2020 Goals: Pavla Nygaard

It's no secret that racing had a tough year in 2019. We asked a cross-section of participants what their number one goal is to make racing better in 2020. (Want to participate? Email suefinley@thetdn.com)

PAVLA NYGAARD OWNER OF THOR-BRED STABLES AND OCALA JOCKEY CLUB
My number one goal for racing in 2020 is to formulate a 10-year vision for the future, break down what specific steps and alliances it would take to achieve that vision, and take proactive responsibility for doable daily steps towards getting there. In doing so, I am sure that we will find more of what unites us than what divides us. I hope that we can work to replace knee-jerk reactions with principled actions that we can stand behind with fans, media and our own best angels. While this exercise is most impactful for the leadership organizations within the current horse racing structures, it is just as useful for us individual owners, breeders, bettors, facility managers, and casual fans. Everyone counts, and everyone can make things better by being proactive. As Michael Blowen from Old Friends told me, “Everything is really quite simple when we start and end with what is good for the horse.” It is important for this vision to be long enough out in the future that we can go through a few breeding and racing cycles before getting there. Otherwise, current limitations and fears are likely to set us back, such as when we set valuable goals to get rid of Lasix to appease the rightfully concerned public, but knowing full well that our current racing population has horses that may not be able to race effectively without Lasix and we face field size issues even without taking that population (estimated to me by racetrack vets at a sizable 13% to 17%) out of the available racing pool. It is difficult to take bold actions when we don't have current better alternatives, but with human ingenuity, we can likely come up with them when we have a far-out vision that allows us to dream without short-term constraints about how the vision may come about. Just as a ship can spend weeks or months traveling through a vast ocean when the GPS is set to its destination, I believe that our industry and individual participants can handle temporary challenges better when we know where we want to go. Anyone who makes it their life's work to be around gorgeous animals 10 times bigger, stronger and faster than them can surely look our current issues squarely in the eye and make this industry relevant and beautiful for the modern times.

I was inspired by reading about David Stern, the former NBA Commissioner who passed away recently and who is widely credited for leading the NBA through small viewership and scandals to the popular and financial juggernaut it is today. Sound familiar in that we have a potential for crossroads, but can choose a pathway of leadership? We have so much astounding talent in the bench of our ownership base alone, I know that we can stage more than just mere industry survival if we focus on it. Our industry, by its nature, is very reactive. Information can change on daily basis. Surprises good and bad are plentiful, as one weekend's win or good sale can pay our bills or a loss can set us back the same or worse. We are often vulnerable to forces completely outside of our own control. We may have planned a great mating, but can suffer financially if the horse's sire goes cold, just as much as we can benefit from the same if we are lucky and that sire is popular. News is often negative over positive and can force us to change course on a dime. It is a 24/7 occupation and it is a challenge to look past the next colic patrol or sales cycle. It is easy to get discouraged when we plunk down five or six figures for a horse or stud fee, and get an unsellable horse with a large OCD in the wrong place or a slow racehorse instead of the million-dollar superstar that we were hoping for. It is difficult to feel smart or have a sense of vision when a sickness, injury or breakdown changes best-laid plans. We have experienced all of those in 2019 in our own operations, topped by the very public and sensationalized loss of GISW Battle of Midway, the best horse we have bred to date and, as Jerry Hollendorfer told me before the 2017 Kentucky Derby, the best horse we are likely to have bred. I hope to still prove Jerry wrong some day and get another chance at glory at that level, but I am also humble enough to know how many things it takes to go right for it to happen. It all becomes even more complicated when there is a small but vocal army of funeral-veiled activists announcing the worst of our worst issues with megaphones amplified by main stream media and social media, without acknowledging the many positive aspects or presenting remotely realistic alternatives and solutions. This industry has never been for the faint-hearted in the first place, but now we are in a position to either cower to the negative forces eager to push us around, or to put our big boy pants on and chart our desired destination.

For me, my 10-year vision is to breed, raise, sell and race sound and healthy horses with the foundation to thrive through multi-year campaigns at the highest levels, retire sound and have good outcomes in their post-racing lives, whether in the breeding shed or in second careers. To achieve that vision, I will continue to look at what decisions, resources, learning, research, feedback, locations, alliances, organizations and relationships are most likely to support where I want to go. I will treat failures with as much dignity as the successes, and use them as useful feedback rather than a reason to give up. I will be focused on the necessary process needed to get towards that vision, and I will judge results by the process rather than any single short-term result. We depend on luck even more than daily hard work in racing, but I believe that an honest and bold 10-year vision is what provides both the inspiration and the practical framework required to rise above bad luck and temporary challenges. 2030, here we come.