In 2002 our organization was launched in response to the plight of Hialeah Racetrack and of the flock of flamingos living in the infield. A grassroots effort began as we sought to gain public awareness amongst horsemen and women. A website was created and we walked the backstretches of Delmar, Santa Anita, Saratoga, Keeneland, Churchill Downs and The Fairgrounds racetracks to gain support and signatures from thousands of many hall of fame trainers and jockeys, vets, exercise riders, horse owners, and breeding farm owners. Overwhelmingly these supporters agree that the  track and environment and the beautiful and fragile birds should be protected. They all agreed they would love train horses there again.
Dr William S. Modi, PhD, of the Conservation and Research division of the Zoological Society of San Diego, contacted our organization. The Zoo was aware that Hialeah Race Track once held a large population of Caribbean flamingos and is interested in conducting genetic studies on wild and captive populations in order to assist in their conservation and understand disease resistance. Having heard on the Internet that the track is up for sale and potential development is scheduled Dr Modi wanted to know if the birds are still present at the track. He was delighted to hear that the birds are being looked after, at least for the time being. Dr Modi is very interested in working toward long-term preservation of these beautiful birds.
The focus in San Diego is on Conservation Genetics. The Zoo is proposing a new study that would assess genetic variation in wild-caught and captive populations of flamingos. The end result would be a molecular taxonomy describing the genetic relationships among and between different populations of the five flamingo species throughout the world.
Although there is a basic research aspect to their work, the outcome will be very useful and necessary in an applied sense. This is true because if any of the populations or species becomes perilously endangered due to human impact, then we would be able to recommend which animals to protect so that genetic and biological diversity would be maximized. By maximizing diversity we increase the chances of survivorship and reproduction and decrease the likelihood of disease.
The Zoological society is seeking research funding from several granting agencies. Their goal is to establish a long-term study because the five species are distributed over several continents. However, such a comprehensive project will be expensive and collecting samples will be challenging, so it may be necessary to limit the focus in the early stages.
Funding is still pending and they have not begun any studies at this point. In the interim our organization has joined forces to facilitate protecting the precious and beautiful flamingos. The owner of Hialeah Park Mr. John Brunetti was generously supplying flamingo eggs to all the zoos in North America. It was recently discovered that not only is the Hialeah flock supplying eggs to all the zoos in North America, they are the ONLY fertile flock in the country. Others lay eggs, but they don't hatch!
Trainer Magazine Spring Issue 3 2007 goes out to licensed thoroughbred trainers across North America recently published a nice article on Hialeah, including interviewing the owner, some recent photographs and coverage of the latest news. This can be purchased on www.trainermagazine.com.
The Flamingo Stakes was once a major preparation race on the Kentucky Derby trail. It is no longer on the scene. But perhaps we can save the flamingos and maybe return the Flamingo Stakes to its former status.
We are requesting that people sign the petition and help to raise awareness to this worthy cause of saving Hialeah Park Race Track before it is too late.
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