Some of you may think wahh!? Others of you may be very familiar, and the rest curious to know more. Futurity is the concept found in a few disciplines where foals are nominated for a big race, or event at a competition, when they reach a certain age. Owners of the foals pay money leading up to the big event to keep the horse eligible. Generally the winner of the Futurity Race or Event wins the jackpot of money paid by all the Futurity Horse’s owners.
In Thoroughbred Racing, the foals nominated for Futurity are raced as 2 year olds. In Cutting, horses compete in the Futurity Event at 3 years old, and must not have previously been shown. After 3 years of age, there are events for each age group up until they are 6 year old Cutting Horses. In Barrel Racing, 3 to 4 year old horses are raced once they have raced 1 race prior. In Reining, 3 year olds compete for the Futurity win. The National Futurity Event for Reining is generally held in September in Australia. In Show Jumping, 4 years old is the youngest that horses can be competed on in Australia. Like Cutting, there are classes for each age group up until horses are 7 year old Show Jumpers at events with Young Horse Classes. There are also some breed societies like Stock Horses and Arabians, that have Futurity Classes at their events.
Regardless of what discipline Futurity is being invested in, and then competed in, it truly is a massive commitment and risk, for hopeful gains. Sure the Jackpot prize money can be worth it all on it’s own, but to have the faith in a foal from the day that it is born or slightly prior, and to nominate them to try win a race or event, years in the future is truly remarkable. The amount of achievement in having all the hard work of raising and training the foal to competitive age is priceless! Futurity wins are just that lovely icing on the top!
Feature Image courtesy of Yours Truly.
-Skye Pickering Dip. Horse Business Management.