Identifying a knowledge gap, Melbourne, Australia-based veterinarian and executive member of Equine Veterinarians Australia (EVA), Meredith Flash, BVSc, decided to find out more about Thoroughbred horses and what happens to them when they leave the racing industry.

“Equine vets care about the health and welfare of horses so it was important to look at how many of the horses bred each year go on to race, and where they go when leaving the Thoroughbred breeding and racing industries,” she said.

Flash’s research involved studying the racing careers of 4,115 Thoroughbreds born in Victoria, Australia in 2005. This is the first time that horses from a foal crop have been followed from birth to nine years of age or retirement from the racing industry.

Flash said that about “three-quarters (74%) of the group officially entered training with 88% of those horses participating in at least one race