United States Eventing Association

One month from now the Breeders’ Cup Festival begins in Lexington, Kentucky. The week of festivities begins with the TCA Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium at the Kentucky Horse Park where $100,000 in prize money will be distributed to owners of two hundred Thoroughbreds that have recently been trained in in ten different riding sports. The event is sponsored by Thoroughbred Charities of America and organized by Retired Racehorse Project (RRP).

The weekend is a celebration of the talent and trainability of the off-track Thoroughbred and includes ten seminars, seventy vendors, a marketplace of horses trained for the event, polo, show jumping, cattle work, dressage, barrel racing, eventing, competitive trail riding, show hunters, field hunters, and a freestyle event. A Sunday afternoon finale presents the top three scorers in each sport leading to the crowning of America’s Most Wanted Thoroughbred.

RRP today released the official schedule, including forty seminar presenters and twenty-five judges. Highlights include:

• Retired Jockey Rosie Napravnik competing on Makers Mark Secretariat Center’s Dare Me in the eventing competition,

• Premiere showing of Bernie Traurig and EventingCoach.com’s A Tribute to the Thoroughbred Sport Horse, featuring vintage footage of great Thoroughbred show horses with commentary from Hall of Fame riders,

• Seminars on soundness and pre-purchase exams, health, selling, managing aftercare organizations, a trainers’ forum, how racehorses are trained, tips for horse shopping on racetrack backsides, selecting prospects, England’s program to promote off-track Thoroughbreds, and re-training Thoroughbreds for a living, with

• Presentations by Stuart Brown, DVM, Michael Blowen, Eric Dierks, Louise Robson, Laine Ashker, Tik Maynard, Patricia Cooksey, Denny Emerson, and many more,

• Judging with commentary by Maggi Moss, Michael Dignelli, Graham Motion, Elisa Wallace, David Hopper, Bernie Traurig, and others,

• Off-Track Thoroughbred Magazine Launch Party at Horse Park Visitors Center with Shades of Grass Band, and

• A special demonstration by Olympian Phillip Dutton on Icabad Crane, the winner of the 2014 Retired Racehorse Project America’s Most Wanted Thoroughbred Contest.

For a full schedule of events and list of horses entered, go to RetiredRacehorseProject.org.

Press attending the TCA Thoroughbred Makeover should complete the press application on the RRP website linked here.

Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) works to facilitate placement of Thoroughbred ex-racehorses in second careers by increasing demand for them in the marketplace and inspiring an army of equestrians to provide the training that secures their futures. RRP offers online directories, educational resources, and public events. Its popular Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium is scheduled for October 23-25, 2015 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY and will also include a Thoroughbred Marketplace and the America's Most Wanted Thoroughbred Contest.www.retiredracehorseproject.org