Kentucky Neglect Case Under Investigation

As local and state authorities in Central Kentucky worked to see who is responsible for a case of neglected horses reportedly owned by trainer Maria Borell and/or her father, Chuck, others within the horse industry are marshaling forces to ensure the care of the animals and make attempts to have the horses relocated.

According to Rusty Ford, spokesman for the Kentucky state veterinarian’s office within the Department of Agriculture, investigators from that office have gathered information that demonstrates the horses on property in Mercer County have been abandoned. A June 27 meeting between department officials, the county attorney, and the sheriff’s department would seek to “determine what culpability there is and who has it,” Ford said the morning of June 27.

Because the case is under investigation, Ford said he could not provide further details, but he noted that since state and local officials took over the case June 2, they have been working with volunteers and other equine organizations to ensure that the horses are being properly maintained until the situation can be resolved. He said photographs posted on social media platforms accurately depict the condition of the approximately 40 horses.

According to USRacing.com, which first reported the case of the neglected horses in an article by Margaret Ransom and has since provided updates, the horses are on property that had been leased by Chuck Borell, whose daughter, Maria, saddled Gallery Furniture Stable’s Runhappy to win last year’s TVG Breeders’ Cup Sprint (gr. I). Maria Borell was subsequently dismissed as Gallery Furniture’s trainer and has filed litigation against owner James McIngvale.

“Though the owner of the horses is believed to be either Maria Borell and/or her father, for months the pair have pointed fingers back and forth regarding the ownership status of the horses, as well as who is responsible for their care,” US Racing reported. “However, in several recent text messages, Maria Borell has claimed the horses are hers and said ‘nobody is taking my horses.' ”

Supplies to help feed and bed the horses have come from various sources, and there is a Gofundme.com page set up for contributions: https://www.gofundme.com/AbandonedHorseFund.

USRacing.com reported the farm where the horses are currently housed was rented by Chuck Borell, “but many of the horses are listed as owned by Maria Borell or were entrusted to Maria’s care by previous owners. The Borells collectively moved the horses from one property to the other in early May and, while Maria hasn’t been seen on the Mercer County property since, Chuck Borell has visited a handful of times, according to volunteers, but provided no funds for feed or care.”

Efforts to reach Maria Borell were unsuccessful. A message on her cell phone voicemail said: "The person you are trying to reach is not accepting calls at this time."

As a result of the publicity surrounding the neglect case, Victoria Keith, assistant to prominent Thoroughbred owner Rick Porter, visited the property June 26 and said that she, Porter, and others in the industry were prepared to remove the horses from the property and take care of them, provided permission was granted by the officials in charge of the case.

“Rick and I have read the reports on the Borell horses, and we have worried about their well-being,” Keith wrote on the Fox Hill Facebook page. “We decided to get involved, with the first step being to go out and see the situation for ourselves. It was heart-breaking. I counted 41 horses on the property, with 36 of them being Thoroughbreds.

"I'd categorize 11 of the horses as being emaciated, and another 10 as being malnourished and/or notably lacking condition. The remaining, including the 5 non-Thoroughbreds, were in better flesh. These are my estimates, which I believe are conservative. A vet may scale them differently.

“The horses have not yet been seized by authorities, but they are under order that they cannot be moved. The sheriffs are allowing a small group to take care of the horses, and my understanding is that they are doing so at little or no pay. The paddocks are mostly dirt, but I witnessed plenty of hay there, which I was told was provided by the sheriff's office. I was told that what I was seeing was mostly an improvement with the horses gaining weight though there were a few exceptions. One horse was continuing to lose weight, for example, so one would assume she has internal issues that need to be addressed."

Keith in the Facebook post said she planned to attend the June 27 meeting and hopes the horses are permitted to go to foster homes for care.

"We know of one owner who has offered to take care of all the horses at his expense until they are re-homed, and we know of a number of other offers to foster the horses," she said. "If there is no resolution to the situation today, then we will be urging local and state authorities as well as entities within racing to resolve the matter and quickly. These horses deserve better and need our help."