Racing breeder Stonestreet Farm has announced the development of a blood sampling, testing, and secure storage protocol in partnership with the University of Kentucky. | Photo: Stonestreet Farm

Leading commercial breeder Stonestreet Farm has announced the development of an innovative blood sampling, testing, and secure storage protocol in partnership with the University of Kentucky’s Gluck Equine Research Center. The program was developed in response to reports of off-label bisphosphonate use in growing horses. Combined with newly available post-sale testing offered by auction houses, buyers of a Stonestreet-bred and -raised yearling will have an opportunity to review a blood-health window of at least six months prior to their purchase.

“Last year we raised and sold nearly $20,000,000 of yearlings, but our focus has always been to raise racehorses, not sale horses,” said Barbara Banke, owner of Stonestreet Farm. “We are proud of what we do, and I think transparency in raising a racehorse is so important. We want our buyers to have the utmost confidence in our yearlings.”

During 2019, blood samples were drawn from each Stonestreet yearling on a regular schedule as recommended by the Gluck Equine Research Center using current bisphosphonate detection periods. A third-party veterinarian experienced in handling samples within a regulatory environment, who was hired by the Gluck Equine Research Center, drew the samples