Owner Conference Wraps Up At Keeneland
By Lucas Marquardt
The inaugural Thoroughbred Owners Conference, hosted by OwnerView, concluded a second day of panel discussions yesterday at Keeneland. The focus of the morning-only session was horse welfare and the future of the sport.
The Horse Racing Radio Network’s Mike Penna moderated a panel entitled “Care for the Thoroughbred and Foundations” that outlined some of the problems that arise in horses in training.
“The crux of treating races horses is taking care of their skeletons,” said panelist Dr. Larry Bramlage. “The reason horses are so good is that their skeleton is no bigger than it has to be, and horses manufacture their skeletons while they’re training. All training is overload and over-repair; do a little more than they’re ready to do, and the body gets the message, ‘I need to get better.’ Eventually you get a racehorse.”
A video of one of Bramlage’s most famous patients, the Hall of Famer Personal Ensign, winning the 1988 GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff was shown, and Bramlage explained why her win in that race was such a milestone.
“The fracture showed the coming of age of repair, where we could not only save lives, but get them back to training,” he explained.
The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation’s Nancy Kelly talked about the strides being made in Thoroughbred aftercare.
“We like to say it’s an owner’s responsibility and an industry’s responsibility,” she said. “The network is getting stronger. We’re not there yet, but we’re way better than we used to be. We’ve set a good foundation. We’ve never had an industry standard where everyone who touches the horse, who benefits from the horse, puts in to contribute to its welfare.”
The “Generation Next” panel, moderated by The Jockey Club Tour on Fox’s Alyssa Ali, gathered some of the industry’s most prominent young players. They included Price Bell, Walker Hancock, Daisy Phipps Pulito, Anna Seitz and Brad Weisbord.
The panelists went through some of their favorite racing moments. A highlight was a cell-phone video of Seitz reacting to a graded victory by a filly she owns in partnership, I’m Already Sexy. Seitz herself was red-faced from the footage, which showed her jumping up and down as her filly streaked down Arlington’s turf course, but the crowd loved it and gave her a rousing hand.
After the panel went through its top races, Weisbord said, “We’re showing moments that people in the sport so rarely get to experience–winning Grade I’s, Grade II’s–but you can get just as excited winning a $10,000 claiming race,” he said. “You should get that excited. If you’re just getting started, just strive to win that first race. That will get the bug going.”
Seitz spoke of her duty as a young leader in racing.
“The greatest way I can help the industry is to make the sport easy to understand [for new owners and fans], making it fun, bringing people to the track in the morning and watching the horses train,” she said. “We want to make it accessible and easy and understandable.”
In their panel, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association’s Dan Metzger and The Jockey Club’s Gary Falter explained the various resources available to prospective owners. The Jockey Club’s Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps then closed out the conference with a address that offered a few bits of advice to those new to the sport.
“As an owner, you are paying the bills,” Phipps said. “You have rights. Use them. Communicate clearly and often with your trainer. Make decisions together. Ask questions, and use modern tools to stay informed.”
Conference attendees headed over to the grandstand for lunch in the Phoenix dining room and a day at the races. Today, they’ll visit some of the top stallion farms in the region, vet clinics, the Kentucky Horse Park and the Bourbon Trail.
OwnerView is an information resource developed by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. The Owners Conference was sponsored by Del Mar, Keeneland, the New York Racing Association, and The Stronach Group. For more, visit www.ownerview.com.