings) and the tracks would pay retirement fee for each race hosted (again a % of gate). All these fees would be paid for rehab to ownership or retirement and stated as such. I truly believe captive horses need attention so rehab to ownership should be primary. Retirement should not mean warehousing and living in the wild isn't really so easy especially for a damaged animal. Racing 'The Sport of Kings' should pay for it's own, not run and burn as it has for centuries. If people can afford to race and/or bet then they should also afford a safety net for the athletes who are compelled to compete. I'm sure given the choice any race horse would rather eat, poop and sleep in the sun.
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Tracy, you make a great point and a wonderful suggestion. I think if you take the time to produce anything in this world (be it a horse, a child, etc), you should be responsible for its well-being until you've assured that someone else has the proper means to care for it. In the case of horses, you are responsible for its being bred and born, and the horse shouldn't have to pay just because it's become unsound to race. So many OTTBs and OTSTBs are fit for most activities that aren't racing, but because the horse world is so over-populated with not enough funds to care for them all, they are simply thrown away. This is where I think the industry needs to step up and take ownership of its creations, so to speak. Thanks for sharing your suggestion! :)
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