When will George Grayson be lead off in chains? Maybe he won’t be — maybe the president of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation hasn’t done anything wrong — but one thing’s for sure: there’s more to the story that Joe Drape reports in today’s Times (“Ex-Racehorses Starve as Charity Fails in Mission to Care for Them“). The foundation posted a $1.2 million deficit in 2009, and it has not been making payments to the stables that care for the horses, as a result of which many thoroughbreds are emaciated, and some have died.

“I was being emotionally blackmailed to lower my per diem, and was the subject of retribution because I questioned the care of the horses,” said Mrs. Hurst-Marsh, who is owed $10,000.

When Gayle England, whose farm in Stroud, Okla., is also highly regarded as a special-care facility, complained not only of the chronic slow pay but the general lack of regard for the farms and the horses, 26 T.R.F. horses were taken from her.

Last month, some of the horses in the worst shape were taken from other foundation farms and returned to the Hurst-Marsh farm and Ms. England. In fact, one of the 14 horses moved to England’s farm with the help and funding of the Mellon Estate had to be put down.

“They were making their administrative payroll this whole time, but the horses they were suffering,” Ms. England said. “They need to be held accountable.”

Mr. Terry, a Mellon estate trustee, said he still does not know what went wrong.

Drop me a line at rjk@dailyblague.com
This entry was posted on Friday, March 18th, 2011 at 10:30 am.