Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Named Official Charity of 2016 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event

Retired racehorse Smart Gorky is one of many off-the-track Thoroughbreds who has been successful at Rolex Kentucky. (Photos by Melissa Bauer-Herzog)
Edited press release
On Thursday, Rolex Kentucky announced that the Lexington, Ky.-based Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) has been named the official charity of the 2016 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event Presented by Land Rover. Rolex Kentucky has donated $10,000 to TAA in support of its work.
Known as the “Best Weekend All Year,” the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event returns to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky., April 28- May 1, 2016. The 2016 event is an official trial for the 2016 Olympics.
“The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event has a long-standing policy of supporting the local community and we consider it very important for us to give back and assist non-profit organizations,” said Stewart Perry, President of Equestrian Events, Inc. (EEI), organizer of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. “This partnership with TAA is especially exciting for us because it allows us to support many equine organizations, not only in Kentucky, but across the entire country.”
The TAA supports 501(c) 3 charitable organizations across the country that retire, retrain and re-home Thoroughbreds. TAA has awarded over $3.4-million to accredited organizations in the past two years and currently supports 42 accredited organizations across 130 facilities in the United States.  In 2016, the TAA will add another 14 accredited aftercare organizations to the list. 
GLEAMING ROAD AT ROLEX KENTUCKY

Each accredited organization is inspected by TAA and a team of veterinarians, and all must meet or exceed the requirements of operation, education, horse care management, facility standards, and services and adoption policies and protocol.
Retired racehorses from TAA accredited organizations are re-homed everyday and are retrained to be successful in Show Jumping, Dressage, Eventing, Combined Driving, Endurance and Polo, as well as Western disciplines, affording each of them the opportunity to have a second career.
“The generosity of EEI’s support of the TAA further highlights the significance and importance of what the TAA initiative is all about,” said Jimmy Bell, Darley America and TAA President. “What better way to continue raising national awareness of the TAA than through one of Lexington’s premier events, the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event.”
The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event is designated as a Four-Star Eventing competition by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (International Equestrian Federation – FEI), a designation given only to the Olympic Games, World Championships, and six annual events around the world. Rolex Kentucky is the only Four Star Event in the Western Hemisphere.
Each year, many of the world’s leading horses and riders compete at Rolex Kentucky for their share of $350,000 in prize money as well as a shot at the $350,000 Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing, which is awarded to the rider who wins the Rolex Kentucky, Mitsubishi Badminton and Land Rover Burghley Four Star Events in succession.
THOROUGHBREDS AT THE 2015 ROLEX KENTUCKY EVENT