Kentucky Thoroughbred Association

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) announced that a team led by Brendan Kumagai has been selected as the winner of the inaugural Big Data Derby competition, beating out 105 other submissions for first prize. Kumagai, together with Gurashish Bagga, Kimberly Kroetch, Tyrel Stokes, and Liam Welsh, took the $20,000 first prize with the submission, "Bayesian Velocity Models for Horse Race Simulation." Kumagai's team created a dynamic model that focused on horses' forward versus lateral speed and examined the results of...

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA) and Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders (KTOB) have elected new members of the Board of Directors who will serve three-year terms and are elected by the full membership of the organization. Online and paper ballots were managed, monitored, and tabulated by Dean Dorton Technology (Dean Dorton Allen Ford, PLLC).  Newly elected KTA/KTOB Board of Directors for 2022 are: Ned Toffey--General Manager, Spendthrift Farm; Michael Banahan--Director of Bloodstock, Godolphin USA; Fergus Galvin--Partner, Hunter Valley Farm & U.S. Racing Manager, Qatar Racing; Neil Pessin--Thoroughbred Trainer; Tommy Drury--Thoroughbred...

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) Advisory Committee meets at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2 at the offices of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (4079 Iron Works Parkway, Lexington, KY 40511). The public can attend or watch the meeting through the agency's YouTube channel. Some notables, but not all, on agenda include the election of a Chair and Vice-Chair, Kentucky Downs' Amendment request for KTDF Stakes & Claiming Races, Churchill Downs' 2022 September Meet KTDF Allotment request, and Pari-Mutual Tax: Waqas Ahmed, director, Pari-Mutual Wagering & Compliance.

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority will be implementing changes to HISA Rule 2276, which pertains to full outer rim shoes and toe grabs. The rule will not be enforced for horses racing on dirt that are shod with traction devices on their hind feet in the form of either a full outer rim shoe or a toe grab, both up to 4mm in height. All other provisions of the rule will remain the same and be enforced Aug. 1 as previously announced. Click here to read the full HISA...

Edited Press Release The Thoroughbred Horsemen's Associations, Inc, Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Thoroughbred Owners of California, and Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association collectively have established a diverse group of experienced horsemen, regulators, and veterinarians to review the extensive documents regarding HISA's proposed rules. Each reviewer provided written comments in an open letter to HISA and they are summarized below. Racetrack vs Training Facilities--The inclusion of training facilities in the statute was designed to ensure that horsemen could not evade the requirements for racetracks by stabling at training facilities. HISA needs to...

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association are jointly funding a $25,000 grant directed to a catastrophic injury study conducted at the University of Kentucky Gluck Equine Research Center. The study will seek to identify horses at risk for catastrophic injury through the use of mRNA expression analysis of blood samples. Drs. Allen Page, Emma Adam and David Horohov of the Gluck Center previously developed an approach for identifying horses at risk for catastrophic injury through the use of mRNA expression analysis of blood samples. It was...

Edited Press Release The Thoroughbred industry in Kentucky has raised $517,224 for both immediate response and longer-term recovery needs of individuals and families impacted by the deadly tornadoes occurring in Western Kentucky Dec. 10 and 11. The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association organized a GoFundMe page Dec. 11, which raised $318,199 since inception. Further donations came in, including a season to Triple Crown winning stallion Justify donated by Ashford Stud/Coolmore America and private sources, raising the total quickly. All told, 315 Thoroughbred breeders, racehorse owners including Spendthrift Farm, trainers, jockeys, industry stalwarts...

LEXINGTON, KY--Kentuckians across the Commonwealth woke up with a text on Saturday morning: 'Are you okay?' For most, it was an uneventful night aside from perhaps being awakened once or twice to the sound of high winds. But for some, unimaginable destruction and immeasurable damage occurred overnight as a catastrophic tornado hit western Kentucky. As of Friday, 77 Kentuckians have lost their lives due to a storm that is expected to have affected an estimated 227 miles, according to WLKY News. Bradley Boyd, a professional Quarter Horse trainer based in...

The Jockey Club, through its commercial subsidiaries, has donated $50,000 toward tornado relief in Western Kentucky in response to the areas that were devastated Dec. 11. The donation was made through a Go Fund Me site established by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association. In addition, The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation, which provides financial relief and assistance to needy members of the Thoroughbred industry and their families, is prepared to help those in the racing community personally affected by the storms. Please visit tjcfoundation.org or call Shannon Kelly at (212) 521-5327...

Coolmore is offering a 2022 live foal guaranteed season to Triple Crown winner Justify to benefit relief efforts for the devastation caused by the recent tornadoes in Western Kentucky. Proceeds raised will be donated to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association's relief fund. The deadline to bid is Dec. 17 at 5 p.m. EST. Click here to bid.

David Richardson, M.D., a distinguished Kentucky-based surgeon who owned and bred Thoroughbreds for nearly half a century and was known as a thoughtful, cerebral racing regulator whose zeal for the sport shone through in his volunteer service on numerous industry-related boards, died Sept. 7 in Saratoga Springs, New York, after developing pneumonia related to COVID-19. Richardson had been briefly hospitalized in the intensive care unit at Saratoga Hospital; he was believed to be 76 years old. Chauncey Morris, the executive director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners...

(Editor's note: the following is a response to the letter to the editor sent to the TDN by Jason Litt) The KTA is run by a volunteer board of industry professionals. To become a director of the KTA you have to be chosen by your peers and voted in by the likes of those same peers. Obviously Jason Litt did just that, and we are all thankful for his time served on the KTA Board of Directors. Jason's 'why' has never been in question. He is a tremendous judge of...