Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance honored with Special Eclipse Award

By: SPORTS NETWORK

New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) has been chosen to receive the Special Eclipse Award for 2013 for its work involving thoroughbreds after their racing careers are over.

The honor will be presented during the 43rd annual Eclipse Awards on Saturday, Jan. 18 at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

"The TAA has made extraordinary progress in ensuring safe and stable adoption, retraining and retirement opportunities," said Alex Waldrop, president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, which administers the Eclipse Awards. "The industry has demonstrated a newfound willingness to proactively address our most critical issues and the TAA is a prime example of this cooperative spirit. Every racehorse deserves proper care for the entirety of its natural life and all of us who derive our livelihoods from them share the responsibility of providing as much."

The TAA is being recognized for its work as an "accrediting body for aftercare facilities that care for thoroughbreds following their racing careers and a fundraising body to support the approved facilities."

"This is a tremendous honor for the TAA, and great recognition of the substantial achievements this organization has made," said Jack Wolf, TAA Board President and Co-Managing Partner of Starlight Racing. "In under two years we have successfully assembled a top-notch team and signed on supporters from across the industry, enabling us to accredit 23 thoroughbred aftercare facilities and award $1 million in grants to support the great work they are doing to care for our retired racehorses. While there is much work ahead of us, this award is an opportunity to celebrate our successes and thank our donors, supporters, and the TAA team for their hard work and dedication to fulfilling the TAA's mission."

The Eclipse Awards are voted on by the NTRA, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters.