Keeneland Spring Meet

Historic Keeneland (www.keeneland.com) in Lexington, KY is set to open for their 2007 Spring Meet on April 6th. The race meet will run through April 27th and includes 16 graded stakes races over the three week span. Three of these races are Grade 1!

Keeneland in April also serves as a distinct reminder to all race fans that the first Saturday in May can’t be far away!

So, whether it’s the Maker’s Mark Mile, the Toyota Bluegrass Stakes, the Wood Memorial, or the Kentucky Derby…we’ll see you at the races!!

Foaling Season in Full Swing

Spring has sprung here in the Bluegrass and that means the 2007 foaling season is in full bloom!

Contact our office to get the latest rates for all of the new additions to your stable.

Michael Levy interviewed for Rough Notes magazine

Muirfield Insurance of Lexington, Kentucky, is one of the largest equine insurance brokers in the country. The agency’s president Michael Levy, told Rough Notes that the primary coverage for race horses is All-Risk Mortality (ARM). “There is no coverage for loss of use for a race horse,” he said. “The coverage is for sickness or accident that results in a horse’s death. Writing loss of use coverage on a race horse just wouldn’t be good business considering the potential for loss that exists. Medical insurance is available for race horses once they are retired from racing. But while the horse is still performing as a racer, there is no medical insurance available.”

Levy said the largest single claim on a race horse was for Dubai Millennium, who died in April 2001 from grass sickness. The horse’s death brought in a claim for $36 million. In 1990, a great stallion named Alydar had to be put down when he kicked a wall in his stall, shattering his right hind leg. Owners at Calumet Farm said the horse’s temperament was always unpredictable and that probably contributed to leg injury.

Rough Notes asked Levy how the determination is made to put down a horse after a leg injury. In the case of Barbaro, a tremendous effort was made to keep the horse alive even though the owners had mortality insurance, which would have been paid in the event of the horse’s death.

“The decision is in the hands of the attending vet,” Levy said. “Whether or not there is insurance, if the vet determines there is a chance to save the horse’s life, the owner must make every effort to do so. The owner must incur the medical expenses, but often they’re not all that high. Besides, owners become very attached to a horse. They really care about the animal and want to do all that’s possible to keep the horse alive.”

(Rough Notes, October 2006)