The Future Of Horse Racing Starts In The Classroom

On Thursday, May 7th, multiple graded stakes winner United walked down the ramp of a Sallee Horse Vans trailer and onto the grounds of Bryan Station High School in Lexington, Kentucky. It was his first day of school, and the Bryan Station students’ heads could be seen pressed against the glass of every classroom window facing him to catch a glimpse of a horse in their schoolyard.

For the next two hours, students came outside to visit United, classroom by classroom, meeting the embodiment of what they had spent the previous week learning about: a real racehorse.

So how did we get to this moment? And more importantly, why?

By the end of 2024, Amplify Horse Racing, the youth arm of the Thoroughbred industry, had identified a critical gap in equine education. While attending middle and high school career fairs in Lexington, we were often the only organization representing equine careers, despite the significant role horses play in Kentucky’s economy and culture. We also began receiving an increasing number of requests from educators who wanted to teach their students about the Thoroughbred and broader equine industry but needed resources to guide them on what to teach and how to teach it.

In response to the challenge, Amplify launched the development of a high school curriculum titled “Racehorse to Workforce: Exploring the Science, Business, and Careers Behind Horse Racing” in March, 2025. This one-week set of lesson plans was intentionally designed to equip educators with equine-focused content they could teach regardless of their prior experience with horses. The materials spanned school subjects including Agricultural Education, Animal Science, Equine Science, Career Readiness, Business and Economics, and STEM and Life Sciences.

Amplify was offered the opportunity to pilot our curriculum with Bryan Station High School’s freshman seminar course, which is taken by all (~500) 9th-grade students.

A core value of Amplify’s curriculum is to directly expose students to horses. Our goal is that for every teacher with whom we share the curriculum, we’ll be able to offer them and their class an experiential industry learning opportunity, whether that’s a field trip to a racetrack or horse farm, a horse visiting their school, a virtual reality horse racing field trip (more good news on this coming soon!), or an Amplify Educator visiting their classroom to guide them through an activity. Connection with the horse is essential for youth to fully engage with our industry.

One holdup at this early stage of the pilot was that we weren’t yet ready to facilitate a field trip for 500 students to a track or farm. My solution was promising the teachers I would find a way to bring a horse to their school. This is where United entered the picture. Madison Scott is my Amplify co-founder and board member, and is also the current caretaker of United, who is still owned by LNJ Foxwoods.

Bryan Station rolled out the in-class portion of the curriculum the week leading up to the Kentucky Derby, and we visited the school with United the following week on May 7 and 8, with transportation generously donated by Sallee. For each group of students who came out to visit United, Madison shared his racing and second-career story before students had the chance to pet and take photos with him. For many students, it was their first close interaction with a horse. One boy, amazed by how soft United was, asked if he could kiss him on the neck

Two weeks later, I sat down with Bryan Station teachers for a final focus group about the curriculum experience. They shared feedback with me about the materials, and then teacher Luis Castrillon shared this:

“I think what you guys are doing with Amplify is a great thing for kids because, honestly, before this curriculum, I knew people in the industry, but I had no idea how many job opportunities there were. So if the industry needs people to work in it, you’re doing it right, because this is exactly what high school students need to see: that they have opportunities and different career paths available to them.

"I think it’s really, really smart to reach students directly and let them know, ‘Hey, there are opportunities for you here.’ And it doesn’t have to be grooming horses or working in a shed row and feeding horses. There are many, many jobs connected to this industry.”

Bryan Station has already asked to work with Amplify and the curriculum again next year.

This summer, Amplify will officially launch “Racehorse to Workforce” at the Annual Kentucky Career and Technical Education (CTE) Statewide Summer Program in Louisville, with plans to distribute it to middle and high schools across the state in collaboration with Kentucky’s fall 2026 “All in for Agriculture Education Week” from September 21-25. This is a statewide initiative designed to increase access to agricultural education. By placing high-quality, ready-to-use materials directly into classrooms, this project significantly expands access to equine education for students who may not otherwise have exposure to horses or the industry.

We’re not the first organization to create a curriculum or bring a horse to a school. But maybe we’re the first to work on creating a shared national infrastructure for youth education in the North American Thoroughbred industry. Amplify is building a system that can be adapted and expanded across states, regions, racetracks, and classrooms. Our ambition is to create a pipeline of curriculum from elementary through high school, introduce industry careers and connections through mentorship, and teach students about postsecondary programs and internship opportunities.

The best way to help Amplify on this mission is to support us with a donation. If you’re ready to help “amplify” youth education in horse racing, visit amplifyhorseracing.org/donate or contact info@amplifyhorseracing.org to learn more.