On Dec. 1, Retired Racehorse Project announced the opening of trainer applications for the 2018 $100,000 Thoroughbred Makeover. Applications will be accepted through Jan. 15, 2018, and trainer approvals will be announced on Feb. 1, 2018.
The Thoroughbred Makeover features competition in 10 different disciplines among recently-retired racing Thoroughbreds with less than 10 months of retraining for a second career. Disciplines offered are barrel racing, competitive trail, dressage, eventing, field hunters, freestyle, polo, show hunter, show jumper, and ranch work.
Horses and their trainers will compete for $100,000 in prize money and the title of America’s Most Wanted Thoroughbred (determined by audience vote) at the Kentucky Horse Park on Oct. 4-7, 2018. The event includes seminars, demonstrations, sponsor fair, and a livestreamed finale featuring the top five horses in each discipline. Many of the horses competing will also be offered for sale.
Professional, amateur, and junior trainers are welcome to apply, and do not need to have acquired their horse at the time of application. Applicants must demonstrate expertise in at least one of the Makeover disciplines through competition highlights, references, and optional video links.
“This is an exciting time of year for RRP,” said Steuart Pittman, the founder of the organization. “We compile the input from competitors, judges, and spectators, and we roll out changes in format that make the event better for the horses and better for the trainers. Then we open the flood gates to hundreds of applications from inspired trainers all across the United States and Canada. Knowing that so many juniors, amateurs, and professionals are out there buying Thoroughbreds and beginning their new careers is thrilling for all of us.”
Approved trainers can acquire eligible Thoroughbreds through whatever source they choose, or can ride under contract with an owner. Horses must have raced or had a published work after July 1, 2016 and must not have started training for a second career before Dec. 1, 2017.
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