FTBOA

Medina Spirit (Protonico) was named the 2021 Florida-bred Horse of the Year in a vote by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association board of directors and announced at the FTBOA Awards Gala held Monday night at the Circle Square Cultural Center in Ocala. Bred in Florida by Gail Rice, who was honored with her second consecutive Needles Award Monday evening as the Association's small breeder of the year, and Medina Spirit's dam Mongolian Changa (Brilliant Speed) was also named the FTBOA Broodmare of the Year in a vote by...

Edited Press Release Well-respected Florida horseman George Isaacs has returned to the board of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association after a brief absence due to term limits. Laurine Fuller-Vargas of Morriston, George Russell of Reddick, T. Paul Bulmahn of Ocala and Nick de Meric of Ocala were re-elected to the board. They will each serve a three-year term that will run until October 2024. Leaving the board because of term limits is Richard Kent of Kaizen Sales. Isaacs is a past FTBOA board member and officer, who became...

Starship Jubilee (Indy Wind), a three-time Sovereign Award winner and Canada's Horse of the Year in 2019, was named Florida-bred Horse of the Year by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association. She also took home honors ad the Florida-bred champion older female and champion turf female for the third time in four years. Owned by Adam Corndorf and Bonnie Baskin's Blue Heaven Farm and trained by Kevin Attard, Starship Jubilee won her first four starts as a 7-year-old, taking the GIII Suwannee River S., the GII Hillsborough S. and...

Thirteen stakes races during Gulfstream Park's Championship Meet, including the GI Florida Derby, GII Fountain of Youth S., GII Gulfstream Park Oaks, GIII Fred W. Hooper S. and Sunshine Millions, will have bonuses for Florida-breds properly registered with the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association (FTBOA). A total of $400,000 in bonus money will be distributed throughout the meet beginning Jan. 9 with the GIII Tropical Turf. While a dozen of the races will have a $25,000 'win only' bonus, the $800,000 Florida Derby will have $100,000 in Florida-bred distributive...

Florida Thoroughbred Charities (FTC), the charitable arm of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association (FTBOA), has kicked off an online auction to benefit Thoroughbred retirement and youth education programs. Sponsored by FTBOA, as well as Horse Capital Television, Florida Equine Communications, and Kathleen O'Connell Racing Stables, the FTC auction has 57 items already up for bid and continues to add more. Featured items include halters worn by Justify, Speightstown, Wildcat Heir, and the 2019 filly out of Songbird by Arrogate. Original art pieces, racing memorabilia--including 1961 and 1978 Kentucky...

Congratulations to Robert Cole, one of three finalists in the Newcomer Award category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. Cole, an intern/co-op program student at Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association (FTBOA), retired after 20 years in the U.S. Coast Guard and went back to an early love for Thoroughbreds as he was considering his next career, saying he wanted to be immersed "in anything that was Thoroughbred racing." Cole was pursuing an equine exercise and physiology degree at the College of Central Florida when he...

Fred Brei and Milan Kosanovich will return to the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association board of directors while Bobby Jones, Francis Vanlangendonck and Dr. Fred Yutani all remain on the board for second terms. Each will serve a three-year term that will run until October 2023. Leaving the board because of term limits as outlined in the FTBOA by-laws were Barry Berkelhammer and Greg Wheeler. Wheeler will, however, remain on the board ex officio as a past president of the Association. Phil Matthews, DVM, was elected as the president...