Ferdinand Followup: Owners Promise to Tighten Contracts and Supervision

(Published in the Aug. 2 issue of The Blood-Horse) In the wake of the disturbing news of Ferdinand’s demise in Japan, letters and e-mails from fans expressing both regret and anger have flooded in-boxes. It is likely, however, that the legacy Ferdinand leaves by virtue of his unseemly death will rival his achievements on the racetrack.

The death of Exceller in 1997 became the defining moment in the advent of Thoroughbred retirement farms throughout the United States to care for those horses who, in a thousand different ways, slip through the cracks when their primary career becomes yesterday’s news. If there is to be a silver lining in the cloud of Ferdinand’s death, it comes in the manner in which future business transactions will be written, and the heightened awareness that owners’ responsibility no longer ceases when a horse is sold. Ignorance is no longer an option, and no one understands that better than the people who have done business selling horses to overseas interests