In the latest edition of our series considering racing’s key questions, Daniel Ross speaks to leading aftercare advocate Lucinda Lovitt
One of the seemingly paradoxical elements of the past decade or so is that while the Thoroughbred population has shrunk, the problem of what to do with them when their racing careers are over has grown exponentially.
Historically, Thoroughbred aftercare has been something of an afterthought when head honchos have plotted the sport’s future. Now, the issue is muscling its way to the head of the table alongside other key industry concerns, like shrinking revenues, owners and tracks.
But to where do all these trends lead? For answers, the TRC has spoken to several key figures from various corners of the industry. Here our series continues with Lucinda Lovitt.
Few in the industry have as deep roots in the world of Thoroughbred aftercare as Lucinda Lovitt (left). She pitched in during the early days of the California Retirement Management Account (CARMA), the flagship funding program for the state’s retired racehorses, helping the organization break new ground nearly 15 years ago. She is now the program’s executive director, also sitting on the national Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance’s (TAA) advisory board.
During her decade and a half being closely involved in Thoroughbred aftercare, Lucinda Lovitt has seen the industry evolve markedly when it comes to embracing the need to provide new homes and careers for its retired equine athletes.
“It’s on a better trajectory than it was ten years ago, 15 years ago,” Lovitt said. “At least now when we say Thoroughbred aftercare, most people in the racing industry know what we’re talking about. Whether they agree with it, whether they support it, whether they care about it, at least they understand what that is.”
But that doesn’t mean the industry can sit back and kick up its heels, satisfied with a job well done. “The trajectory isn’t high enough – we haven’t made enough progress,” she said.
“Probably the biggest challenge that aftercare, or the idea of racehorse retirement, still has to face in this country is that we’ve got a lifetime for these horses – 20 years on average – that we have to be able to support and pay for and justify.”
If this current trajectory continues, Lovitt spies pitfalls, especially as the industry confronts an American public ever more hostile to the use of animals for sport and entertainment.
Even though several jurisdictions have taken great pains to fix the aftercare gaps in their own corners – think California, Maryland and New York, for example – many haven’t been nearly as assiduous.
Global reach
The problem is, thanks to social media and the internet, regional stories can now have global reach. This means an ex-Thoroughbred fished from a kill pen in Louisiana, for example, casts a blot on the sport’s conscience (not to mention its image in PR terms) well beyond the Bayou state.
“The problem with staying on the current trajectory is it’s in a state of having to justify its existence, and that’s an exhausting thing to have to constantly do – to justify why you’re here,” said Lovitt.
In a surprise to no one paying even scant attention, the key obstacle to a leakproof aftercare boat revolves around the almighty dollar.
Lovitt explained: “Despite the best efforts of organizations like the TAA , the Jockey Club, the Breeders’ Cup and companies like 1/ST Racing, who lead the way in aftercare and their commitment to funding aftercare, there’s still not enough money for the number of horses that there are needing support. Really, every other problem that aftercare has stems from that lack of funding.”
This gap creates something of a self-fulfilling prophesy – just take what would appear to be this simple question: Just how much money is needed to provide a home for every US Thoroughbred, whether in a second career, a rehab facility or out permanently to pasture?
To run that calculation, it is imperative to know just how many horses require rehoming every year, and how many are slipping through the net.
But all sorts of cofounding factors make that calculation difficult. Who is ultimately responsible for a horse with dozens of syndicated owners, for example? How can you estimate the cost of rehabbing ex-racehorses when that number changes every year? How do you keep track of ex-racers that pass through multiple hands?
Furthermore, though the Jockey Club has just launched a voluntary traceability program, “there’s no complete mechanism in our disjointed system to track every horse over their entire lifetime”, said Lovitt.
“So, when we have to go to our industry and say, ‘we need more funding,” I can’t tell them exactly how much and for how many horses.
Who’s going to pay for that?
“There is a way to track it, but somebody would have to create a really sophisticated infrastructure program, and I don’t know who’s going to pay for that,” she added.
What would also help the broader aftercare cause would be to permit the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) to share their record of the horse’s history with rehoming facilities – something the agency is currently prohibited from doing.
“When a horse leaves a racing facility, all the information that HISA has on that horse stops at the gate,” said Lovitt. “We don’t get any of that.”
She considers this situation ridiculous. saying: “So you mean to tell me the person or the organization taking that horse after that fact, that then has to retrain it and try to find a home for, there’s all of this medical information, health history and ownership information that we don’t get access to? This, frankly, is BS.”
As to plugging the funding gap, Lovitt suggests the responsibility lies with all sections of the industry. “What we’ve done so far is piecemeal. You have to think about sustained funding from purses and commissions,” she said.
“Everybody needs to participate,” Lovitt added. “If you’re making your living in the Thoroughbred industry in this country, then your business or your employer or yourself needs to be contributing to Thoroughbred aftercare. Full stop.”
Crisis of compassion exhaustion
When looking forward over the next few years, Lovitt sees another potential iceberg – burnout among the loyal army of foot soldiers who have day-in, day-out helmed the stations at the nation’s fleet of rehoming and rehab facilities, many of them in a constant state of anxiety as to how to keep the lights on and the horses fed.
“We are at a crisis of compassion exhaustion,” said Lovitt, attributing the phrase to TAA operations consultant, Stacie Clark Rogers.
“Many of the groups that have been doing this for some time, their principles are ageing and they’re tired,” she went on. “I would be interested in finding new ways to help new organizations start doing this work. We need the next generation of Thoroughbred aftercare advocates – we need to be finding them, training them, supporting them, encouraging them to do the work.
“Otherwise, I think you’re going to see a contraction in these organizations the same way you’re seeing contraction in racing – and that’s dangerous.”
Part 3: ‘What are the little guys supposed to do?’ – Tina Bond (trainers)
Part 2: ‘Greed is a bad word, but that’s kind of what it is’ – Craig Bernick (breeder)
Part 1: ‘Right now, there are way too many Grade 1 races’ – Marshall Gramm (owner)
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