A situation in South Florida has raised questions about the intersection between public opinion and trainer opinion when it comes to horse welfare. Readers may remember the name of Green Gratto, who won the Grade 1 Carter in 2017 at the age of seven. He raced 12 times in the year after that win before dropping in the ranks to run in a claiming race at Aqueduct, where he finished third. Green Gratto was then sold privately and became a stallion prospect in New York, where he failed to get any mares in foal.
Tamara Levy, Green Gratto’s trainer, explained that after the horse was unable to perform at stud, he was sent to pasture in Kentucky, where she believes he did not receive the best of care. The horse’s connections then sent him to Ocala to be sold at auction. The horse went through the sale and was purchased by Liz and Norman Wilson, who brought him to their farm in Florida and focused on returning him to good health.
After a full reproductive workup showed the stallion could not stand at stud, he was gelded and again retired. Green Gratto was not happy with retired life, running the fences and acting aggressively toward other horses. Then Wilson discovered that race training made him much more pleasant; Green Gratto put on weight and was legged up to a quarter-mile work. Before Wilson sent the horse to Levy to train, he had a complete physical, which he passed; he was then shipped to Gulfstream Park West, where he eventually breezed and cooled out well, Levy told the Daily Racing Form.
While in training, Green Gratto’s story reached social media and the backlash that took place over the 9-year-old running again was swift. As a result, officials determined that he could not race at Gulfstream Park or Gulfstream Park West, though other horses the same age are racing on tracks throughout the United States.
All this has Levy wondering — is the thing that makes social media users happiest really the right thing for the horse?
Read more at DRF.
New to the Paulick Report? Click here to sign up for our daily email newsletter to keep up on this and other stories happening in the Thoroughbred industry.
Copyright © 2019 Paulick Report.
