Helping our equine friends

Have you ever wondered what happens to thoroughbreds when they can no longer race? I’ll admit I was horrified when I found out a lot of them were sent to the slaughterhouse. I guess I always thought they were retired to green pastures, but that’s far from reality.

There are a lot of local and national organizations that either provide homes for retired thoroughbreds or retrain them for adoption. Recently I found out that millionaire and multiple stakes winner Shake You Down was given to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, which began in New Jersey but is now headquartered in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The gelding arrived at TRF’s Ocala, Fla. facility on March 21, which is great news. He had descended the claiming ladder and was clearly showing the wear and tear from several years of hard racing. Kudos to his connections for having the kindness to retire him.

On the TRF’s web page (www.trfinc.org) you can sponsor Shake You Down, which will ensure continued care for the rest of his life. Another new retiree is in need of sponsorship, graded stakes winner Champion Lodge, who was found in a feedlot in Colorado in September, just one step away from the slaughterhouse.

Some other local retirement organizations include the Standardardbred Retirement Foundation (www.adoptahorse.org), which is based in Freehold and helps our trotting and pacing friends, and CANTER (www.canterusa.org), which has branches in Pennsylvania and the MidAtlantic region.

Consider donating to one of these fine organizations, perhaps after you’ve cashed a big bet at the track. The horses really deserve it.

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A field of seven was entered for Saturday’s Wood Memorial (Gr. 1) at Aqueduct, including three top Kentucky Derby prospects — Nobiz Like Shobiz, Any Given Saturday and Cowtown Cat. The last two are from the barn of Todd Pletcher, who has Derby horses from one end of the country to the other. We like Nobiz Like Shobiz to rebound in this spot, and while Any Given Saturday is a beautiful animal and he’s high on our Derby list, he exits a gut-busting effort against Street Sense on March 17 in the Tampa Bay Derby, which could take its toll. Cowtown Cat will get the acid test and we’ll use him in the exacta.