Graded winners among Thoroughbred Makeover participants

Several familiar faces – both of the four- and two-legged variety – will be in action at The Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America, this week at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky.

The Thoroughbred Makeover, which has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception in 2013, takes place Wednesday through Saturday, with Thoroughbreds who have begun formal training no earlier than Dec. 1, 2018, showing their trainability for second careers. Trainers have selected disciplines for their horses among barrel racing, competitive trail, dressage, eventing, field hunters, freestyle, polo, ranch work, show hunters, or show jumping. Champions are selected in each of the 10 divisions. Then a fan vote among those divisional winners determines the week’s title for America’s Most Wanted Thoroughbred.

The Makeover offers a total of $100,000 in prize money, but one of this year’s entrants, Tower of Texas, already sports a hefty bankroll, having earned $936,312 during his racing career. The multiple Grade 2 winner, who was second to champion Tepin in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile, is partnered with Kara Toye, trainer and manager at The Secretariat Center, a Thoroughbred retraining and adoption facility on the grounds of the Kentucky Horse Park. He will be competing in show hunters and field hunters.

Mr. Hot Stuff also was Grade 1-placed on the flat and a multiple Grade 1 winner as a steeplechaser before moving on to a third career with Quinn Scala, who has him competing in show jumping at the Makeover. Two other high-level steeplechasers also will be competing at the Horse Park – 2015 Eclipse Award champion steeplechaser Dawalan with Rosie Allen in show hunters and dressage, and Grade 1 winner Diplomat with Sara Katz in field hunters and show hunters.

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Mr. Hot Stuff was on the classics trail in 2009, finishing 15th in the Kentucky Derby and eighth in the Belmont Stakes. Another Makeover entrant raced in the Kentucky Derby, as My Man Sam finished second in the Blue Grass Stakes, then a Grade 1, before running 11th in the 2016 Derby. He has now moved on to a second career with former jockey Rosie Napravnik and will be competing in show hunters. Napravnik, a lifelong eventer who has turned her focus to retraining and rehoming Thoroughbreds, also has entered Bethel Wildcat and Sanimo in eventing. My Man Sam will compete under the team format at the Makeover, as Napravnik’s sister, trainer Jazz Napravnik, also worked with the gelding. Rosie Napravnik’s husband, trainer Joe Sharp, also is listed as a teammate.

While the parameters of the Makeover mean that horses can compete only once in their careers, several riders are making return appearances. This year’s competition include three of the past four trainers whose horses have claimed the Most Wanted Thoroughbred title. Defending winner Elisa Wallace, who has competed in international-level events, has entered Crafty Charger in this year’s eventing competition and Play Big in both eventing and dressage.

Twin polo players Charlie and Harry Caldwell are regular competitors at the Makeover, with Charlie winning highest honors in 2017. This year, he has entered NotEnoughRain in the polo competition, while Harry Caldwell has entered Silken Lady.

Lindsay Partridge, who won the competition in 2015, has entered Fairly Obvious in freestyle and ranch work and Regina Christina in field hunters and competitive trail.

The Thoroughbred Makeover also includes a forum on aftercare issues, Thoroughbred training and health seminars, a showcase of available horses, and a trade fair. Another highlight of the event is Friday’s Makeover Master Class, sponsored by the Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation. Three horses from three different aftercare organizations will be introduced, and three professional trainers will be randomly paired with the horses to analyze their conformation and movement and to briefly work with them to give insight into the process of evaluating and restarting a Thoroughbred.

The three horses in this year’s master class are graded stakes winner Far Right, Normandy Crossing, and Porta Ponti. Far Right won the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes in 2015 and finished second to eventual Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby before starting in the Kentucky Derby. The trainers for the master class are Wallace, Grand Prix dressage rider Emily Brollier Curtis, and trainer Douglas Nunn.