By Dick Jerardi
Just appearing at the annual Thoroughbred Makeover in Lexington, Kentucky is a victory for the hundreds of retired thoroughbreds and their owners from around the country that participate. Placing in the top 10 in one of the 10 disciplines is a testament to how quickly former race horses can adapt to a new environment and thrive.
Six Turning For Home graduates were at the Kentucky Horse Park last week. Three finished in the top 10 after the preliminaries last Wednesday and Thursday and moved on to the Saturday Finals.
“Roman Empire was in Competitive Trail,” said TFH program administrator Danielle Montgomery, who was in Kentucky for the Makeover.
“He was our top Turning For Home Makeover horse because he finished second in the preliminary and third in the final. It was super crazy competitive.”
El Hermano made it to two finals, finishing third in Freestyle and 10th in Show Jumper. Pennsylvania bred Moctezuma Island never made it to the races before being placed with Turning For Home. But he had real success in the Makeover, just missing the finals in Freestyle when 11th and finishing seventh overall in Ranch Work.
“Jacohare, Dawson and El Dollar who all showed up, showed well, did fantastic, had a great time, but didn’t make it back to the finals,” Montgomery said.
The Makeover is for retired horses that last raced or worked approximately 18 months before the event.
“The thing about the Retired Makeover Project, it’s mostly an educational and promotional organization,” Montgomery said. “The Makeover has a fantastic website and fantastic following. What they’re really good at is supporting these trainers and really giving them all the ins and outs of racehorses because ex-racehorses are different than every other breed.
“They’re trained differently, they’re trained for speed first. What’s really great about the Makeover is that it’s a really great forum for trainers to learn more about what it takes to transition a race horse and why they’re so cool. They’re of great value because they have already done so much.”
Even with one of the “TFH Six” not having raced, the other five combined for 187 starts. Dawson did not win in six starts against thoroughbreds. El Dollar was just 1-for-26 on the track. But records have never been the point of TFH or the Makeover. It’s about finding second careers for these horses who often live for 20 more years after retirement.
El Hermano, who began his career with Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, raced 61 times from April 12, 2019 until December 10, 2024. His last trainer, Silvino Ramirez liked the horse so much that he claimed him three different times. El Hermano finished first 13 times, with 11 seconds, five thirds and earnings of $401,943.
Jacohare raced 45 times at Parx in a career that included 59 starts from January 2021 until August 2025. He won nine times and earned $225,410.
Roman Empire was claimed from Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher in January 2022 and eventually ended up at Parx with trainer Carlos Guerrero. The horse finished his career with 35 starts, five wins and $154,655 in earnings.
Turning For Home was the title sponsor of the Makeover’s Double Warm Up Arena where the horses got space to get ready for the competition. TFH, the model aftercare program based at a race track, is closing on 5,000 horses coming through the program on their way to finding second homes and second careers. And not long after they begin that second career, a few of those TFH horses end up at the Kentucky Horse Park every fall to show how far they have come in a very short time.
