Leadership of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) on March 18 defended the organization from allegations of neglect among some horses under the care of the equine retirement program and said it was continuing to work to fulfill its mission.

During a teleconference to address a front page article in the New York Times, TRF chairman Tom Ludt said the organization "disputes many of the assumptions in the story."

In the article, New York Times reporter Joe Drape cited specific farms under contract with TRF to care for their horses that were experiencing financial difficulties. In some instances, according to the article, horses had died as a result of malnutrition and some TRF contracted farms had not received payments for the care they were providing.

Much of the information for the article was obtained from a report compiled by a veterinarian hired by the estate of the late Paul Mellon, who operated the successful Rokeby Stable. The Mellon estate has set aside $5 million for the TRF