12 Days of Giving- 2025

Our annual fundraiser, 12 Days of Giving, ended on Saturday. This year’s fundraiser surpassed our matching goals quite nicely. Read to the end to learn this year’s total.

This year’s horses

In 2025 we assisted in the retirement and rehoming of nine horses. We assisted in the retirement of four horses with Wasabi Ventures Stables. These included two homebreds, One with the Force and Comeback King, a claiming horse, Drifting, and a broodmare, Unrequited Love. We were there to help with each of those. Wasabi Aftercare helped two former WVS broodmares, Yes My Love and Starr Gate, find new homes with an assist from Second Stride. We also assisted in rehoming Whatta Notion and Tiz Out of Speight by working with After the Races. Finally, when the RACE Fund found a former broodmare, Kuznetsov, in a bad situation, we provided financial assistance to both groups that got Kuz into a safe place.

Our work didn’t stop there! On Saturday, the last day of our campaign, we learned that we had a new WVS horse to retire, Rapper Zapper. Rapper Zapper is a sound, six year old gelding, who just isn’t as interested in running. Now, we will work with New Start to help him find a more suitable role.

Track, track, track

During our 12 Days campaign, we highlighted other ways Wasabi Aftercare focuses on all WVS horses. One way is that we spend a considerable amount of time keeping track of our horses. Every workout, every entry, every race- they are all collected in spreadsheets. Additionally, we watch almost every race that former Wasabi horses and Wasabi-bred horses run. Having eyes on their performances in addition to reading the race charts proves to be beneficial.

Retiree news

Another way we stay connected with our horses is that we connect with owners and receive annual updates on over 50 WVS-affiliated retirees. The best part of these updates? Almost every owner tells me that he or she owns “the best horse ever.” I’m not going to tell any of them that others believe their horses holds that title.

Education in 2025

In addition to assisting in the safe retirement of WVS horses, we strive to educate the public about Thoroughbred aftercare in general. Over the year we conducted interviews that highlighted the work of over half a dozen non-profit aftercare groups. We are proud to promote the work that other groups accomplish in order to keep horses safe.

2025 fundraising results

This year we had four matching donors for a total of $7,000. All four of those were met and surpassed, thanks to the generosity of our club. We had 61 members combine to donate $18,532.71. This is over $4,000 more than we raised in 2024. I am humbled by this generosity and appreciate all this funding will allow us to do to keep our WVS horses safe and secure.