FedEx expected to resume horse shipping in January

FedEx, the only company providing cross-country flights for Thoroughbreds, said in a statement on Thursday that its chartering services would likely resume after Jan. 1 following an extended pause in horse shipping for inspections of its fleet.

FedEx informed shipping agents of the pause earlier this week due to an FAA directive to inspect all McDonnell-Douglas MD-11 aircraft following a Nov. 4 crash of that aircraft type in the domestic cargo fleet of UPS in Louisville. The pause has impacted a handful of horses that were planning to ship from the East Coast to Del Mar for stakes races this weekend, including Noble Confessor in the Del Mar Derby.

FedEx typically pauses its equine-charter services from mid-December until after the first weekend of the year to use the aircraft for its shipping services during the holidays.

Because of the annual pause, horsemen have generally avoided cross-country shipping in December through the first of the year. However, the Pegasus World Cup card at Gulfstream Park in Florida on Jan. 25 is expected to attract horses from across the country, and the unavailability of cross-country shipping from FedEx could have a significant impact if the pause drags on deep into January.

In the statement, FedEx said that “safety is our top priority.”

“This holiday season, as we manage reduced fleet capacity during MD-11 safety reviews and peak shipping volumes, we have paused horse shipments ahead of typical seasonal timing,” said the statement, which was issued in response to an inquiry earlier this week. “Horse charters will likely resume after the New Year.”

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.