The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation has partnered with the Harriet E. Pfleger Foundation, NYRA, NYTHA, The Jockey Club, Jockey’s Guild, and the Wallkill Correctional Facility to create a program to retire, rehabilitate, and retrain up to 100 Thoroughbreds per year from New York tracks.
With a start-up grant of $225,000 from the Pfleger Foundation and funding commitments from NYRA and NYTHA, the TRF will make significant capital improvements to the current TRF farm at the Wallkill Correctional Facility to accommodate the increased activity
“Every Thoroughbred racehorse should be given a life after retirement,” said Linda Pfleger Edwards, trustee for the Harriet E. Pfleger Foundation. “We are proud that the principals of New York racing have partnered with us and the TRF to make this model program a reality.”
The funds to support the rehabilitation, retraining, and on-going retirement costs for the horses will be overseen by a committee made up of individuals from NYTHA, NYRA, TRF, NYTB, the Jockey’s Guild, and the public.
“We are so grateful for the Pfleger Foundation and its profound commitment to horses and equine therapy across the United States,” added TRF director Hayward Pressman. “The TRF is proud to be part of a working consortium of the racing and breeding interests in New York to provide an avenue to safe and happy retirement for Thoroughbreds. Construction will begin as soon as weather permits.”
The TRF Wallkill Correctional Facility farm has been in operation since 1983, when TRF accepted its first horse, Promised Road.
The program has served as the model for seven other TRF correctional facility farms in Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, and Kentucky, allowing men and women inmates a chance to be rehabilitated while working with and caring for rescued and retired Thoroughbred racehorses.