Posts Tagged ‘Madelein Pickens’

On the eve of some great racing – the 2009 Dubai World Cup and the Florida Derby, it is a good time to point out the times the Paulick Report has highlighted the brighter side of life in the Thoroughbred industry. While the news seems pretty bleak and often is, there are many positive things we can all focus on as we look forward to an exciting 3-year-old season — for both colts and fillies.

Back during the week of Thanksgiving, we spent each day highlighting one of the many strong Thoroughbred charities working hard to make our industry a more humane one for the horses that compete and the people who help put on the show. We began that week with Anna House, an extension of the Belmont Child Care Association AT Belmont Park that provides childcare for the hard-working backstretch employees. There was ReRun, a horse adoption organization that put together an auction of their “Moneigh” collection to raise funds. We explored the multi-faceted mission of Thoroughbred Charities of America, a former colleague of mine at the Bloodhorse and Thoroughbred Times who dedicates much of his time to the Salvation Army, a halfway house of sorts in Tranquility Farm which transitions Thoroughbreds from the racetrack to adoptive homes and the Exceller Fund, named after the hall of fame horse who died tragically in a European slaughterhouse.

We also featured The Pickens Plan…not the one that’s trying to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. This Pickens plan was run by T. Boone’s wife Madeleine who has a passion for saving wild horses and restoring some of our nation’s tradition of mustangs roaming the Western front. Having an extensive background in the industry after being a partner in the Eclipse award-winning racing and breeding operation with her late husband Allen Paulson, she has decided to work towards giving many of these unwanted animals a sanctuary. We wish her luck and will continue to follow her quest in 2009 and beyond.

And then there are the untold stories of racetracks that are doing things right, both morally and financially. We tip our hat to Suffolk Downs, the first track to step up with a “zero-tolerance” horse welfare program that bans trainers whose horses are sold to slaughter. I had the great pleasure of visiting both Tampa Bay Downs and Oaklawn Park early in 2009. In a time when many tracks are struggling and see slot machines as their only salvation, these two are concentrating on the racing in Thoroughbred racing…and creating a winning product.

It has been a strong fund drive this week and I want to thank those who provided us with moral or financial support.  I feel blessed to have this opportunity to help shape the conversation as we travel through these important crossroads. Sometimes it seems like a daunting task to find long-term solutions to this sport we all love so much, but together I believe we can truly change the course of our industry. If you think the Paulick Report is an effective tool in working through these problems, I ask that you consider a donation of $2,000, $1,000, $500, $250, $100 or $50 to help further enhance this site. When considering your donation, compare our value to the $50 cost of a Sports Illustrated subscription, $100 for a year of the Bloodhorse and $1,000 for a full year of the online Racing Form subscription. All donations are kept strictly anonymous.

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