The destinations of Thoroughbred (TB) racehorses exiting the racing industry is a high-profile issue with ethical and welfare implications of interest to both animal welfare groups and racing regulators. This cross-sectional study investigated the reasons that TBs temporarily or permanently exited racing and training in Australia in the 2017–2018 racing season and the outcomes for these horses post-racing. An online questionnaire was sent to the last registered trainers of a representative sample of 2,509 ‘inactive’ TBs. Inactive horses were defined as those horses that were recorded as ‘active’ but had not trialled or raced in the last 6 months of the racing season or had an inactive status recorded in the Racing Australia database. Of the 1,750 responses received, the largest group of inactive TBs had permanently exited the racing industry (45% retired, 5.3% deceased). A relatively large group exited racing temporarily (43%) but participated in the racing industry in the following season. The reasons for retirement were predominantly voluntary, such as poor performance or owner’s request. Almost one third of retirements were due to injuries with tendon or ligament problems the most frequently conditions listed. The median age at retirement was five (Q1 4; Q3 7) years. Extrapolation of the survey results to the population of horses racing or training in Australia in 2017–2018 (n = 37,750) show that that 17% of the population retire each year and 2.1% die. These estimates provide benchmarks for industry and animal welfare organisations to resource and measure the effectiveness of interventions.

The reasons for Thoroughbred (TB) horses not entering training or exiting the racing industry, are of interest to regulators, welfare groups and the broader community. Speculation about the outcomes of these horses threatens the community acceptance, or social license, of the TB breeding and racing industries. A representative survey of the 2010 Victorian born TB foal crop was used to determine the outcomes and reasons for exit for horses that had not entered training, or had exited training and racing by eight years of age. Horses exported for racing or breeding (4%), or that were still actively racing (7%) at the start of the follow up period were excluded from the study. An online questionnaire was sent to breeders or trainers of 3,176 TB horses eligible for enrolment in the study. Of the 2,005 (63%) responses received, the two most frequent outcomes were that the horse had either been retired or rehomed (65%), or deceased (16%). For the 1,637 TB horses that had entered training, the majority of retirements were voluntary (59%), followed by involuntary retirements due to health disorders (28%). For TBs that did not have an industry record of entering training ( n = 368), death (34%), or retirement or being rehomed (27%), were the most frequent barriers to entering training. The median age of retirement for TBs that raced was five (Q1 4; Q3 6) years regardless of sex, or whether their first race start was at two, three or four years of age. Relatively large numbers of horses voluntarily retiring at five-years of age suggests that industry-level, rather than individual horse-level factors are the predominant influences on racing career duration.

Currently, there is a paucity of data on the barriers for Australian Thoroughbred horses transitioning from stud farm to racetrack. This paper reports the reasons why horses failed to enter race training and documents their exit destinations. Biographical records of Australian Thoroughbred horses born in 2014 were investigated to determine the number of horses that had not officially entered race training by the start of the 4-year old racing season (1 August 2018). Of the 13,677 foals born in 2014, 66% had commenced training and 51% had raced before the beginning of their 4-year-old season in Australia. A sampling frame based on the post code of the premises where foals were born and records from Racing Australia were used to select a geographically representative sample of the 2014 Australian Thoroughbred foal crop (n = 4,124). From the population eligible for sampling 1,275 horses that had not entered training were enrolled in the survey and their breeders were sent an online questionnaire with follow-up phone calls for those who had not responded. Of the 633 responses (50% of 1275) the most frequent outcomes for horses were: death (38%, n = 239), participation in the racing industry in their 4-year old racing season (24%, n = 154) and retirement (16%, n = 100) either as Australian Stud Book (ASB) bloodstock (n = 17), or as horses rehomed outside the Thoroughbred industry (n = 83). Illness or injury was the most frequent reason for horses not entering race training that were ASB bloodstock, rehomed or deceased. There was a loss of traceability at the point of sale with most horses sold at 1 year of age. This study provides important information on the reasons, alternative outcomes and gaps in traceability for horses not entering training prior to the 4-year-old racing season.

The proportion of Thoroughbred (TB) horses that commence training and eventually race, is an important industry-level indicator of how successful it is at producing horses suitable for racing. It is also of interest to the wider community and is central to the issue of whether there is overbreeding in the Australian TB industry. This study investigated the training and racing records for the 2005 and 2010 Victorian TB foal crops to determine the proportion of TBs that train and race, and the age of entering training and first race start. Subsets of the foal crop were also examined to determine if premier yearling sale cohorts would produce selection bias. The Australian Stud Book (ASB) registered 7662 TB horses born in Victoria in 2005 (n = 4116) and 2010 (n = 3546). Of these, 5614 (73%) entered training and 4868 (64%) started in at least one race. Fourteen percent (n = 1045) of the study cohort had their first race start as 2-year-olds and 35% (n = 2644) had their first start as 3-year-olds. A higher proportion of TB horses that attended premier yearling sales entered training (93%) and raced (84%). This study established a baseline for training and racing milestones, such as the proportion and age that horses commenced training, and age of first start using population-level data. It also established that the use of subsets of the population can introduce selection bias.

Introduction The social licence of the Australian thoroughbred (TB) industry relies on the general public's perception of how they manage the animal in their care. Method This study examines the horse, race and activity records for the 37,704 horses racing and training in Australia from 1 August 2017 to 31 July 2018. Three‐quarters (75%, n = 28,184) of TBs started in one of the 180, 933 race starts that occurred during the 2017–2018 Australian racing season. Results Horses participating in the 2017–2018 Australian racing season had a median age of 4 years, with geldings more likely to be aged 5 years and older. The majority of the TB racehorse population were geldings (51%, n = 19,210), with 44% (n = 16,617) females and only 5% (n = 1877) entire males. Horses aged 2 years were three times more likely to not start in a race in that year compared with older horses. At the end of the 2017–2018 racing season, 34% of the population had an inactive status recorded. Horses aged 2 years (median two starts) and 3 years (median five starts) had fewer starts than older horses (median seven starts). Eighty‐eight percent (n = 158,339) of race starts were over distances of 1700 metres or less. Race starts by horses aged 2 years (46%, 3264 of 7100) were more likely to have occurred at a metropolitan meeting compared with starts by older horses. Conclusion This study provides a national overview of the racing and training activities and TBs participating in the 2017–2018 Australian racing season.