Kids to the Cup charity revived

Kids to the Cup (KTTC), the organization founded by the late owner and breeder Trudy McCaffery to expose children and teens to the racing industry, is being relaunched under new leadership.

The organization’s renaissance is being spearheaded by KTTC alum Sean Feld, a bloodstock professional whose family bred and co-owns Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Miss Temple City, in partnership with Annie’s Answer, a nonprofit organization in Lexington, Ky., providing equine-assisted therapy for children who have suffered emotional trauma. The group hopes to gather enough funding to make the 2017 Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar its initial event.

McCaffery founded KTTC, which offered children and teens expenses-paid trips to events such as the Triple Crown races and the Breeders’ Cup, in 1999. McCaffery personally took invitees on stable tours and introduced them to industry professionals. The organization went by the wayside during McCaffery’s battle with cancer; she died in 2007 at age 62. However, her legacy has lived on, as KTTC alumni have entered the racing industry as jockeys, trainers, photographers, writers, veterinarians, bloodstock agents, and in other capacities at racetracks around the country.

“Participating in Kids to the Cup when I was 14 years old was a very important event in my life growing up,” Feld said in a release issued Wednesday. “Trudy McCaffery was a visionary when she started Kids to the Cup, but for various reasons, she was unable to continue with the project. I am very happy working with Annie’s Answer and the vast alumni that are in the industry because of their past participation in Kids to the Cup, in furthering the dreams of kids getting involved in the Thoroughbred industry.”

Alexandria Pannett of Annie’s Answer said her hope is that children introduced to horses through therapy at her program would then fall in love with Thoroughbred racing.

“We are very happy to partner with Kids to the Cup,” Pannett said.