Students from SUNY Cobleskill take in the scene from the Saratoga Race Course paddock last weekend. Susie Raisher Photo.

The New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc., and the State University of New York College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill’s accredited course designed to expose upper-class students in the Animal Science program to various segments of the Thoroughbred industry started last weekend at Saratoga Race Course.

The visit by students focused on the culmination of the breeding and racing industries and allowed for observation of the finished product during morning training and afternoon races. Students received a behind-the-scenes tour of the Oklahoma Training Track Saturday during training hours led by NYTB President Tom Gallo.

The group spent the afternoon at the races, with visits to the paddock, watching from the rooftop and helping the Backstretch Employee Service Team (B.E.S.T.) selected the “Best Turned Out Award” for the day.

Students helped pick the Best Turned Out winner as part of their visit to Saratoga Race Course. Adam Coglianese/NYRA Photo.

“The NYTB, through Tom Gallo’s leadership, provided SUNY Cobleskill students an experience at Saratoga Race Course that was second to none,” said Raymond Whelihan, SUNY Cobleskill Associate Professor in Animal Science who collaborated with Gallo to develop the program. “Time spent observing training at the Oklahoma track, lengthy discussion with a Hall of Fame trainer, comped racetrack entry and seats, a roof top view and the opportunity to enter the paddock and select the groom of the day. Every student was enthusiastic and appreciative. What a wonderful way to kick off the new Thoroughbred Industry course at SUNY Cobleskill.”

The pilot program is offered to 15-20 junior undergraduate students that have met prerequisites. The course, which runs from late August to early December, falls in line with the NYTB’s goals to make outreach with upper-level science students majoring in equine studies and finding the next generation of the industry’s workforce and leaders in racing and breeding.

NYTB President Tom Gallo gave SUNY Cobleskill students a behind-the-scenes tour of the Oklahoma Training Track last week. Susie Raisher Photo.

“When I first introduced the idea of the NYTB educational seminars years ago, along with raising the standard of care and awareness for the general population of the New York breeders, my ultimate goal was to use these seminars for the education of young people who may be interested in coming into our industry,” Gallo said. “This could not have been done without the help of NYTB Executive Director Najja Thompson and our forward-thinking board members. With the help of my longtime friend, Ray Whelihan, we were able to put together a program which not only exposes these students to many different aspects of the horse industry in New York, but also allows them to gain college credits for their participation. These are seniors in college, and they have participated in the equine studies program for the length of their college career. This is a targeted-interested and engaged group of students, who hopefully will find one aspect of our industry interesting enough for them to enter with career expectations. I can’t tell you how happy I am that this is finally happening.”

The course continues through the remainder of the year, with a guided tour of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame led by legendary announcer Tom Durkin along with a tour Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga in Saratoga Springs in late September. In October, the students will attend the NYTB Annual general membership meeting, educational seminar and the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Sale. The course concludes in November with a tour of a Thoroughbred breeding farm and a visit to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Saratoga Springs.

Puparee under saddle in her new career. Photo courtesy of Corinne Gagnon.

By Teresa Genaro

Corinne Gagnon describes herself as someone who loves equine projects. Her Frazier Farm in Connecticut offers riding lessons, equine boarding, horse shows, and summer camps, and she trains horses, specializing in young horses that come to her as a clean slate.

Puparee was quite another story. Gagnon saw the 10-year-old mare listed for sale on a Facebook page, and at first glance, the daughter of Congaree didn’t look like much. She was thin. She didn’t look well cared-for.

“But I really liked her build,” said Gagnon, “and her movement caught my eye. When I went to see her, I could see that there was a really nice horse under that surface.”

Puparee didn’t make her first start until she was four years old, unusual for a Thoroughbred. She finished seventh in her first race, at Aqueduct on January 2, 2015, and then didn’t race again for five months. Trained by Domenick Schettino, she won her second start by three lengths at odds of 43-1 at Belmont Park, and then Puparee was, quite literally, off to the races.

Over the next seven years, the bay mare ran 62 times, compiling a record of 6-5-4. She ran for Schettino and her owner/breeder Joemar Racing Stables for 11 races, and in a race at Finger Lakes on Oct. 25, 2021, she “dropped far back, lost contact with the field, was distanced but did cross the wire,” reads the Equibase chart.

Puparee breaks her maiden at Belmont Park for owner/breeder Joemar Racing Stables. Coglianese Photos.

What happened between that race and her being posted on Facebook is unclear. So yes: part of Puparee’s story is a cautionary tale about what can happen to Thoroughbreds when they’re done racing, and we’ll come back to that.

But first:

Puparee presented Gagnon with challenges unlike the ones she was used to. Puparee was far from a blank slate; she was a veteran, and she had a mind of her own.

“She was a warhorse,” said Gagnon. “She knew her job and she’d been doing it for a long time. She was so determined, and she knew her job was to go fast. It was hard to convince her that her new life could be quite different from that.”

Gagnon focused at first on getting Puparee back to a healthy weight, and once the mare looked like an athlete again, she realized the potential that Gagnon had seen in her.

“She was just a powerhouse,” she said. “She raced for a long time, and she has that spark and that heart; she wasn’t going to dumb herself down for anyone. That’s why I appreciated her: she was a powerful mare on a mission, and so fun to work with.”

As much as Gagngon enjoyed that spirit, she also knew that the mare couldn’t be ridden by just anyone, and at first, she intended to keep her as an eventer. When her other responsibilities prevented her from riding “Puppy” often, she offered her for adoption.

Gagnon’s ad showed up in Samantha Dyche’s Facebook feed, and just as Gagnon was smitten the first time she saw Puparee, so too was Dyche. Now 18, Dyche lives in Indiana and couldn’t make the trip to Connecticut, so after watching lots of videos and Facetiming during vet examinations, she bought her.

“I’d never done that,”  she said. “I’d never bought a horse like that. But I took a chance. She’s a really pretty mover.”

Dyche knew little about Thoroughbred racing, but she looked up her new horse on Equibase and posted in a Facebook group trying to learn more about her. She was impressed at how many times Puparee had raced and won, and she heard from both Schettino and his daughter, who remembered her fondly.

Puparee under saddle in her new career. Photo courtesy of Corinne Gagnon.

Earlier this month, Dyche headed off to college to study nursing, and Puparee, now named Xena, like the warrior princess, went with her.

“She’s something else,” said Dyche. “‘Xena’ suits her. She just wants to gallop, or she’ll go into a super-fast trot, and she definitely doesn’t like to be confined.”

She also tends to get in trouble; Dyche jokes that her new mare has given her plenty of opportunity to practice nursing and first aid.

“She got mad at her neighbor and she kicked the stall,” she said. “Another time, out in a paddock, she either got bitten by another horse or she reached her neck over the fence and cut herself. In February, she was getting shoed and she stamped her foot with a shoe partly off, injuring her hoof on the nail.”

As Gagnon put it, “Relaxation is kind of tough for her. I’m happy that she’s with someone who appreciates her for what she is.”

On Thursday, Aug. 17, the New York Racing Association, New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, and New York Thoroughbred Breeders will host the third Aftercare Day at Saratoga Race Course. Among the highlights will be a retirement ceremony for Drafted, a nine-year-old gelding trained by David Duggan for his last 22 starts. Drafted raced on three continents and retired with 10 wins and $1.1 million in earnings, and he was retired through NYTHA’s TAKE THE LEAD retirement program. He will be retrained at New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program before going on to a second career.

“We used to hope that horses would end up in a good place when they retired,” said Duggan. “Now we know they do, thanks to everyone in New York coming together to make aftercare a priority. We want to promote all that’s being done, and Drafted is the perfect poster boy for this event.

Soaring Star, bred in New York by Patricia Moseley and a graduate of New Vocations, participates in the inaugural event. He’ll be back this year. Susie Raisher photo.

Four other retired racehorses will strut their stuff on Thursday, demonstrating their post-racing versatility in everything from Revolutionary War reenactments to hunter/jumping to dressage to carrying small children and inexperienced adults in lead-line classes at local horse shows

Established in 2012, the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance accredits and funds retirement, retraining, and sanctuary facilities across the country, ensuring that horses have reputable, safe options for their lives after the racetrack. NYTHA’s own TAKE THE LEAD has retired and rehome more than 1,000 horses since it was created a decade ago

And so there is no reason for any horse that races in New York to face an uncertain future, as Puparee did. Horses don’t, and shouldn’t, need the sort of luck that landed her first with Corinne Gagnon and then with Samantha Dyche, and while there is still work to be done events like Aftercare Day and horses like Xena continue to highlight the positive pathways open to horses, trainers, and owners.

Aftercare Day will also provide options to donate to aftercare organization. On- or off-track, people can text AFTERCARE2023 to 44321 to donate to TAKE THE LEAD, and on-track, anyone cashing a winning ticket on an AmTote International self-service betting terminal will be given an option to donate to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. All donations are tax-deductible.

The late Senator Howard Nolan, at the 2015 New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. Holiday Party, left his mark on the Empire State’s racing and breeding programs. Skip Dickstein Photo.

By Tracy Egan

Former New York State Senator Howard Nolan passed away in Florida on June 16, 2023 with his loving wife Shannon by his side. The news of his passing has affected people in all walks of life. From the people he represented in the State Senate to the friends he served with on the board of the New York Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund and, before that, as president of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc.

One of the accomplishments Senator Nolan was most proud of was his launching of a program in 1983 with the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation at the Wallkill Correctional Facility that teamed up ex-racehorses with incarcerated men and women.

Many graduates of the program have been able to find employment in the horse industry thanks to the months or years of education they received via the TRF Second Chances program.

The legacy of the program he helped create is now helping horses and humans at correctional facilities in seven states, from New York to Florida and California.

“Howard’s positive influence spread across many lives, from the New York horse breeders to incarcerated people via the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation at Wallkill Prison and beyond who got a second chance,” said Bill Wilmot, DVM, a member of the Fund board. “Always positive and thinking of others. That’s how I think of my mentor and friend, Howard Nolan.”

Board member Joe McMahon remembered sharing van driving duties years ago with Senator Nolan when they decided Florida might be a good marketplace for their registered New York-breds.

“Over his 50-year involvement in the Thoroughbred horse industry, Howard was an owner, breeder, stallion owner, farm owner, past president of New York Thoroughbred Breeders and a board member of the New York State Breeding and Development Fund, as well as a keen political advisor,” McMahon said. “He was a mentor and personal friend to me and my family. We will all miss him terribly.”

Najja Thompson, executive director of NYTB, Inc. and a member of the Fund board, noted that “Senator Nolan was an influential and integral figure in helping to lead the New York-bred program to the success it has had today. On behalf of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc., we will be forever thankful for his support of New York breeders and we send his family our sincere condolences.”

Fund Board Member John Hicks credited his late friend with introducing him to racehorse ownership and breeding.

“I have known Howard for almost 50 years,” Hicks said. “He was instrumental in introducing me, along with many others into the horse business and was a wonderful mentor. He cared about all aspects of the horse business and dedicated much of his time to the New York racing and breeding program. I considered him a close friend and he will be sorely missed by many.”

Nolan served his Albany-centric Senate district from 1974 to 1994, and served on the Fund Board for 18 years, from 2002 through 2020. During his term he frequently asked what measures would help his constituency of breeders to produce more competitive horses and what steps the board might take to help those breeders stay in business.

Nolan’s friends will miss the sight of him sitting in his box at Saratoga Race Course and his enthusiasm for the sport that so frequently finds itself the focus of critics. Industry supporters would do well to honor his memory by pushing for positive change while enthusiastically encouraging a love for the sport, its horses and all the people who make it possible.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by McVeigh Funeral Home, 208 North Allen St., Albany. Visitation will be from 4- 7 p.m. Sunday.

Click here for Senator Nolan’s obituary.

On Wednesday, Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law authorizing as part of the 2024 New York Fiscal State Budget a $455 million loan to the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) authorizing the redevelopment of Belmont Park. This accomplishment would not have been able to be achieved without the work and support of NYTB members alongside the efforts of NYRA, the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, Inc. (NYTHA) and the We Are New York Horse Racing Coalition.

Working together, we were able to showcase the widespread social and economic impact thoroughbred breeding and racing bring to New York State! The results of our efforts will ensure investment in thoroughbred breeding and racing in New York for many years to come.

I personally would like to thank our hard-working membership and leadership among NYTB, NYTHA, NYRA and the We are New York Horse Racing Coalition in not only showing up in key moments such as our momentous rally at the State Capitol on March 13 but being individuals who have made a personal investment to our equine athletes. It is your tireless dedication and support in assembling family, friends, employees, and everyone involved in the New York breeding industry that made this a possibility.

Looking ahead, there is still much to execute on with such an ambitious undertaking. NYTB will continue to need your support as we work on your behalf in the best interests of New York breeding and the New York-bred program.

We appreciate your continued support.

Regards,

Tom Gallo
NYTB President & Chairman of the NYTB PAC

New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB) is pleased to announce the nominees for the New York-bred divisional champions of 2022. A panel of New York Turf writers, broadcasters, handicappers, racing analysts and photographers will vote on the winners of each division and the 2022 New York-bred Horse of the Year.

The 2022 New York-bred divisional champions and New York-bred Horse of the Year will be announced at the NYTB Awards Dinner sponsored by the New York Thoroughbred Breeding & Development Fund at 7 p.m. Monday, May 8 at Saratoga National Golf Club in Saratoga Springs.

New York riding legend and NYRA TV personality Richard Migliore will again host the Awards Dinner.

Tickets are available – $150 for NYTB Members and $175 for non-members – for purchase at nytbreeders.org/events or by calling the NYTB Office at (518) 587-0777.

Also to be honored at the Awards Dinner with 2022 awards will be Broodmare of the Year, Champion Steeplechaser, Trainer, Champion Jockey and Outstanding Breeder.

A list of the 2022 New York-bred divisional championship nominees by category follows.

Champion 2-Year-Old Male: Acoustic Ave, Andiamo a Firenze, Arctic Arrogance, Vacation Dance.

Champion 2-Year-Old Filly: Gambling Girl, Les Bon Temps, Stonewall Star, You’re My Girl.

Champion 3-Year-Old Male: Barese, Rotknee, Un Ojo, Run Curtis Run.

Champion 3-Year-Old Filly: Fingal’s Cave, Spendarella, Sterling Silver, Venti Valentine.

Champion Older Dirt Male: Americanrevolution, Bankit, Dr. Blute, Wudda U Think Now.

Champion Older Dirt Female: Bank Sting, Betsy Blue, Kept Waiting, Make Mischief.

Champion Turf Male: City Man, Dancing Buck, Red Knight, Somelikeithotbrown.

Champion Turf Female: Dream Central, Robin Sparkles, Runaway Rumour, Spendarella.

Champion Male Sprinter: Dancing Buck, My Boy Tate, Thin White Duke, Wudda U Think Now.

Champion Female Sprinter: Bank Sting, Betsy Blue, Robin Sparkles, Sterling Silver.