Open Letter to the Thoroughbred Industry: From Money to Meaning
We have an opportunity — and an obligation — to reshape how we present ourselves. To show that from Foal to Forever, we have a plan. That we’re not just trading lives for dollars, but building futures with responsibility and care. That we are as committed to where a horse ends up at 15 as we are to how it looked under the lights at the sale at 15 months.
Every September, the Thoroughbred industry shines a spotlight on the Keeneland sale. The excitement is real — the energy in the sales ring, the stories of breeders’ hard work paying off, and the anticipation of what these yearlings may become on the track.
As someone who wears two hats — a small breeder/owner with Horse Husband Stables and a co-founder of Mareworthy Charities, where I see firsthand the challenges of funding safe retirements — I’ve learned just how much public perception shapes our industry’s future. That perception right now is one of excess, and it’s hurting us.
The headlines almost always focus on numbers:
👉 “XYZ stallion’s colt sells for millions.”
👉 “Records continue to fall.”
👉 “Another yearling crosses the million-dollar mark.”
The focus is on how many yearlings crossed the million-dollar mark, the highest-priced horses sold, and record-setting averages. The buzz is about who spent how much. While that’s worth celebrating, it’s not the whole story.
Where’s the update on the filly who sold for six figures ten years ago and is now happily competing with an adult amateur? Where’s the recognition for the breeders who chose to keep their horses for life, ensuring they were protected from the very beginning? Why do we so often highlight transactions and race winners, but not the lifetime commitments that make our industry stronger?
Lady Macjazz with Lady Dyanaformer (top) and Lady Dyanaformer with her 2025 filly, Lady Calliope (bottom)
For me, this isn’t theoretical. My foundation mare, Lady Macjazz (Freja), sold for just $1,000 at the 2013 Keeneland November sale after being a $37,000 yearling RNA. She ran twice, never broke her maiden, and could have been forgotten. But when I bought her in 2014 as my Dressage prospect — with zero plans of ever breeding — her story changed my life.
Her breeder has been a lifelong supporter and fan, and has shown me nothing but kindness and encouragement since the day I reached out to let her know Freja had a home with me. Yet, when I later explored breeding her, I was questioned by stallion owners for looking at $15,000 stud fees — because, on paper, she was “only a $1,000 mare.”
That’s the problem: we reduce horses to the number attached to their last sale slip. All the while, we’ve had a $200,000 mare at Mareworthy who ended up in a kill pen, abandoned by her connections until we stepped in to rescue and rehab her. Price tags don’t protect horses. Lifetime commitment does.
And Freja has proven the point. Bred to a $2,000 stallion, she produced a filly who earned $50,000 in just five starts, and that filly has already produced two beautiful foals of her own — including a yearling colt who gives me tremendous hope for the future.
Today, Freja is retired from breeding after a difficult dystocia in 2022, but her legacy lives on in her daughter Lady Dyanaformer, Dyana’s foals, and the broader mission she inspired. Because of her, I went from a horse-loving amateur to a small breeder with three nursing foals, two mares due next year, and two yearlings preparing for training. More importantly, I became co-founder of Mareworthy Charities — now caring for 15 retired mares and accredited twice by Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) since we founded in 2022.
Freja’s story is my reminder every day: it’s not about what a horse sells for. It’s about the lifetime of recognition, care, and protection we owe them.
Imagine if the headlines also read:
✨ “Buyer sets aside a retirement account alongside a six-figure purchase.”
✨ “Million-dollar yearlings also add six-figure commitments to aftercare.”
✨ “This $10,000 filly came with a plan for her future beyond racing.”
That would change the conversation overnight. It would signal that our priorities extend beyond the sale ring and beyond the finish line. That kind of balance would strengthen public trust and show the world what so many of us already know: Thoroughbreds aren’t just financial investments — they’re partners, athletes, and lifelong companions.
Because the reality is this: aftercare still falls short of the need. Too often, organizations like Mareworthy must scrape together dollars once a horse’s racing or breeding days are over. And the irony is that the people with the least to spare are often the ones who give the most consistently.
If I can set up retirement accounts for our horses on a modest salary — and also work to engage the public as lifelong fans of their stories from foal to forever — surely those spending half a million dollars or more on a single yearling can make a similar commitment. Imagine if every sale included a built-in “pension contribution” for the horse. Imagine if every big purchase came with an equally big commitment to that horse’s future.
This isn’t about blame — it’s about opportunity. The chance to make racing’s narrative stronger. Because the public doesn’t fall in love with dollar signs. They fall in love with stories — with Zenyatta’s closing kick, with the gritty $5,000 yearling who outruns its page, with the mares who nicker for attention long after their foaling days are done.
We won’t be able to stop defending our industry until the public no longer feels the need to ask when a Thoroughbred earns a safe retirement. The answer should be clear — because we’ve been talking about their retirement from the very beginning, and we continue that commitment all throughout their lives.
—Kyle Rothfus
Horse Husband Stables | Mareworthy Charities
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