The International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses (IFAR) announced on 20 November that the fourth episode of the IFAR video magazine is now available. It features the debut of the International Thoroughbred Polo Championship and also showcases major Thoroughbred aftercare events in Australia and the United States.
The full episode, as well as a highlight reel, can be found on the IFAR website as well as on IFAR’s YouTube channel.
The International Thoroughbred Polo Championship, which was held at the Guards Polo Club in England this September, was designed to showcase the Thoroughbred’s agility and temperament for polo. In total, 55 Thoroughbreds bred to race and now retrained as polo ponies competed in the four classes accommodating different age groups. Richard Tyrone’s River won the 5-year-old class and then was crowned the winner of the entire event.
“Historically the best polo ponies in the world that have played the sport have been Thoroughbreds from the track,” said Tyrone. “When I first started to build a string to play polo professionally, I started traveling the country meeting breeders, stud managers, racehorse trainers, and owners, who were all looking for a similar thing in that they had a young Thoroughbred that wasn’t going to make it to the track for whatever reason. We’d take them on if we felt that they fit the bill for what we were looking for.”
The Thoroughbred Makeover in the United States and Equimillion in Australia are also highlighted in the new IFAR video newsletter.
Editor’s Note: Both videos are free to embed and use across websites and social media channels, provided proper credit is given to the International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses (IFAR).
International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses