As has become a tradition in early October every year, retired racehorses took over Lexington’s Kentucky Horse Park this week for the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America.

More than 280 horses converged on the Kentucky Horse Park for the four-day horse show to compete in 10 different disciplines with the top five in each moving on to Saturday’s Finale. At the end of the competition, Big Fame and Angela Carmitchel from Arizona took home the top award as Thoroughbred Makeover Champion, sponsored by Churchill Downs Inc.

Thoroughbred Makeover Champion Big Fame (Erin Gilmore Photography)

The 5-year-old mare bred in California competed in both the Eventing and Show Jumper disciplines, winning Eventing during the Finale and finishing second in her other class. Carmitchel did note that there were some challenges with competing in Kentucky after preparing her horse in a desert state — a big one being that the mare had to adapt from the drier cross-country courses she’s used to in Arizona to a grassier cross-country course at the Kentucky Horse Park.

But those challenges didn’t hinder Big Fame much with her cross-country round good enough to see her finish fourth in preliminary competition before winning the Finale.

“She has got such a great brain, very athletic, willing, and smart,” Carmitchel told the Retired Racehorse Project after the victory. “She’s got the work ethic of a Thoroughbred!”

The win was extra special for Big Fame’s connections with her co-breeder Dr. Dorothee Kieckhefer owning her for her second career. While Big Fame had been successful on the track with two wins and four other top-three finishes in 13 starts, Kieckhefer always imagined a jumping discipline would fit the mare well.

“From the very beginning, I thought she would just make a wonderful jumper or eventing horse,” she said while watching the mare during preliminary competition. “She just has the presence for the ring, and I think she has a lot of fun! All of the trainers that had her said that she has a wonderful work ethic, but she never really raced in the top levels — she’s much better served in this area.”

Big Fame wasn’t the only horse who competed twice on Saturday with four horses overall making it to the Finale in the two disciplines. In all, 46 different horses made it to the Finale with three withdrawing before Saturday’s competition. Showing how versatile Thoroughbreds are, all four of the horses won at least one of those disciplines and three went on to finish second in the other.

Eagle Feather, Competitive Trail winner was second in Ranch Work. (Erin Gilmore Photography)

Eagle Feather was one of those horses, winning Competitive Trail and finishing second in Ranch Work. Finishing off the board in all three starts as a racehorse, the flashy gelding has shown that the western disciplines are where he belongs with owner and trainer Colton Thacker happy about how he handled the competition.

“I just wanted to be cool, calm, and collected and just do the best we could. That’s what we did! He was a champ and took everything in stride,” Thacker said. “He’s just a good old boy — so willing, so happy. He just always wants to please!”

Three-year-old In The Air was another who didn’t take to being a racehorse but found success in another competitive realm as the winner of the Field Hunters division.

In The Air went from the track to the show ring in only a matter of months, last racing in February of this year. The indoor arena where the Finale takes place can be scary for horses, but In The Air took it all in stride. He was able to see the ring earlier in the day with a Show Hunter round that had him finish second in that discipline before coming back to win Field Hunters.

“It was great. We had luckily just been in the ring for the show hunters, where we placed second, so I just trusted him and went out there and had some fun,” trainer Caitlan Brooks said. “He’s been lovely and consistent all week. He’s actually only 3, so there’s nothing more I could have asked for him!”

Comin’ Back, winner of Show Jumper discipline (Erin Gilmore Photography)

Show Jumper winner Comin’ Back lived up to his name when competing in two different disciplines in the Finale as well.

A winner on the track, he added a Show Jumper discipline win to his resume early on Saturday. The performance was a dominant one with the gelding’s score nearly 20 points higher than runner-up Big Fame.  He also finished third in the Show Hunters just five points behind the winning He Did It to end the week on a successful note.

“I’m really happy with it. I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to get him to settle down a little bit before the hunters, but I am really happy with him in the jumpers,” trainer Madison Barnett said after the Show Jumper victory. “Originally, I planned to do nine strides down the bending line, and it didn’t work out the first round. So, I stuck with the eight strides and that helped everything come up nicely.”

The other discipline winners at the show include Show Hunter winner He Did It, Dressage winner Flight to Paradise, Polo winner Baytown Ringer, Freestyle winner Pretty In Prado, Ranch Work winner Brooklyns Finest, and Barrel Racing winner Not Phar Now – that gelding by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.

The Retired Racehorse Project recently announced changes to next year’s competition with the competition eliminating the Finale. Instead, each discipline will have 10 horses make the discipline final in the competition area they competed in for the Preliminary round. The Thoroughbred Makeover Champion award will be discontinued with its prize money instead being divided among the disciplines to allow the RRP to pay down to sixth place.

Dates have yet to be announced for the 2025 Thoroughbred Makeover, though the application period for riders to join the event traditionally opens in early January.

The Jockey Club supports many aftercare initiatives including the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, the only accrediting body in aftercare, and Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.), which encourages the retraining of Thoroughbreds into other disciplines upon completion of careers. View all of the initiatives supported by The Jockey Club.