Jay Hanley has spent a lot of the previous 20 years as a Thoroughbred racehorse proprietor serving to deliver new folks into the game. Now, he’s turning his consideration towards educating business professionals and informal followers on the plight of retired Thoroughbreds and the significance of aftercare.
Hanley funded and is govt producer of the one-hour documentary movie “Off Monitor: Destiny of a Racehorse,” which may have its world premiere screening Aug. 7 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Previously 20 years, aftercare has emerged as a hot-button situation for an business underneath siege from outdoors forces for not adequately caring for its equine athletes. Stopping horses from slipping by way of the cracks and winding up in slaughterhouses is paramount to the survival of Thoroughbred racing in North America. Rehoming, retraining, and rehabilitating retired runners is essential to not solely doing proper by the horse, but additionally to establishing an excellent status amongst a skeptical public.
“I’m hoping to open the eyes of individuals inside and out of doors the business on the place racehorses go once they’re retired,” mentioned Hanley. “Attempt to transfer the needle a little bit bit on the consciousness degree of homeowners, the overwhelming majority of whom – at the least those I do know – put the horses first. And get folks outdoors the business to know that we care, as a result of we do.”
Hanley, who owns a Nantucket, Mass.-based building firm, got here to prominence a decade in the past as co-owner of the 2017 champion turf feminine Girl Eli. He and co-owner Sol Kumin stepped as much as present long-term medical look after Girl Eli after she contracted a life-threatening case of laminitis. Hanley additionally co-owned twin champion and twin Breeders’ Cup winner Goodnight Olive. He has made it his mission to deliver dozens of buddies and acquaintances into Thoroughbred possession, most notably Kumin, who has gone on to grow to be one of the prodigious homeowners within the sport.
Hanley was drawn to documentaries as a studying device by his father, a reporter for the New York Instances; and his mom, who was a instructor. He needs to ship a message by way of this movie, which is his first such endeavor.
“The concept got here from my horses,” Hanley mentioned. “The fillies I’ve raced all the time appear to discover a good house, however the colts and geldings are a distinct story. You don’t all the time know the place they go, and I misplaced monitor of a few of them. Quite a lot of these horses make improbable strides of their second careers, deliver pleasure and happiness to folks. That’s what I need to spotlight.”
Though Hanley began out telling the story of people serving to horses, the script flipped alongside the best way into one which highlights how horses might help people.
“It’s about that magical connection, which I needed to discover by way of retired racehorses,” Hanley said.
Hanley engaged the providers of Saratoga-based filmmaker John Wager to provide and direct the documentary. Wager beforehand directed “Comedy Warriors: Therapeutic By way of Humor,” a movie about wounded veterans who used comedy as a part of their therapeutic course of. That movie gained awards at a number of movie festivals and was picked up by Showtime. Wager instantly noticed parallels between that movie and “Off Monitor: Destiny of a Racehorse.”
As a part of the Thoroughbred documentary, Wager filmed not solely at retraining and rescue services however at New York’s Wallkill Correctional Facility, which, along side the Thoroughbred Retirement Basis, runs a long-established equine-therapy program that helps inmates rebuild belief by working with horses. He additionally shot at places the place veterans battling post-traumatic stress dysfunction work together with horses to assist middle them emotionally.
“The human connection and power and the therapeutic a part of the horses, you possibly can’t even clarify it verbally,” Wager said. “However we attempt to put it throughout within the movie. Hardened prisoners who’ve horses assist them with their anger and belief points. And horses working with veterans.
“This movie is a portal for informal followers to enter into this world and witness the particular connection.”
The movie was shot at places in New York, Florida, Kentucky, Colorado, and Eire. In chatting with followers at racetracks, Wager famous he was taken by what number of didn’t notice that horses can stay 25 or 30 years previous their racing careers, and didn’t know the place they went after leaving the monitor. The filmmakers have additionally obtained suggestions from take a look at screenings with audiences made up of individuals outdoors the racing world.
“The overwhelming response was that individuals didn’t notice the battle of discovering houses for these horses, and needed to know what they may do to assist,” Wager mentioned. “It’s inspiring to listen to that, as a result of they linked emotionally. We began taking pictures this two years in the past, and what stands out is how exhausting the aftercare group works. And so they’re not doing it for the cash, that’s for certain.”
Hanley’s objective in making “Off Monitor: Destiny of a Racehorse” is to maneuver the business ahead by spotlighting certainly one of its most susceptible areas.
“Whether or not you’re an individual or an organization or an business or a rustic, it’s crucial to take a tough look inside your self, discover your weaknesses, and make them higher. In the event you’re afraid to try this, you’re going to fail,” Hanley mentioned.
“We’re taking an unbiased take a look at the great and the unhealthy that may occur to Thoroughbreds. We’ve made nice strides as an business, and there are extra strides to be taken. The extra we are able to get the message on the market, the extra locations we are able to set up the place horses can go, the extra assist we may give to each horses and folks.”
Whereas Hanley hopes to get as many eyeballs on the movie as doable, that should wait some time. He and Wager mentioned their instant plan is to use for entrance into quite a few movie festivals across the nation. To stay eligible for these festivals, they can’t maintain a public screening of the movie. The concept is to be accepted to festivals, garner constructive critiques, and hopefully make a take care of a streaming entity. Down the road, they wish to present “Off Monitor: Destiny of a Racehorse” to horseman’s teams, veterans’ organizations, and others occupied with rehabilitating each horses and people.
The Aug. 7 screening in Saratoga is for a personal viewers of about 170 folks. However those that wish to keep linked to the documentary can go to offtrackfilm.com to get info on pageant screenings and, in the end, distribution availability.
“It is a ardour venture,” Hanley said. “There are moments that hit you proper within the coronary heart, and it’s a window for folks to care about horses.”
