Grayson-Jockey Club Approves Millions for Thoroughbred Research Projects

The Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation's board of directors authorized $2,693,312 to fund 16 new projects and 10 continuing projects at 17 universities, along with two career development awards. The 2025 slate pushes Grayson's cumulative totals since 1940 to more than $44.4 million to underwrite more than 450 projects at 48 universities.

"I'm very proud of Grayson's commitment to furthering the research and development of projects that affect all horses, no matter their breed or discipline," Grayson President Jamie Haydon said. "We are equally ecstatic that we could offer our two career development awards to this year's recipients, continuing to cultivate a future for young researchers."

The 16 newly funded projects span some of the most pressing issues in equine medicine. Colorado State University's Melissa King leads a project asking whether smartphone-based sensors can provide reliable and repeatable lameness data, testing the reliability and repeatability of body-mounted and smartphone IMU sensors with machine learning and computational algorithms in lame and non-lame horses. At the University of Melbourne, Peta Hitchens will examine racehorse stride changes and workload during training, with the aim of determining whether changes in stride associated with injury during racing are also present during training, potentially identifying injuries before race day.

Tendon and joint health account for several of the new awards. Lauren Schnabel at North Carolina State University will pursue an ex vivo model to evaluate therapies for adhesions in the digital flexor tendon sheath, advancing treatment options for horses following injury. At The Ohio State University, Teresa Burns will study whether the diabetes drug canagliflozin can mitigate the insulin dysregulation worsened by the common joint injection agent triamcinolone. A second Ohio State project, led by Sushmitha Durgam, will use finite element models to study microdamage mechanisms in the superficial digital flexor tendon that precede clinical injury.

Kyla Ortved at the University of Pennsylvania is developing a synthetic proteoglycan replacement for osteoarthritis, seeking to establish a new class of injectable, cartilage-penetrating compounds that replace proteoglycans critically lost in the disease. University of Florida researchers are attacking two distinct problems: Rosanna Marsela is targeting a key itch mediator to develop a new treatment for equine insect bite hypersensitivity as an alternative to steroids, while Dianne McFarlane will validate the use of PET scans for identifying disease pathology and progression in insulin-associated laminitis.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners received funding for wearable biometric sensor development, providing epidemiological support for data gathered through field testing of selected biomechanical sensors.

The two career development awards recognize emerging researchers at the start of their careers. The Storm Cat Career Development Award, inaugurated in 2006 and valued at $20,000, went to Dr. Erica Secor of Cornell University, a 2013 graduate of Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine currently pursuing a Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Heidi Reesink, herself a former Storm Cat Award winner. The Elaine and Bertram Klein Career Development Award, first granted in 2015, also carries a $20,000 prize for a prospective equine researcher. The Klein award went to Dr. Shannon Connard, who earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2017 from the University of Georgia, completed training at Louisiana State University and the University of Pennsylvania, achieved board certification with the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2023, and is now a postdoctoral fellow and Ph.D. candidate at North Carolina State University focused on regenerative therapies for equine musculoskeletal injuries.

The Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation is traditionally the nation's leading source of private funding for equine medical research that benefits all breeds of horses, a position it has held since its founding in 1940. Annual totals have grown markedly in recent years: the board approved $1.3 million in February 2020, $2,445,164 in 2024, and now $2,693,312 for 2025, reflecting both rising research costs and an expanding portfolio of funded science.