Retirement of a race horse

The Board of Thoroughbred Racing NT (TRNT), at its meeting on 13 November, committed to the introduction of a 1% prizemoney levy to support its equine welfare initiatives. This levy will commence from 1 January 2020.

Thoroughbreds are incredibly versatile animals and their athleticism opens opportunities once their racing days are over, including:

• Equestrian pleasure such as showing, dressage, show jumping, eventing, polocrosse, western pleasure
• Companion or therapy horses for the Riding for the Disabled
• Working horses such as Clerks of the Course, stock work horses and police horses

There are many clubs and associations within the Northern Territory that can assist with the retraining of off the track horses, and a program is presently being developed by TRNT to further assist with this process.

It is a requirement under the Australia Rules of Racing that when horses are retired, a retirement or deceased notification is lodged with Racing Australia. This is to ensure that all racehorses in the Territory can be traced whether they are racing or not.