Shades of William Thomas, the male University of Pennsylvania swimmer who identified as a female, calling himself “Lia”!

I am slightly familiar with Blood Horse magazine only because a friend of my mother’s worked there in the 1970s. This is the kind of publication that you’ll see around horse farms. In Paris, Kentucky, north of Lexington, with a lot of thoroughbred farms along Paris Pike between the two cities, you’ll see horseshoes of famous race horses embedded in concrete along the sidewalks.

Suit Alleges Stakes-Winning Broodmare Prospect is Male

Kept True competed against females in 14 races and won over $300,000.

By Dick Downey | Tuesday, May 24, 2022 | 6:26 PM EDT

A New York-bred stakes winner that sold for $150,000 at Keeneland as a broodmare prospect is actually a male, according to a lawsuit pending in Fayette Circuit Court in Lexington.

Kept True  went through the Keeneland January 2021 Horses of All Ages Sale, where she was purchased as a 5-year-old broodmare prospect by Michelle and Albert Crawford’s Crawford Farms near Lexington. Over the course of the previous 27 months, Kept True compiled a record of five wins, two seconds, and two thirds from 14 starts and earnings of $323,659 running against females at Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park, and Saratoga Race Course.

The suit contends that while Kept True was certified as suitable for mating, Crawford’s own veterinarian reported “obvious abnormalities in the horse’s reproductive organs.” According to Dr. Jeremy Whitman, the horse has no ovaries, a conclusion confirmed by the Cornell University Hospital for Animals.

Owner-breeder Jeff Treadway raced Kept True (as Treadway Racing Stables) and secured Hidden Brook as consignor for the January Sale. According to Crawford’s lawsuit, Hidden Brook, as agent for Treadway, engaged Hagyard Equine Medical Institute to issue a certificate of reproductive status as to whether Kept True was pregnant, or if not pregnant, suitable for mating according to American Association of Equine Practitioners standards. Such a certificate is required by Keeneland for horses offered as broodmare prospects.

Dr. Karen Wolfsdorf signed off on the certificate, which was submitted to Keeneland’s record repository, and according to Crawford, Kept True was bought in reliance upon the same. Bloodstock agent John Moynihan assisted Crawford in buying Kept True and other broodmare prospects at the sale, according to Crawford attorney Mike Meuser of Lexington.

Without having Kept True examined by its own veterinarian before the horse was removed from Keeneland’s grounds, Crawford took possession of Kept True, only to be told later, through a series of examinations and tests, Kept True (Yes It’s True) is a mare in outward appearance only.

There’s more at the original, but at least Kept True was at least female in outward appearance, which is more than anyone can say about Mr Thomas.

The article concluded:

As for the fillies and mares beaten in New York by a horse with male chromosomes and no female reproductive organs, there may be no recourse for the purse money. An inquiry to the New York State Gaming Commission was not answered when this article was published, but Rule 4039.19 appears to govern the matter. It limits the receipt of objections not based on fraud or willful misstatement, which have no time limit if not unnecessarily delayed, to 48 hours after the last race of the last day of the meeting, excluding Sundays.

And Will Thomas won’t have to give back any of the trophies he ‘won’ while competing against real women, so I guess the rules are the same for horses and a horse’s ass.

Thoroughbred racing is serious business in the Bluegrass State, and there are far more rules and regulations than I know about. While one of my sisters worked in the industry for her entire career, I don’t know the business at all. Still, this story amused me.