Ratajkowski, winner of the 2020 Critical Eye Stakes at Belmont, is among the 45 New York-breds slated to compete in this week’s Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover in Kentucky. NYRA Photo.
By Melissa Bauer-Herzog
New York-bred Thoroughbreds will show off their post-racing talents this week in Kentucky with 45 horses bred in the Empire State set to compete in the Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America.
Ten different disciplines are on offer at the Makeover with horses allowed to compete in up to two of the choices. Each horse competing at the show is a former racehorse with all entries having to work or race no earlier than July 1, 2021 to be eligible to compete. Those who travel to the show will compete in preliminary competition Wednesday and Thursday with the top five in each discipline headed to Saturday’s Finale.
Horses in the Finale will not only compete for the discipline championship but also the title of Thoroughbred Makeover Champion. The Makeover features more than $100,000 in prize money.
While the preliminary competition will not be aired online, fans can watch a livestream of the Finale on the RRP’s website at 8 a.m. ET Saturday.
As we prepare for this year’s show, here’s a look at the New York-breds competing:
- New York-breds actually made up more than 10 percent of the original registrants, with 67 making it to the entry stage. The Makeover featured 551 original registrants. Twenty-two of those entrants were withdrawn for various reasons, including being sold.
- Each New York-bred competing in this year’s event has made at least one start with 578 starts between them for 76 victories and 154 other top-three placings for combined earnings of $2,428,262. They averaged 13 starts each with an average of three victories and five placings and average earnings of $53,961.38.
- Nine of the horses competing made no fewer than 20 starts, led by Blugrascat’s Smile with 84 runs under his belt. During his career, the 10-year-old son of Bluegrass Cat won 12 races with 28 more placings for $539,245 in earnings. He ended his career with a fourth-place finish in a Parx Racing claiming race in April 2022. Bred by Francis Paolangeli and foaled at Keane Stud in Amenia Blugrascat’s Smile raced at six tracks in his career with most of his starts coming in New York, with multiple starts at Aqueduct, Belmont Park, Saratoga Race Course and Finger Lakes.
- Blugrascat’s Smile is joined by Ratajkowski as New York-bred stakes performers competing at the Makeover. While Blugrascat’s Smile’s best stakes finish was a second in the 2020 Bernardini Stakes at Aqueduct, Ratajkowski won two stakes. Ratajkowski, a 9-year-old daughter of Drosselmeyer bred by John P. Hicks and H & H Farm, won five of 10 starts with two top-three finishes and $383,390 in earnings. She won the 2019 Empire Distaff Handicap and 2020 Critical Eye Stakes, both at Belmont. Foaled at H & H Farms in Fort Edward, Ratajkowski also finished fourth in the Grade 2 Falls City Handicap in 2019 at Churchill Downs. Blugrascat’s Smile and Ratajkowski lead all New York-breds by earnings, with the Wilburn gelding Breeze Burner ($260,818) and the Frost Giant gelding Frosty the Dragon ($103,468) both breaking the six-figure mark during their careers on the racetrack.
- New York has at least one entry in every discipline. Dressage has the most entries at 18, followed by Show Hunters at 13 and Eventing at 11. Show Jumpers are also in the double digits with 10 New York-breds entered. Only Field Hunters (Sergeant Parker) and Polo (Sam and Sy) have a sole representative with Ranch Work coming in at two (Slambone and That’s Why I’m Me).
- Big Brown has the most entries of any New York stallion in the show at three, with Central Banker sitting at two. Former New York sire Union Jackson also comes in at three and is joined by Majestic City and Giant Surprise as former New York sires who also have multiple entries. Overall, 14 current and past New York stallions have at least one New York-bred representative at the show.
- No breeder has more than one entry at the Makeover but Gainesway, Royal Bloodstock, Summerfield Sales, Taylor Made Sales all sold two New York-breds at public auction. Mill Ridge Sales also consigned two New York-breds, though only one of their offerings sold.
The New York Thoroughbred Breeders’ Inc. is joined by the New York Racing Association and New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association in sponsoring the $2,500 Empire State Success Story prize for the competition’s leading New York-bred.
Find out more about the Thoroughbred Makeover and the horses entered at www.tbmakeover.org.
