The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) is an arm of the U.S. horseracing industry. It not only brooks zero criticism of racing but compels anyone who seeks accreditation (and funding) to speak positively of the industry. As I wrote in this post from last year, the TAA is disgusting and, to my mind, a total sham. (Here is another piece on TAA written by an HW supporter.) So you know things are bad when its founder is rebuking industry leaders on “aftercare.” In a Thoroughbred Daily News LTE Friday, that founder, Jack Wolf, who is now strictly in ownership, writes, among other things:
“As TAA’s Founder and first President in 2012, I was a complete failure in attaining mandatory funding through our Industry. It continues to baffle me on how we could not raise $15-$20 million to help solve this problem. Maybe that’s not enough either [it’s not, not even close; again, read my aforementioned post], but let’s make that our goal.
“In 2012, Breeders’ Cup, Keeneland and The Jockey Club committed $300,000 in seed money to get TAA off the ground. I had hoped that the industry would have continued to grow funds for aftercare. This has not happened to the level I had hoped. Registration fees need to have a mandatory level that makes a difference. I think Keeneland and Breeders Cup and The Jockey Club need to be the leaders in mandatory increase of significant amounts.
“Looking at the Board of the TAA, they should have the ability to execute mandatory significant fees to get this up to the $15-$20 million level. If they choose not to do it, how can HISA help? If you are going to play this game, you have to find a way to take care of our retired horses….”
In other words, spent or simply no-longer-wanted racehorses are still being bled-out and butchered, probably by the thousands annually, and the industry shrugs.
Isn’t it at least somewhat ironic that the founder of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance is breaking his own rule of not saying anything bad about the industry?He’s calling out the whole industry for their badness — for their refusal to fully invest in Thoroughbred Aftercare.
He’s obviously not giving them praise and saying what a great industry it is.
If what the racing industry does to and with Thoroughbreds wasn’t tragic, egregious and atrocious, this violation of his own rule would be laughable. But it is laughable in a sickening way. It’s sickening that so many people continue to engage in this morally depraved and deadly cruelty to horses, including Jack Wolf.
That`s okay Joe. I think most of us here understand typos. I have made quite a few myself. Here in my state of Oregon we have 1 prominent breeder farm operator who is doing all he can to demonstrate how beneficial racing is!! They testify regularly in front of the states legislature & racing commission.The farm operators are delusional at best. If one were to purchase the multi- million $$ farm, one would have to be careful of all the discarded & hidden objects on the property! Also their nice fences are installed backwards for proper installation! It looks very nice but horses have been known to push down the boards & roam the farms property. Thankfully the farm is located quite some distance from the state hwy. Everyone in this business is delusional! We once were also. A few good horses woke us up out of the delusion 20 years ago.
There are some people in this industry who recognize that they are operating on thin ice, so to speak. But, it’s too late to turn back. The number of new foals has declined so drastically since 1986 and so many other things have changed that the clock cannot be turned back to the days when there were more than 45,000 + new Thoroughbred foals registered by The Jockey Club each year plus horse slaughterhouses operating in several states within the borders of the USA.
With information being transferred at the speed of light almost and social platforms such as Facebook where rescue groups post pictures and information on horses waiting to be shipped to slaughter, there is no way the racing industry can fool so many people into believing this so-called sport deserves “respect” as they did for decades if not centuries.
Sorry folks, typo – first line should read “Sometimes I think…”
-Joe
Sometimes think the horse racing industry really is its own worst enemy. Rather than actually DO something to relieve the awful situation of thoroughbred after-care, they’re content to rely on lies, bulls**t, spin, hype and any other sorry story they can make up.
It’s not a matter of money. Wealthy owners in the game who may be worth BILLIONS, yes, with a “B” and who will regularly spend MILLIONS on a well bred racing prospect at the Fasig-Tipton sales, could very easily afford to prop up after-care for older, retired racehorses. Unless these people are living under a rock, they HAVE to be aware that the information superhighway gives a terribly clear picture of the rapid decline of racing, as well as the abuse these horses suffer, all of which will only get worse as more and more people become enlightened about the true status of horse racing.
Not any way to run a business in my book.
The cheating is a whole other story for another day. But, although this coming weekend, with the Belmont Stakes being run as a four day event at Saratoga will create some great interest in the sport, as well as generate a lot of income, make no mistake – the writing’s still on the wall.
-Joe