Monthly News & Updates

Business is Booming for Gulfstream Park Thoroughbred Transition Program

It has been a banner year for the Gulfstream Park Thoroughbred Transition Program. Started in February of 2021 and funded through a collaboration of the FTHA and 1/ST RACING, the Program assists the owners and trainers racing at Gulfstream Park in finding homes for retiring racehorses. To date, Aftercare Liaison Raina Gunderson has found homes for more than 150 horses with Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance accredited facilities. She has been especially busy in 2023, seeing a 68% increase in business through the first 10 months of the year. Gunderson has already surpassed last year’s total of 53 retirements, with 71 horses shepherded to second careers and two months left to go.

“The program is much busier,” Gunderson said. “When we first started, the owners and trainers didn’t know about it, they didn’t know how it worked. But the word is out now, and there just aren’t any breaks any more. Things used to slow down over the summer and into September, it would be quieter. But not this year, not at all.”

As demand for assistance has risen, it has become more difficult to find placements for the horses.

“There were plenty of openings for the horses when I started – it was during the pandemic, and everyone wanted a horse, they had the time for a horse then,” Gunderson explained. “But adoptions aren’t moving as quickly now, the aftercare organizations are filling up, and there are so many more horses retiring from Gulfstream. Finding an opening is definitely more of a challenge.”

Gunderson appreciates the support, and the understanding, that she gets from Gulfstream’s horsemen and women.

“Everybody has been very positive about the Program, and very patient when there is a wait for an opening,” she said. “And I always appreciate it when the owners and trainers do the right thing. There are so many who always do right by their horses.”

Gunderson is pleased by the success of the Program, and encouraged by the change in mindset about Thoroughbred aftercare by many in the industry. She’d like to see everyone embrace the cause.

 “We need to eliminate the ‘one more race’ syndrome,” she said. “I have people reach out to tell me they will be retiring the horse after the next race, but why wait? If the horse is ready to retire, retire now. Don’t take the risk that the horse might be injured. That last race could have a huge impact on the horse’s future – it can be the difference in going on to a successful second career, or needing a year layup and not being able to do anything other than a companion animal.”

Photo: Gulfstream Park Thoroughbred Transition Program graduate Courtly Manner Andrew Ryback Photo

Do you need help retiring a horse from your HISA Account? Click here for a "How To" video.

How To Retire A Horse From Your HISA Account

The Gulfstream Park turf course has been resodded and widened and is scheduled to reopen with the start of the Championship Meet!

HIWU Announces Changes to Enforcement of Provisional Suspensions and Public Disclosure Protocols for Select Banned Substances

Following discussions with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s Anti-Doping and Medication Control Committee, the Horseracing Integrity & Welfare Unit (HIWU) will no longer impose Provisional Suspensions on Covered Persons upon the service of an Equine Anti-Doping (EAD) Notice for an Adverse Analytical Finding (i.e., positive test result) for Banned Substances that are recognized as substances of abuse in humans. Examples of Banned Substances that fall under this category include cocaine, methamphetamine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

If a Covered Horse’s A Sample tests positive for one of these Banned Substances, a Provisional Suspension will not be imposed on the relevant Covered Person until B Sample analysis confirms the presence of the Banned Substance or B Sample analysis has been waived by the Covered Person. Consequently, in compliance with Rule 3610(b), such cases will not be published on the HIWU website’s Public Disclosures page until after these steps occur. This change to the Public Disclosure protocol is consistent with current procedures for presence violations (i.e., positive tests) for Controlled Medication Substances.

This policy applies retroactively to current pending cases, and Provisional Suspensions have been lifted on all Covered Persons who have not been charged and are waiting for B Sample results to be issued. This update is intended to address concerns within the industry that the names of Covered Persons were being publicly disclosed in cases involving the aforementioned types of substances before the Covered Persons had an opportunity to determine the source of the substance at issue, including whether it was the result of unintended human transfer.