Donna Brothers

Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance elected new officers and five new directors at its meeting on Dec. 16. Beginning January 1, 2025, Walter S. Robertson, Jr. will assume the role as President of Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. Robertson, a member of the law firm Stites & Harbison, PLLC, has been involved with Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance since 2018. Robertson's legal practice focuses on equine law, commercial finance, corporate finance and securities, corporate general services, and mergers and acquisitions. In addition to his legal career, he has experience in multiple breeds of the equine industry...

The Horse Racing Women's Summit (HRWS) hosted their second event of the year with panels and networking opportunities taking place at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame on Tuesday, July 23 in Saratoga Springs, New York, the organization said in a Wednesday release. "To be clear, this is not an event where women get together to discuss female challenges," said Shona Rotondo, Chair of the HRWS Marketing & Communications Committee. "It's an event that brings together intelligent and successful industry professionals to discuss the challenges of our...

The Backside Learning Center will host its third annual Derby Handicapping Social at the Louisville Thoroughbred Society Apr. 16 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The event features a Kentucky Derby 150 handicapping seminar with a panel of the industry's top experts: FanDuelTV's Caton Bredar, Churchill Downs' Joe Kristufek, and FanDuelTV's Gabby Gaudet, with NBC's Donna Barton Brothers moderating. In addition to handicapping, the event serves as a social hour to mingle with owners, trainers and connected leaders in the Thoroughbred industry and also includes a bourbon raffle with complimentary hors d'oeurves and...

As 2023 draws to a close, the TDN is asking industry members to name their favorite moment of the year. Send yours to suefinley@thetdn.com "The Breeders' Cup. Going in, so many races looked ultra-competitive, and the results bore out with exciting stretch runs and thrilling finishes. When I'm on horseback, I don't get to see the stretch run, so all I have is Larry Collmus's race call, which, in so many of the races, had me guessing about who the winner would be until they literally hit the wire. In...

NBC Sports will feature 7 1/2 hours of coverage for the 149th GI Kentucky Derby, both on NBC and the NBC-owned Peacock Network on Saturday. Coverage begins at noon EDT. Additionally, Peacock and the USA Network will offer live coverage of Friday's GI Kentucky Oaks beginning at 1:00 p.m. EDT. Over the two days, NBC Sports will present 15 live races from Churchill Downs and for the first time, Telemundo Deportes will present coverage of the Derby, beginning Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET on Universo, and streaming on TelemundoDeportes.com and...

Frank Brothers will retire from his roles as a bloodstock agent and a member of Keeneland's yearling inspection team, he announced Friday morning in a press release. "I'm fortunate that my health is good," he said. "I'm 76 years old and quite content to take a seat in the viewing area and watch the game for a while." After training horses from 1980 to 2009, Brothers moved into his current role of selecting horses for a few clients before ultimately partnering with Starlight and StarLadies Racing for the past 13...

As part of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA)'s month-long Holiday Giving Campaign, Donna Brothers has pledged to match all donations up to $2,500 made to the TAA on Dec. 9. "At the end of the day, our industry will be judged by how well we take care of our athletes," said former jockey, author, and reporter for NBC Sports, Donna Brothers. "Not only while they are racing and 'useful' to us, but especially when they are most vulnerable: at the end of their racing careers. Many of these horses make...

Beginning in 1980, Frank Brothers trained Thoroughbreds for nearly 30 years. During that time, he amassed a career win percentage of just over 23%, with 2,291 races to his credit, including 262 stakes victors of which 50 were graded. Chief among them was Hansel (Woodman), a multiple Grade I winner of the Preakness S. and Belmont S., who was the 1991 three-year-old Champion. Others in his barn included Grade I winners like Secret Hello (Private Account), Arch (Kris S.), Oath (Known Fact), Madcap Escapade (Hennessy), First Samurai (Giant's Causeway), and...

StreamHorseTV will welcome additional special guests to the roster for its Trailblazing Horsewomen: Racing Edition, a 90-minute livestream featuring conversations with extraordinary women in horse racing about the past, present and future for women in the industry. The event is sponsored Starlight/StarLadies Racing. NBC equine sports analyst and former jockey Donna Brothers, pioneering female jockey Diane Crump, Hall of Fame trainer Janet Elliot, racing's winningest female jockey and Hall of Famer Julie Krone, and steeplechase veteran Jo Motion will be joined by Patti Barton--the leading female jockey in the United...

The third session of the International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses' (IFAR) virtual conference series concluded Tuesday following speeches on the various paths for Thoroughbreds in different countries at the conclusion of their racing careers. This session was the third in a series of four webinars that compose the 2021 IFAR Conference. The webinar, "Global Insights on Aftercare (Aftercare Providers, Equine Charities)," was moderated by Donna Brothers, who is part of the horse racing coverage team for NBC Sports in the United States. The list of speakers consisted of...

The Thoroughbred Safety Coalition has added eight medical and operational reforms to its platform. The group's Steering Committee, made up of executives from the Breeders' Cup, Churchill Downs Incorporated, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Keeneland Association Inc., the New York Racing Association (NYRA) and The Stronach Group, voted unanimously to adopt the reforms with the ultimate goal of uniform implementation across racing jurisdictions. The following reforms have been added to the Coalition's platform: Strengthen race entry and eligibility requirements; Work with state racing commissions to apply racing regulations surrounding prohibited substances...

The steering committee of the Thoroughbred Safety Coalition met in Florida and reports progress in developing a framework for the implementation of reforms while approving four new members and adding a familiar face within the industry in a leadership role. With the objective of furthering and continuing to add to the reform initiatives announced late last year, the coalition Steering Committee has begun outlining a formal process to evaluate and institute future reforms in the areas of medication, transparency, track surfaces and racing operations. Members are currently meeting with stakeholders...