The Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders (KTOB) Foundation announced May 1 that it will invest $250,000 in the University of Kentucky’s (UK) Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center.

The gift will be matched by the university and will enable the Gluck Center to renovate an equine infectious disease research laboratory.

The KTOB Foundation and the Gluck Center will also create a partnership facilitating a joint response in the event of an equine crisis. The renovated laboratory is essential to that response.

“Over the years, the support received by the Gluck Equine Research Center from the KTA (Kentucky Thoroughbred Association)/KTOB has proved invaluable and essential to our world-renowned faculty in fulfilling our mission to enhance the well-being of the equine,” said Stuart Brown, DVM, veterinarian and chair of the Gluck Equine Research Foundation Board. “This most recent contribution will continue to allow us to sustain this commitment in meeting the challenges that face our stakeholders, whenever they may occur, in caring for their horses on a daily basis.”

The Gluck Equine Research Center is the only scientific institute in the United States with nearly all of its faculty conducting full-time equine health and disease research. It is critical that its scientists be on the cutting edge of technology and ready to respond to any crisis that might occur in the industry, as it did with its rapid response to mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS).

“As the custodian of funds raised during the mare reproductive loss syndrome in 2001, our sole mission is to immediately respond to an existential threat to the breeding industry in Central Kentucky,” said Jimmy Bell, president of the KTOB Foundation. “Maintaining world-class research in infectious disease infrastructure at the UK Gluck Equine Research Center is imperative to being prepared for a future emergency.”

The foundation has been an important partner of the college for many years.

“The College of Agriculture, Food and Environment appreciates the long-term partnership with the KTOB Foundation,” said Dean Nancy Cox, MS, PhD. “KTA/KTOB is a trusted advisor to our college in our quest to serve and support Kentucky’s signature industry. This gift helps our research program in the most foundational way by providing the kind of laboratory technologies that drive research innovations.”

David Horohov, PhD, department chair and Gluck Equine Research Center director, added, “This grant from the KTOB Foundation enables us to update our facilities to better position the Gluck Center to recruit world-class researchers in the area of infectious diseases. This partnership will also lead to the establishment of an annual stakeholders meeting to discuss potential emerging threats and how to respond in the event of an emergency.”

Pope McLean Jr., KTA/KTOB president, said the association will repay the KTOB Foundation over a short period to maintain $500,000 in the event of an emergency similar to MRLS. No further grants will be made during this vesting period.

“Both the gift and repayment are consistent with our dual mandate to promote and protect the Thoroughbred industry in the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” he said.

Author: Jenny Evans