Descriptive analysis of Thoroughbred horses born in Victoria, Australia, in 2010; barriers to entering training and outcomes on exiting training and racing

Abstract

The reasons for Thoroughbred (TB) horses not entering training or exiting the racing industry, are of interest to regulators, welfare groups and the broader community. Speculation about the outcomes of these horses threatens the community acceptance, or social license, of the TB breeding and racing industries. A representative survey of the 2010 Victorian born TB foal crop was used to determine the outcomes and reasons for exit for horses that had not entered training, or had exited training and racing by eight years of age. Horses exported for racing or breeding (4%), or that were still actively racing (7%) at the start of the follow up period were excluded from the study. An online questionnaire was sent to breeders or trainers of 3,176 TB horses eligible for enrolment in the study. Of the 2,005 (63%) responses received, the two most frequent outcomes were that the horse had either been retired or rehomed (65%), or deceased (16%). For the 1,637 TB horses that had entered training, the majority of retirements were voluntary (59%), followed by involuntary retirements due to health disorders (28%). For TBs that did not have an industry record of entering training ( n = 368), death (34%), or retirement or being rehomed (27%), were the most frequent barriers to entering training. The median age of retirement for TBs that raced was five (Q1 4; Q3 6) years regardless of sex, or whether their first race start was at two, three or four years of age. Relatively large numbers of horses voluntarily retiring at five-years of age suggests that industry-level, rather than individual horse-level factors are the predominant influences on racing career duration.

Drivers of exit and outcomes for Thoroughbred racehorses participating in the 2017–2018 Australian racing season

“…Previous Australian and New Zealand studies [ 7 , 22 ] reported that the majority of retirements were voluntary in nature, often due to poor performance or owner requests, which is similar to the findings reported in this study. This relatively consistent age of retirement together with the majority of horses retiring for voluntary reasons suggests the decision to retire is not entirely depended on biological or physiological effects, rather it is due to a conflation of factors including horse performance and other industry-level effects.…”

“…This finding shows that regulators should focus their traceability efforts on TBs over five-years of age that had not raced or trialled in the last six months. While the age of retirement for females agrees with an earlier Australian study investigating the 2010 Victorian foal crop, males in this study were slightly older at the time of retirement [ 7 ].…”

“…The 47% of horses categorised as rehomed or retired in this study ( Table 7 ) is similar to the 42% TBs reported by Thomson et al [ 9 ]. The median age of retirement in this study was five-years which agreed with the exit survey data for the 2010 Victorian foal crop [ 7 ]. Investigation of potentially exiting horses found a similar age of retirement, with a third of these horses retiring.…”

“…Horses exiting a training stable temporarily for spelling or active non-stable training reasons are normal and necessary pauses in a TBs racehorse’s training schedule to allow rest and recuperation from the rigours of race training. Previous Australian research that investigated the 2010 Victorian foal crop found that nearly three quarters of the foal crop were retired by eight years of age [ 7 ]. The estimate that 19% of the horses training and racing in Australia permanently leave the racing industry each year either through retirement (17%) or death (2.1%) is lower than previous Australian research [ 9 , 21 ].…”

“…The Thoroughbred (TB) racing industry worldwide acknowledges that its continued social license is dependent on public perception of the standard of care of horses in the racing industry with the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities stating that a ‘horse welfare policy will only succeed after taking into account public perception’ [ 2 ]. Media coverage [ 3 – 6 ] of the fate of horses after leaving the TB industry highlights the extent to which the racing industry is scrutinised, although a recent population level study, investigating the outcomes for TB horses that left the racing industry, found that nearly two thirds retired to the TB breeding industry, or were re-homed outside of the TB industry [ 7 ].…”