New Vocations

More than $100,000 was raised during this year's Breeders' Cup Pledge, New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program announced Monday. That total was driven by four horses with pledge connections--Fierceness (City of Light), Unquestionable (FR) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) and Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn})--winning their races on Future Stars Friday and Championship Saturday. Additional pledges are still coming in as of Monday and final donations are being tallied. Now in its 14th year, the Pledge has raised more than a million dollars, with 100 percent of funds going...

Night of the Stars Pledge, an initiative created by DJ Stable to promote and raise funds for New Vocations' aftercare efforts, invites sellers and buyers to pledge a percentage of sale price(s) during Fasig-Tipton's Nov. 7 breeding stock sale. The initiative comes at a time when the program has taken in 20% more retired racehorses than it did last year leading to a dramatic increase in operational costs. "We are so pleased to have the opportunity to partner with New Vocations. We are confident that the Fasig-Tipton Night of the...

New Vocations, the largest racehorse adoption agency in the country, has received its first pledge which was made by MGISW Arcangelo (Arrogate)'s trainer Jena Antonucci and owner Jon Ebbert of Blue Rose Farm, the organization said in a release Wednesday morning. This is the 14th annual Breeders' Cup Pledge, in which connections of Breeders' Cup contenders are encouraged to earmark a percentage of their championship earnings to support the charity's mission to rehabilitate, retrain and rehome retired racehorses. To date, the initiative has raised over $1,090,000 in support. "It's no...

Six of North America's prominent Thoroughbred aftercare organizations will be featured on-site Sunday as part of Thoroughbred Aftercare Day at Ellis Park Racing & Gaming, the track said in a Thursday release. After post time at 11:45 a.m. (CDT), fans will be invited to learn more about Thoroughbred retirement at several booths set up on the concourse by Friends of Ferdinand, New Vocations, Second Stride, Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, Thoroughbred Charities of America and Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. The six participating Thoroughbred aftercare organizations will be featured in the Jeff Hall Winner's...

When the Real Rider Cup launched a second leg of its charity show jumping fundraiser last year in Lexington at New Vocations' Mereworth Farm, the event's creator Anita Motion said that her team was not sure what to expect. But the breeding and racing community showed up in force to support the cause and the evening was a smashing success. The place was packed as spectators enjoyed lighthearted competition and helped double the event's previous record by bringing in over $90,000. "We didn't even think that it would go beyond...

The New Vocations All-Thoroughbred Charity Horse Show Presented by Heider Family Stables raised more than $175,000. Held at Highfields Event Center in Aiken, SC, New Vocations' 20th Annual show brought together over 150 retired Thoroughbred racehorses from nine states featuring a variety of classes including dressage, hunter, jumper, in-hand, western and pleasure. To view several of the show highlights, click here. "I'll never forget our first show two decades ago, which was the first of its kind. It's been wonderful to see the event grow and play a large role...

Lois Green, the co-owner of DJ Stables with her husband Len, passed away Wednesday morning, May 31, according to her husband. She was 84. Green graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in Biology. She was a trustee of the Leonard and Lois Green Charitable Foundation. "Lois was an avid reader of the TDN and was a truly involved horse person," said Len Green in an email. "Her specialty was the vet work and breeding. She was manager of DJ Stable in the early years. Under her leadership we won...

Registration is now open for the 2023 Real Rider Cup, a charity show jumping event featuring members of the racing industry competing on off-track Thoroughbreds. Proceeds from the event will once again benefit the Fair Hill Thoroughbred Show, New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program, and the Retired Racehorse Project. The Real Rider Cup offers two legs of competition, the first leg at Mereworth Farm in Lexington, KY, on Jul. 8 and the second durin the Fair Hill Thoroughbred Show in Elkton, MD, on Sep. 15. Riders will compete both individually and...

With 20 questions and a tiebreaker facing contest participants, entries are now open for the 2023 Thoroughbred Idea Foundation Derby Prop Contest, the organization said in a release Wednesday. The entry portal closes at 11:00 a.m. E.T. this Saturday, May 6. Players should keep track of their answers as you will not be able to revisit the survey portal once you submit your entry. Should a horse named directly in a prop be scratched, all answers to that prop may be counted as correct. Winners will be notified by email...

New Vocations is currently auctioning off six all-inclusive box seats to this year's Kentucky Oaks and six all-inclusive box seats to the Kentucky Derby. The seats were donated by Churchill Downs, Inc. The box for both Oaks and Derby day is located in Section 324 and the Oaks seats have an estimated value of $4,188 and the Derby seats have an estimated value of $6,282. All reserved seating is all-inclusive (food, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages) and access to offsite parking at the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center is available, subject...

After watching the races just across the street from their home in Del Mar, Joe and Debby McCloskey decided to take the plunge into racehorse ownership with the purchase of a filly by Congrats at the 2014 Keeneland September sale. Now, nearly a decade later, Johannes (Nyquist)--the first foal out of that first filly--has become the couple's first stakes winner and the 3-year-old gave promise of more firsts to come in the near-future with an authoritative second stakes victory in the Pasadena S. at Santa Anita last Sunday. Johannes began...

Fight On Lucy became the 1000th horse retired to the TAKE THE LEAD Thoroughbred Retirement Program when she boarded  van out of Belmont Park on New Year's Eve 2022. Bred by the Bongard Family's Bojan Farm, Fight On Lucy amassed earnings of $315,000 in a 39-start career over five seasons. She was trained by Pat Kelly, a founding member of TAKE THE LEAD and its sister program TAKE2. Cindy Norton, who served as Rojan Farm's manager for many years, said, "The owners were never going to run her in a...