Photo Credit: Audrey Crosby

The NYTHA created TAKE THE LEAD to facilitate the search for rehabilitation and retraining placements for retiring NYRA racehorses. The program is open to all horsemen based at New York Racing Association tracks.

Owners and trainers who would like assistance in finding a retirement home for a horse stabled at a NYRA track can contact Executive Director Andy Belfiore at (732) 673-2855, or NYTHA Aftercare Committee Chairman Rick Schosberg at (516) 528-1360. Click here for more information about TAKE THE LEAD.

New York Horsemen Support
Thoroughbred Aftercare

• The TAKE THE LEAD Thoroughbred Retirement Program was started in 2013. To date, the program has found rehabilitation and retraining placements for more than 325 Thoroughbreds retiring from NYRA tracks.
• Last year, TAKE THE LEAD found homes for 98 retired racehorses and donated $137,300 to the accredited aftercare facilities that provided rehab and retraining. The New York organizations supported by TAKE THE LEAD include ACTT Naturally in Greenwich; Akindale Thoroughbred Rescue in Pawling; New Vocations in Gansevoort and Ballston Spa; ReRun in East Greenbush; Saratoga WarHorse Foundation and Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in Saratoga Springs; and Second Chance Thoroughbreds in Spencer.
• One-hundred percent of TAKE THE LEAD’s funding comes from the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (NYTHA), which is comprised of the owners and trainers racing at the NYRA tracks. Of that funding, more than 99% goes to fund the aftercare, transportation and vet bills of the retired horses.
• In addition, the owners and trainers racing at the NYRA tracks also make hundreds of thousands of dollars in private donations annually on behalf of Thoroughbred aftercare.

THOROUGHBRED AFTERCARE ALLIANCE

• Every owner competing at the New York Racing Association (NYRA) racetracks donates $5 per start to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA), which accredits and funds the aftercare organizations that provide homes for the horses retiring from the racetrack.
• The $5 per start initiative was begun in 2014, and raises $100,000 annually for Thoroughbred aftercare.

NYRA ANTI-SLAUGHTER POLICY

Any owner or trainer stabled at a New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) track found to have knowingly sold a horse for slaughter will have his or her stalls permanently revoked from all NYRA tracks. NYRA requires its horsemen to conduct due diligence on those buying horses and encourages them to support rescue and adoption efforts and to find humane ways of dealing with horses unable to continue racing.