Financial Modeling wins the 2015 Queens County at Aqueduct Racetrack (NYRA Photo)
Stakes-winner Financial Modeling enjoying retired life in California
NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – There will be plenty more days in the sun for retired stakes-winner Financial Modeling in his golden years as the dark bay has settled into a quieter life in California nine years after his biggest win at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Financial Modeling, a now 13-year-old son of Street Sense, enjoys his retirement thanks to the adoption program at New Vocations, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that retrains and adopts out racehorses at the conclusion of their racing careers.
Financial Modeling, who retired from racing in 2017, was adopted by Robin Owens later that year, his smooth motion and professional demeanor catching the eye of the long-time horsewoman from Lexington, K.Y.
“He’s a very tall, very handsome horse,” Owens said. “He had a walk to die for – that million-dollar walk everyone loves. He’s super bold and really seems to love cross country. He’s beautiful, moves pretty, and jumps nice. He isn’t afraid of any jump.”
Financial Modeling, known now as “Finn,” retired to New Vocations after a 16-start career that saw him win four races over four seasons of racing. Initially trained by Chad Brown for owners Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence, Financial Modeling’s most significant win came in 2015 with a 4 1/4-length victory in Aqueduct’s Queens County, which will be renewed for the 119th edition on Sunday at the Big A.
He went on to finish fifth in the 2016 Grade 1 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park before completing his career with conditioner Brad Cox and owner Ten Strike Racing. He added another stakes placing when third in the Tenacious at Fair Grounds and made his final start in June 2017 at Churchill Downs, retiring with more than $250,000 in total purse earnings.
After Financial Modeling was retired to New Vocations, Owens adopted him as a hunter prospect, and the gelding impressed with his athleticism and adaptability to a variety of disciplines.
“He has a totally cool and sexy vibe about him,” Owens said. “He’s a kind and handsome horse, and it was really fun to own him, because he really was just like a ballet dancer and a lovely horse. I was more of a hunter person and wanted to do that with him, but I like the horses to decide what they want to do, and I ended up selling him to someone who was going to do some eventing.”
In 2019, Owens mentioned to a fellow equestrian named Catherine Cassone that she was looking to find a new match for Finn. Cassone decided to hop aboard Financial Modeling during a training session to get a feel for the gelding, and quickly knew he was the right fit.
“He’s very opinionated and he has a temper, but I got along with him great,” Cassone recalled. “When he’s treated fairly and things make sense, he’ll give you the moon. We took him to a dressage school and he did great at it, and then we brought him back to hunter jumping because he loves to jump and he’s quite great at it. He has shown and has done some hunters and some jumpers. He’s good at it, and he’s very talented. He’s a nice mover.”
It was not long after making his way to Cassone that Financial Modeling demonstrated his natural ability to work through the common challenges of transitioning to a new career.
“When we took him on his first trail ride, going through the water was terrifying for him,” Cassone recalled. “We had to walk him through the water, but coming back, there were four different rivers he had to walk through and he was thrilled. He’s a quick learner and processes things. He’s very brave and thinks things through.”
Financial Modeling eventually competed in the Thoroughbred Hunter Challenge in Kentucky before Cassone moved to southern California, where Finn now lives the good life in Malibu. In recent years, he has competed in various equestrian shows in the Golden State, and has won ribbons at several.
Cassone, a lifelong horse lover and equestrian, said Financial Modeling is gifted in most areas of equine sport, but that jumping seems to bring him the most joy.
“My trainer believes he’s a three-ring horse. He can do equitation, he can do hunters, jumpers, cross country, dressage – he can do anything,” Cassone said. “I would say his favorite and strongest discipline is jumping. He likes it and I think it’s for the same reason he likes to run – it’s just fun!”
Cassone added that along with his physical capabilities, Financial Modeling possesses equal mental fitness paired with a playful personality.
“Nothing fazes him. It could be windy and raining and all the other horses are freaking out and he’s like, ‘whatever,’” Cassone said, with a laugh. “He’s very funny, and he’ll do things like take a mouthful of water and toss it at me to get me wet. I swear he does it on purpose and he thinks it’s funny.”
Cassone said like many retrained thoroughbreds, Financial Modeling has been aided in his next chapter by his experience on the racetrack.
“He’s an amazing horse who is well-bred and obviously was really well taken care of and has always been good about everything on the ground,” Cassone said. “They’re exposed to a lot as racehorses.”
Financial Modeling is just one of more than 9,000 horses that have been adopted out by New Vocations, which is one of 86 organizations accredited by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA). The racing community in New York State contributes more than $1.2 million annually to various aftercare programs and initiatives.
New Vocations retrains most of their intakes to be adopted out into homes that will continue to ride and often show their horse for years to come in a second career, a mission that Cassone said is invaluable.
“Thoroughbreds are versatile. Aftercare is everything,” Cassone said. “I grew up riding thoroughbreds and I’m not a warmblood person. It was really weird to me that people didn’t like thoroughbreds, and I think it’s really important that we showcase them and make people understand how talented they are. It’s come a long way in the last 15 years or so. I think they’re amazing horses.”
For Cassone, there are few horses that prove a better representative of the thoroughbred breed and their versatile spirit than Financial Modeling.
“I just love him and he tells me what he thinks all the time,” Cassone said, with a laugh. “He’s such a lovely horse and it’s great that his owners made sure he was taken care of by sending him to a place like New Vocations. I think it’s awesome.”
New Vocations, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, works to fulfill a mission of rehabilitating, retraining, and ultimately rehoming retired racehorses to qualified and loving adopters. To learn more about New Vocations and to view horses currently up for adoption, visit www.newvocations.org.
