Thoroughbred Makeover 2026 Results: 10 Champions and How It Works

Thoroughbred Makeover 2026 results: the 10 champions

The Thoroughbred Makeover 2026 results are in. On Saturday, Oct. 10, the Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) crowned 10 discipline champions at the Kentucky Horse Park, and a 2021 mare named Our Girl Flint won two of them: Competitive Trail and Ranch Work.

The gray mare White Dove, a 2021 daughter of Violence, won Barrel Racing. The event offered $135,000 in guaranteed base prize money plus nearly $40,000 in special awards.

Here are the Thoroughbred Makeover winners, as published by the RRP and Thoroughbred Daily News on Oct. 11:

Storylines worth knowing

• One mare, two titles. Our Girl Flint led both of her disciplines after the preliminaries and held on to win both on Saturday. She made 16 starts on the track, and her best finish was a second place.
• Unraced horses can win. Show Hunter champion My Sobriety and Show Jumper champion Li'l Lang never made a start. The Makeover also accepts horses that only had published workouts.
• Age range. The champions ranged from 2022-born fillies like Twice a Dollar and Red Regret to Set Point, an Irish-bred gelding foaled in 2018 who made 28 starts.
• Saturday changed things. In Dressage, Eventing, Polo and Show Jumper, the horse that led after the preliminaries did not win the final. Scores reset for the championship round.

What is the Thoroughbred Makeover?

The Thoroughbred Makeover is a retraining competition for recently retired racehorses. The Retired Racehorse Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, runs it and calls it the largest Thoroughbred retraining competition in the world.

Its purpose is practical. Showing what an ex-racehorse can do after a few months of good training creates demand for these horses in second careers, which gives them a safer future after racing.

The official name is the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium. Alongside the competition there are seminars, networking events, a vendor fair and an RRP charity polo match. If you're new to ex-racehorses, start with our explainer on what an OTTB is.

Who can enter: the horses and the trainers

The central rule is that the horse must be fresh off the track. For 2026, the main Retiring Racehorse division required:

• Jockey Club registration and a Jockey Club microchip
• A race or a published workout on or after July 1, 2024
• No second-career training before Dec. 1, 2025, apart from a maximum of 15 rides. Tack walking under a vet-prescribed rehab plan doesn't count toward that limit.
• No shows or competitions before Dec. 1, 2025

In practice, trainers get about 10 months to turn a racehorse into a dressage, ranch or jumping prospect. The cutoff dates move forward every year, so always check the current rulebook.

There is also a Former Broodmare division for mares that went from racing into breeding. They must have at least one lifetime start or published workout, and they aren't subject to the 15-ride limit. A horse can enter one division but not both.

The trainers range from professionals to amateurs, juniors and teams. This year's Show Jumper champion was credited to a club team rather than an individual trainer. Applicants must be accepted by the RRP, and each trainer has to acquire their own eligible horse.

The RRP holds trainers to its Horse Welfare Policy and the USEF drug and medication rules, and it does random testing. Selling the horse afterward is optional.

The 10 Thoroughbred Makeover disciplines

A horse can enter up to two of these disciplines:

• Barrel Racing: a timed cloverleaf pattern. Our barrel racing pattern guide explains how it works.
• Competitive Trail: obstacles you'd meet on a real trail ride.
• Dressage: tests of rhythm, suppleness and obedience.
• Eventing: dressage, cross-country and show jumping.
• Field Hunter: a horse's manners and ability in the hunt field.
• Freestyle: an open-format performance that shows off whatever the horse does best.
• Polo: a polo-pony prospect's handling and speed.
• Ranch Work: western ranch skills. See what ranch riding is for background.
• Show Hunter: style, movement and jumping form over fences.
• Show Jumper: clean, careful jumping.

For more on each sport, browse our disciplines hub.

How the week works: preliminaries to Saturday's finals

The 2026 Makeover ran Oct. 7–10. More than 250 horses competed.

1. Wednesday and Thursday: preliminaries. Every horse is scored and placed in each of its disciplines.
2. Friday: break day. There's no competition, just seminars, special events and the charity polo match.
3. Saturday: championships. The top 10 from each discipline go to the final round and start from a blank score, so one good Saturday ride can win it all.
4. Saturday night: awards. Champions are recognized at the Championship Awards Party.

BloodHorse reported that 2026 was the second year of this expanded championship format, with a champion in every discipline.

What's new: graduate classes

In June 2026, the RRP announced Graduate Classes, a pilot program offered in five of the 10 disciplines. They're open to any horse that was registered for a previous Makeover, including horses that changed owners or were withdrawn before they competed.

Graduate horses follow the same preliminary format, but they are scored separately from the main divisions. This year, Top Graduate honors went to horses in Barrel Racing, Eventing, Freestyle, Show Hunter and Show Jumper.

It's a smart addition. Horses whose first Makeover went wrong, or whose trainer ran out of time, can come back with another year of training.

How to follow or enter the 2027 Makeover

The 2027 Thoroughbred Makeover returns to the Kentucky Horse Park on Oct. 13–16, 2027. The RRP says updated rules will be posted at theRRP.org in late 2026.

If you want to compete

• Read the 2027 rulebook as soon as it's out. Note the race or workout date and the training cutoff, which will likely be around Dec. 1, 2026.
• Watch the application window. In 2026, applications ran Jan. 5–23, and late applications were accepted through the end of June.
• Don't start training too early. If a horse is ridden more than 15 times or goes to a show before the cutoff, it isn't eligible.
• Plan for welfare. Budget for a vet check, a farrier and a steady fitness plan. Our care guide covers the basics.
• Pick disciplines that suit the horse. You get two. Choose based on the horse's brain and body, not just your favorite sport.

If you want to watch or buy

• Visit Lexington in October. Spectators can attend the competition, seminars and vendor fair.
• Check the full results on the RRP's results page (therrp.org/makeover-results) once every placing is posted, not just the winners.
• Shop carefully. Many Makeover horses are offered for sale afterward. Get a pre-purchase exam and budget realistically before you buy.

For other ways retired racehorses find new homes, read about Hawthorne's closure and adopting a racehorse, or follow more competition news in Trends.