The California Thoroughbred Foundation is in a period of transition. We have been known for annually granting scholarships to veterinary students and a fellowship for graduate research in the veterinary field.
We maintained a voluminous library of equine literature and an extensive collection of art, trophies, and memorabilia—both once available to the public at the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association headquarters in Arcadia.
Innumerable winners of our scholarships have gone on to careers in the horse world, including recently as members of the safety teams at California racetracks. Research by graduate students at the University of California, Davis, working with the help of our Louis R. Rowan Fellowship in Equine Studies, has enhanced the health and well-being of horses everywhere.
An endowment is being established at the U. C. Davis School of Veterinary Medicine to enhance the Foundation’s Rowan Fellowship. It will fund two fellowships each year and will be named the California Thoroughbred Foundation/Rowan Fellowships. Another endowment, at Western University of Health Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine in Pomona, will be for a third-year student concentrating on equine medicine.
With the inestimable help of our longtime librarian Vivian Montoya, hundreds (if not thousands) of people have used the Carleton F. Burke Library as a resource for serious projects as well as pure pleasure. Vivian responded to requests for information by phone and mail from around the world. Open to the public, the library also offered browsing of equine art, trophies, and memorabilia on display.
The book collection, named for a Foundation founder, has been donated to Cal Poly Pomona, where it is being expertly maintained with the most modern technology. Giving the CTF books to Cal Poly allows for greater exposure to a cherished asset, and the Foundation is making a monetary gift to help maintain the Burke library at the school.
The Foundation has found wonderful and appreciative homes for much of the artwork, trophies, and memorabilia at the U. C. Davis, Southern California Equine Foundation, National Museum of Racing in New York, Keeneland Library in Kentucky, and National Sporting Library & Museum in Virginia. Some of the collection will stay with the CTBA.
We are enormously grateful to the CTBA for hosting our organization at its Arcadia headquarters and to our supporters through the years who have made all of our activities possible.