Laurie Condurso-Lane approaches horse-rescue work like an “insider.”
The daughter of onetime breeder and jockey Anthony Condurso, Condurso-Lane believes that her understanding of track life helps her advocate for horses. And she’s been doing it since 1998.
It was then that she cofounded the New Jersey chapter of ReRun, Inc., and today, as the head of thenewly formed re-homing organization, Second Call, she presses her home-court advantage, concentrating her efforts almost exclusively on helping Monmouth Park horses.
Second Call, named for the racing term which describes the second mount for a jockey who is already listed for a first, aims to deliver all its networking capacity to serve the growing roster of New Jersey horses in need of a second career.
“I made the decision to branch out and form Second Call because I was getting so busy with Monmouth Park horses,” she says. “More and more, people kept asking me if I could work exclusively with the park, and last July, I decided to do just that.”
Noting that her organization does not turn away horses unaffiliated with Monmouth Park, the New Jersey track still gets the lion’s share of her attention in a three-pronged effort to find new homes for Thoroughbreds.
Laurie, center, shows visitors around the track
Working with Monmouth Park management, Condurso-Lane funnels retired racehorses through Second Call’s affiliated barns, offering re-training and re-homing. In addition, the new charity will list sale horses on its website for trainers looking to sell their racehorses, and will also make use of a humane euthanasia policy for those horses with no other option, she says.
As she wades deeper into the world of nonprofit Thoroughbred work, Condurso-Lane admits that she wishes Second Call was not necessary.
“My happiest day would be if I was out of business,” she says. “But, since we do have a lot of work to do for horses, my feeling is that the more people who latch onto the idea of helping horses, the more horses are helped—so I say, the more the merrier!”
As a young girl, Condurso-Lane spent every weekend at the racetrack. Her father worked horses at Belmont Park in the early morning, and then drove into New York City later in the morning to his day job as an engineer. At one point, his career took him to New England to work on a large engineering project, but he made sure to keep his hand in, riding when he could at Rockingham and Naraganset parks.
Thoroughbreds in action at Monmouth Park. Photo courtesy Bill Denver, EQUI-PHOTO,INC.
“When I was 4 months old, I was taken to Saratoga to see the horses” and from that point on, they would be a big part of her life. She rode competitively as a youngster, and in her 16 years at ReRun, Inc., played a role in re-homing approximately 600 horses, she says.
Turning her attention to Monmouth Park, she plans exciting events to promote the organization and Thoroughbreds, including:
New Jersey Breeders’ Day and the Joey P. Retirement Gala, Sept. 15, at Monmouth Park and Fall For Horses All Thoroughbred Charity Horse Show and Family Festival on Oct. 21, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“It is our mission,” she says, “to find a second calling and profession for our retired Monmouth Park horses.”
Though I now live in Texas, I have made many generous donations over the at MP & continue do so when I return every summer.
Laurie, whose father I worked with over the years as a HVAC engineer for our projects at Neimans, is doing great work finding ways to relocate these horses and I hope she & MP itself remain successful (& open for the track) for many years to come.
Tony once told me he was a jockey and I found his business card today then found this article.
It was a great read. Keep up the fine work, Laurie.
Andy Greene
I grew up in Red Bank, NJ and worked at Monmouth Park for one memorable summer as a hot walker! There were some horses I met there that didn’t have what it took to win races, but would have made fantastic saddle horses. So glad to know that Laurie is out there finding homes for these awesome horses!
she deserves a commendation! I applaud her great efforts and good work.