Beyond the glitz of the racetrack lies a lesser-seen chapter of a racehorse’s journey—retirement.
Just as a person faces new realities after stepping away from a lifelong career, so too do these equine athletes when their racing days are over.
Newton works with new arrival, Rio Querari (Pic – 4Racing)
The Western Cape Equine Trust’s rehoming programme offers a lifeline by finding new homes and new purposes for off-the-track thoroughbreds.
This is a journey that demands time, expertise, and resources—plenty of them. From reschooling to meet the needs of new owners to managing injuries, every retired racehorse has a number of needs.
The WCET differs from its peers in that its focus is specifically on rehoming former track racers, rather than stabling and caring for large numbers of rejected, abused horses and donkeys.
WCET Chairman, Ken Truter, noted that they have been raising funds to help improve the lives of retired runners since the late 1990s, when the late Aubrey Jacobs launched the venture.
Truter said: “We were initially based at Philippi, but we relocated to more suitable facilities at Sivalé Stables in Klapmuts, near Paarl. We have established a comprehensive re-homing procedure, designed to match each horse with the right new owner to ensure a smooth transition from racehorse to riding horse.”
Newton Phillips ‘horse listener’ (Pic – 4Racing)
The programme is managed by veteran horseman Newton Phillips and a number of volunteers, including creative marketing professional, Brittany Penebre. They devote up to six mornings a week to the task, as a labour of love.
The most recent track star to be rehomed was multiple Grade 1 winner Trip Of Fortune (Trippi), who has moved to a livery yard near George in the Southern Cape and is now owned by a 16-year-old girl and her family.
Brittany said: “We do comprehensive vetting of premises to ensure that our horses will adapt to their new environments. We also ensure that new owners are the right match for their chosen horses. There must be a synergy and we ask them to spend time at Sivalé Stables with us to build a relationship with the horse. On occasion, we’ve had to turn people away due to unsuitability.”
In the case of Trip Of Fortune, the rehoming procedure was quick and relatively easy. He is a relaxed and gentlemanly gelding who didn’t require much training before he was moved his new home, and his new owner was a perfect fit.
Trip Of Fortune was an exception, however. At any given time, the WCET have 10-12 horses in their care, and most need extensive re-training and injury care before they can be moved on.
This process can take up to six weeks or more, and the expertise of Newton Phillips is drawn upon.
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