Tim Smith, CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, is scheduled to visit legislators in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday and Thursday on a "fact-finding, exploratory trip" to determine the availability of federal assistance for central Kentucky farms that have been plagued by the equine abortion syndrome in the state. Smith said he will visit with Kentucky Senators Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning as well as the chairmen of several legislative committees in order to further recent lobbying efforts by the American Horse Council, the horse industry's legislative arm.

"It appears that we don't qualify under existing federal programs, so the question is whether there are any possibilities of amending statutes or getting any other type of legislative access to the same types of programs that would be available if you had a similar situation relative to another cash crop," Smith said.

The abortion syndrome, which struck in late April, is estimated to have caused the deaths of at least 1,000 late-term foals and near-term fetuses. The possible economic impact on the $900 million Kentucky horse industry is estimated at a minimum of $150 million.

Smith likened the onset of the syndrome with the unexpected arrival of a citrus canker, for which federal funds are available.