Holiday Auction Benefits Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation

A halter once worn by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah is one of many items of Thoroughbred racing memorabilia offered in the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s online auction. Photo: American Pharoah – 2015 Belmont Stakes by Mike Lizzi on flickr.com/CC BY-SA 2.0

Is there someone on your holiday shopping list who would love to have American Pharoah’s halter or California Chrome’s saddle pad? If you’ve got some money to spend, you can be a gift-giving hero by shopping the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s online auction.

The auction ends on Monday, Dec. 5, so make sure to get your bid in soon.

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Although Thoroughbred racing memorabilia makes up a large amount of the auction offerings, there are a few things thrown in that will appeal to non-racing fans, too. Take a look at some of the items offered:

Secretariat’s Universal Horse ID photo from 1972
A riding lesson with Olympic show jumper Joe Fargis
Framed photo of Triple Crown winner Affirmed and his rival, Alydar, from the 1978 Kentucky Derby. Signed by jockeys Steve Cauthen and Jorge Valasquez
A tailgating spot for cross-country day at the 2017 Nations Cup at the Great Meadow International Three-Day Event in Virginia
Breyer models of Secretariat and Theodore O’Connor
Halters of legendary racehorses Songbird and American Pharoah

Proceeds from the online auction will go to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1983 with the mission “to save Thoroughbred horses no longer able to compete on the racetrack from possible neglect, abuse and slaughter.” TRF has rescued and rehomed thousands of horses in its history and currently has facilities in 13 states from coast to coast. Among its facilities are “TRF Second Chances Programs” where inmates at state correctional facilities receive vocational training in horse care and stable management working directly with the ex-racehorses.

Find out more about the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation at www.trfinc.com.

Shop the online auction at www.biddingforgood.com.

Leslie Potter is a writer and photographer based in Kentucky. www.lesliepotterphoto.com

7 years ago

Leslie Potter

Leslie Potter is a graduate of William Woods University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Equestrian Science with a concentration in saddle seat riding and a minor in Journalism/Mass Communications. She is currently a writer and photographer in Lexington, Ky.Potter worked as a barn manager and riding instructor and was a freelance reporter and photographer for the Horsemen's Yankee Pedlar and Saddle Horse Report before moving to Lexington to join Horse Illustrated as Web Editor from 2008 to 2019. Her current equestrian pursuits include being a grown-up lesson kid at an eventing barn and trail riding with her senior Morgan gelding, Snoopy.