Archive for the ‘People’ Category

“I’ve made a lot of friends over the last 30 years who are riders,” Farish told the Paulick Report. “They are in a position that if something happens to them, they don’t have the support financially to move forward. There’s a void. I think this is something that everybody connected to our sport ought to be contributing to: owners, breeders, everyone who is involved in some way or another with racing. These are independent contractors, they’re not protected once they go down, and there’s nothing for them to fall back on.”

The PDJF was formed in 2006 with the assistance of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA Charities) and several racetracks, including those owned by Magna Entertainment and Churchill Downs Inc. A number of racetracks, owners, corporate sponsors and organizations have supported the PDJF.

It was necessitated after the former Disabled Jockeys Fund administered by the Jockeys’ Guild ran out of money during the disastrous administration of Wayne Gertmenian, who was ousted in November 2005 after virtually sending the organization into bankruptcy over the previous four years. The PDJF now stands alone as a 501(c)3 charity. Nancy LaSala is executive director of the Fund, overseeing its annual operating budget of approximately $800,000.

For more on the PDJF, click here to see the May 29 feature on the organization that was part of the Paulick Report series, Good News Friday Sponsored by Liberation Farm.

Farish said the PDJF has “been on my radar for a while.” There is a separate endowment, created by the Guild, that Farish hopes can be built up to $10-million to $12-million. It currently has about $2 million, but the money cannot be used until it reaches a certain level.

The Williams Stamps Farish Fund has actively supported numerous community and racing organizations, including Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, the Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center at the University of Kentucky, the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and the Kentucky Derby Museum, among others.

“We are deeply grateful to Mr. Farish for his commitment to the PDJF and the disabled athletes it supports,” said executive director LaSala said in a press release. “Thanks to his generosity and leadership the PDJF can now focus more attention on building the endowment that will ensure that financial assistance for our disabled riders will always be available.”

Contributions to the PDJF may be directed to: PDJF, P.O. Box 803, Elmhurst, IL 60126. All contributions are tax-deductible. For inquires contact Nancy LaSala at (630) 595-7660. For more information visit www.pdjf.org.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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“Well, that’s just plain silly,” he said, then locked his arm around my elbow and literally dragged me in to stand next to him. When the shutters clicked, Mr. Young’s arm still locked around mine, I had the look of someone who had just taken a big bite out of a lemon; I wasn’t very happy to be there after being strong-armed by an octogenarian, even though I had the utmost respect and admiration for him.

A couple of weeks after his death in January 2004, Mr. Young’s longtime secretary, Mary Agnes, called me up and asked if I wouldn’t mind stopping by the W.T. Young offices. When I got there she gave me a framed copy of the picture, the one I’d tried to forget and had never seen. Today it’s one of the most prized possessions from my years in this sport.

I thought of that New Orleans afternoon and the other times I had the great opportunity to be around this Kentucky gentleman when I learned yesterday that all of the breeding stock and most of the horses currently racing in the Overbrook Farm name will be sold at Keeneland, beginning in September with the yearlings, and continuing with the November and January breeding stock and horses of all ages sales. Eaton Sales will handle the consignment. Click here for the details.

It truly is the end of a remarkable era in Thoroughbred racing and breeding.

Young’s longtime friend and trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, said it’s akin to the automobile business losing Chrysler or General Motors (something we actually may be very close to seeing). But none of us really should have been that surprised that the operation is shutting down, and Lukas saw the writing on the wall.

“Once Bill had passed away the passion and driving force behind Overbrook lost something,” the Hall of Fame trainer said. “Bill Young was passionate about racing, adamant that Overbrook would be a first-class operation, and something to last for years to come. Once he passed away, things changed. To Bill’s credit, Junior kept it going, though it transformed more into a commercial operation.”

“Junior” would be Bill Young Jr., W.T. Young’s son, who runs the business empire his father built but who admittedly doesn’t share the passion the elder Young had for Thoroughbred racing and breeding. Bill’s son, Chris, has been in charge of the Overbrook racing stable and will continue to race horses in the Overbrook name and carry the blue and green bull’s-eye silks that have became so familiar in major races around the country. Overbrook Farm as a major breeding entity will cease to exist. The 2,400-acre Lexington farm will be leased and remain the home of the pensioned stallion Storm Cat, who made Overbrook a commercial juggernaut in the 1990s and into the current decade. Other Overbrook stallions to be relocated will be able to return to the farm as pensioners, Bill Young said.

“You’re looking at a big operation,” Lukas said. “Even with Chris’s passion, if he threw all of his energies into it he would still have a tremendous economic expense ahead of him. Without a major sire, the bottom line doesn’t make any sense. Without the passion to drive it, it doesn’t make any sense.”

Bill Young said as much in an interview yesterday. “The economics have become more challenging but it’s a challenge I could have lived with if I’d gotten pleasure from racing or raising a great racehorse,” he said. “But my background is not horse farming and I don’t have the love for it to offset the economic challenge.

“It’s been a little bit bittersweet in reaching the conclusion I reached,” he said. “My family obviously enjoyed a great experience with Overbrook, and even though the Thoroughbred business is a good business I just don’t share the passion for it. We as a family have been kicking this around for a while. Chris has more of a love than anyone in the family for the business, and his interest is in racing. He’ll continue that.”

“We’ll sell a majority of the stable,” Chris Young said. “We’ll keep some colts and fillies, though we haven’t quite decided the ongoing plans for the racing stable. I’ll breed or buy a few horses.” The Overbrook name and silks will live on, Chris Young said, “because there’s lots of good history and memories attached to them.”

Bill Young said there are no plans to sell the farm or any of the property. Though much of it is inside the Fayette County urban service boundary, Overbrook is zoned for agricultural use and Young said there are no plans to develop it “at this time.”

William T. Young came into racing and breeding late in life, after concentrating on various businesses and philanthropic activities in the Lexington community. He was in his 60s when he built Overbrook and developed an operation that won a Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup Classic, among other races, and several Eclipse Awards. The farm was immaculately planned and laid out.

“The thing that Bill emphasized was understated elegance,” said Lukas. “He didn’t want to be ostentatious or have the farm stand out or show off. It was subtle in its elegance. He built it that way and it is one of the more beautiful farms in Kentucky: a real showplace. He tried to have it blend with the landscape.”

Lukas remembers the day when he first met Young. “He called me up and said he’d like to fly to California, and he came out with Bob Warren (Young’s longtime adviser) and we sat down and had a visit. He said, ‘I want you to become a huge part of Overbrook and do for me what you did for Gene Klein.’”

The timing was perfect, Lukas said, as Klein was getting ready to get out of the game. Though Storm Cat, who finished second for Young in the 1985 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, had been trained by Jonathan Sheppard, Lukas developed the remainder of Overbrook’s 21 Grade 1 winners. They made quite a team, two driven men with a passion for the game.

Young liked to share his passion with others, whether it was horse racing, politics or University of Kentucky athletics. There were times during my years at the Blood-Horse that Young would call up and ask me to stop by his office to debate issues in racing that I may have written about. He was adamant, for example, that racetracks should be able to have slot machines because he didn’t think government should legislate what people can or can’t do with their time and money. I was opposed to the idea of slots at the time, not for economic reasons, but simply because I felt it was taking the moral high ground to keep racing apart from such a mindless activity. “Who are you,” he asked me politely, “to tell someone what they should or shouldn’t do?” Of course, I didn’t fail to remind him that he was a major shareholder in Churchill Downs who might benefit from slots. That didn’t seem to matter, either. “I’ve got enough money,” he said.

I never left his office feeling I’d won any of our debates, but always felt that he listened to what I said.

Young also loved to surprise people with his generosity. He and Keeneland’s Ted Bassett took a couple of longtime hourly employees from the Lexington racetrack to New York on Young’s private jet for a day of shopping, dining and theater. On another occasion he took Stone Farm’s Arthur Hancock III and a longtime employee of Idle Hour Country Club by private jet to a University of Kentucky game in Georgia. Shortly after takeoff, the jet experienced mechanical failure, and began to quickly lose altitude. The pilot said they’d have to return to Lexington, but Young pointed him toward Louisville where they could get a substitute jet. When they landed safely in Louisville, Hancock and the Idle Hour worker dropped to their knees and kissed the ground, thankful they were still alive. “Can we get a car and drive back to Lexington,” the man suggested to Hancock.

“No,” Young told them, “we’re not going to abort the mission.”

“It’s like the poem says, ‘He walked with kings but had the common touch,’” Hancock said of Young, a friend and partner in the horse business. “One time he said life would be pretty boring if we didn’t have these horses racing. I said, ‘You’re right, but I guess we’re prejudiced.’ That’s just the way he felt. He loved to compete and he liked the people, and he gave me a lot of good advice. I loved him. It’s sad, and the news about the dispersal came as a shock to me, but people have to do what they’ve got to do.”

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(UPDATED JUNE 3 TO REFLECT A CHANGE IN RECOMMENDATION FOR GEORGE ISAACS)

The 25 candidates running for election to the Breeders’ Cup board of Members and Trustees may have different backgrounds, income levels and positions within the Thoroughbred industry, but I think they all share a common thread: a desire to help the Breeders’ Cup grow. All are to be commended for their interest in helping achieve that goal, even if their philosophies do not follow the same path.

There are, however, only 13 positions for these 25 individuals on the board of Members and Trustees, whose principal role within the Breeders’ Cup organization is to elect the 13 members of the board of Directors at an annual meeting, scheduled this year for July 9. The smaller board of Directors makes all major decisions regarding the operations and governance of the Breeders’ Cup and elects a chairman and vice chairman each year. 

So who nominators elect to the board of Members and Trustees is critical in shaping the smaller, operating board of Directors. The six individuals whose two-year terms on the board of Directors expire in July of this year are: Reynolds Bell, Donald Dizney, Tracy Farmer, Don Robinson (who served out the remainder of B. Wayne Hughes’ term after Hughes’ resignation), G. Watts Humphrey Jr., and Robert T. Manfuso. Only elected Members and Trustees may run for the smaller board of Directors.

Fifteen of those running for the board of Members and Trustees submitted answers to questions from the Paulick Report or statements about their candidacy (click here to see their responses in an easy-to-read or print PDF document). Biographies of all the candidates can be viewed here at the Breeders’ Cup election web site.

I have covered the Thoroughbred industry for nearly 30 years and have seen a number of these candidates in board-room settings, talked with others about issues of interest to the Breeders’ Cup and Thoroughbred racing and breeding in general, and consider many of them friends. Some are or have been advertisers of this web site. In making the following comments and voting recommendations to nominators, I have done my best to remain objective in rating the various candidates without regard to friendships or business relationships.

Here is my summary of each candidate, along with a voting recommendation:

JOHN AMERMAN: Skilled businessman who as retired chairman and CEO of Mattel certainly understands consumer products and traditional marketing. I’ve not seen great leadership or fresh ideas spring from Amerman in his various industry roles and cannot recommend a vote for him on the board of Members and Trustees.

NADIA SANAN BRIGGS: Daughter of the outspoken but highly successful businessman Satish Sanan, who has played a major role in the Breeders’ Cup as chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee. Briggs has her own independent streak and would bring a fresh, young perspective to the board. She is bright, totally committed to the industry, and would make an outstanding member of the board of Members and Trustees. Recommend for election.

JACK BROTHERS: Has played a major if understated role in the success of Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs breeding and racing operation after virtually growing up in the horse business. Doesn’t claim to have all the answers for resolving the challenges at the Breeders’ Cup, but I doubt there would be a more fair-minded or harder-working individual on the board of Members and Trustees. Recommend for election.

BILL CASNER: Few people in the industry have shown the courage to stand up to the failed, old-guard industry leadership like Bill Casner has. He understands racing from the standpoint of the blue-collar horseman and now plays the game at the highest level while not forgetting his humble beginnings. Recommend for election.

CASE CLAY: One of the up-and-coming “next generation” industry leaders, Clay is the son of Three Chimneys Farm owner Robert Clay but was not heavily involved in the farm’s operation or the industry until the last five to seven years. I do have concerns that as one of three candidates with close ties to Three Chimneys (see below), there may be an effort to “stack the deck” for a future agenda, and for that reason cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees at this time.

LINCOLN COLLINS: One of three individuals (along with Case Clay and Tracy Farmer) closely allied with Three Chimneys Farm. Collins has a good reputation for honesty and integrity in his Kern Thoroughbreds bloodstock agency, though seems light on service and industry experience. Cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

DONALD R. DIZNEY: A member of both the board of Members and Trustees and the smaller Breeders’ Cup board of Directors, Dizney has done little to distinguish himself as more than a rubber-stamp voter for the status quo. There have been suggestions among some at the Breeders’ Cup that Dizney has not been as engaged through his board or committee attendance as others, but a request for attendance records of board meetings from Breeders’ Cup secretary Jim Philpott was ignored. Cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

TRACY FARMER: Politically powerful in Kentucky through his work and fund-raising with the Democratic Party, Farmer has been a close ally of Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and was appointed to the Kentucky Racing Commission, on which he serves as vice chairman. Farmer serves on both the board of Members and Trustees and Breeders’ Cup board of Directors, where sources say he has not distinguished himself as an independent voice. The Paulick Report requested minutes of Breeders’ Cup board meetings to analyze the involvement of each board member, but secretary Jim Philpott denied the request. Cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

H. GREG GOODMAN: Houston native has been a partner with Lane’s End Farm’s Will Farish, which doesn’t necessarily suggest he will be a “yes” vote for a potential Farish-orchestrated board of Directors slate. However, his non-response to the Paulick Report questionnaire and his vague personal statement on the Breeders’ Cup voting web site does not build confidence in his independence. Cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

GEORGE ISAACS:(UPDATED JUNE 3, FOLLOWING RECEIPT OF RESPONSE TO PAULICK REPORT QUESTIONNAIRE) Veteran horseman is well respected throughout the industry for his work as general manager at Bridlewood Farm in Florida. Relatively new to national industry organizations, but in his responses to the Paulick Report questionnaire demonstrated a commitment to adding value to Breeders’ Cup nominations and increasing accountability and transparency within the organization. i believe it is also important to have representation among Florida breeders. Recommend for election.

TOM LUDT: One of the most independent-minded, cut-to-the-chase people I’ve seen in this industry in recent years. Has distinguished himself on the Kentucky Racing Commission, having been appointed by both a Republican and Democratic governor (and without being a major financial contributor to either of their campaigns), on committees at the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, and Breeders’ Cup board of Directors. Recommend for election.

REILEY McDONALD: Has many years of experience in the auction arena, most prominently as co-owner of Eaton Sales. Has not been as involved in industry leadership positions as I would like to see for someone with his knowledge and insight, though it is encouraging to see him step up at this critical time. However, I cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

MICHAEL McMAHON: One of the individuals running who is completely invested in the Thoroughbred industry and its future, McMahon may lack in national industry organizational experience but more than makes up for it in passion. My instinct is he will add a truly independent voice who takes his responsibilities seriously. In his reply to the Paulick Report questionnaire, McMahon repeatedly spoke of the importance of increasing participation at the grass-roots level among breeders, by adding value to the program for nominators. Recommend for election.

CLEM MURPHY: Coolmore principals and associates are often guarded in what they say to the media, but I’ve found Murphy to be accessible and a source of innovative thinking when it comes to both the Breeders’ Cup and the racing industry. Recommend for election.

OGDEN MILLS PHIPPS: The phrase “lead, follow, or get out of the way” comes to mind. The Jockey Club chairman has had his opportunities to lead (New York Racing Association declined during his years of power), has not shown much interest in following, and that leaves one alternative. Cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

DAN PRIDE: Believes in accountability and transparency, and has brought fresh ideas and enthusiasm to Fasig-Tipton since joining the auction company from Darley. Pride does a good job representing a younger generation of leaders that have real-world experience. Recommend for election.

ANDRE REGARD: For a relatively young man, Regard has a broad base of knowledge, and I think there is little doubt that he will be a growing influence in future years as he gains experience in the industry and its various organizations. One to keep an eye out for in the future, but at this time cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

RICHARD SANTULLI: An enormously successful businessman, Santulli is a no-nonsense kind of guy who brings independence, integrity and a serious commitment to the Breeders’ Cup because of his passion for the Thoroughbred game,first as a fan and horseplayer and later as an owner and breeder. Last year’s effort by the old guard to keep Santulli off the smaller board of Directors represented a low point in the history of the Breeders’ Cup. Recommend for election.

JOSEPH V. SHIELDS JR. Has served on the board of Members and Trustees and board of Directors, but has not publicly articulated a clear vision for how the Breeders’ Cup can grow. Closely associated with old-guard Members and Trustees who have lacked innovation. Cannot recommend a vote for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

JOHN SIKURA: Fiercely independent and driven to build his own business, Sikura has a vision to grow the Breeders’ Cup to become an even more important world championship by incorporating horses from different parts of the globe. He is one of those “all in” horsemen who do not look at the Thoroughbred industry as a part-time hobby but as a full-time commitment of his time and financial resources, and his personal success is tied to the growth of events like the Breeders’ Cup. Recommend for election.

OLIVER TAIT: Represents Darley USA, one of the most important contributors to the Breeders’ Cup in terms of nominations and participation in the world championships. Tait may not be a household name in the U.S. at this stage of his career, but he has accumulated extensive international experience in Europe and Australia. Recommend for election.

DUNCAN TAYLOR: Listening to your customers seems like a logical approach to any business, but I don’t think that has been a strong suit of the Breeders’ Cup board of Directors or management in the past. Taylor Made has developed into the industry’s leading sales agency because of its customer-centric approach, an approach that can only help the Breeders’ Cup. Recommend for election.

ROBERT TRUSSELL JR.: Was a member of the Gainesway Farm team when John Gaines created the Breeders’ Cup in the early 1980s, so he has a great depth of knowledge and history of the organization. However, it is difficult to grasp where he stands on issues of importance given his lack of response to the Paulick Report questionnaire and the absence of a personal statement accompanying his biography on the Breeders’ Cup election web site. (In the original version of this article, I reported the Breeders’ Cup web site did not include a biography of Trussell; that has since been added here.) Cannot recommend a vote at this time for election to the board of Members and Trustees.

ROB WHITELEY: If you are in favor of maintaining the status quo, Whiteley is not your candidate. He was an outspoken critic of the decision last December to suspend the stakes supplement program, and I believe his leadership on that issue led to a quick reversal by the board of Directors. Strongly believes in accountability, transparency and fiscal responsibility. Recommend for election.

JACK WOLF: Knowledgeable about the importance of the Breeders’ Cup in the industry and bullish on the role the organization can play to increase the popularity of the sport, something it has not yet been able to do. Refreshingly candid, independent and with outstanding credentials both in racing and in the outside business world. Recommend for election.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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Do you know an individual or organization who you think we should consider for an upcoming “Good News Friday” feature? Then please e-mail info@paulickreport.com with the name of the individual or organization and a brief description of why you think they should be featured. Additionally, we’d like to thank Rob Whiteley and Liberation Farm for encouraging us to bring to light some of the industry’s positive stories and for sponsoring this exclusive Paulick Report feature.

By Ray Paulick
The Country Life Farm Preakness Party has been a staple of the Triple Crown season since the victories in the 1961 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes by Carry Back, a blue-collar colt sired by the Country Life Farm stallion Saggy. Country Life Farm, based about 45 minutes north of Baltimore in Fallston, Md., is the state’s oldest continuously run Thoroughbred farm. It’s under the direction today of Mike and Josh Pons, grandsons of the founder, Adolphe Pons, who was an adviser to August Belmont during the years when the latter bred and raised the great Man o’ War.

This year’s Preakness Party, held on the lawn of the farm’s main residence as usual on Thursday night, was much more than a celebration of the Triple Crown’s middle jewel or of Maryland’s Thoroughbred industry, one that is currently in a fight for its life. The 2009 Country Life Party was a belated 80^th birthday party for family matriarch Mary Jo Pons and a gathering of some of the people who have been part of her life for the last 30 years at the Radio Reading Network of Maryland, an organization that serves individuals who are visually or physically impaired to the point that they are unable to read for themselves.

Mary Jo lost her husband of 55 years, who she said was her “number one volunteer at the reading network, in 2005.

“We would drive into the city together and he’d take me to the network (whose studio is based at the Baltimore City Community College just north of downtown),” Mary Jo said. “He’d have a nap until post time and then go off to Pimlico.”

Joe Pons was involved in his own service to the community. A recovering alcoholic, he helped organize 12-Step recovery meetings at a local prison. At the memorial service held in his honor, many of the people he helped recover from alcoholism and drug addiction came to Country Life to pay their respects.

Today, the organization has more than 75 volunteers reading on a tightly run programming schedule that can be heard on a special radio signal throughout the state and on Maryland Public Television’s Second Audio Program. Thousands of sight impaired or paralyzed individuals who are unable to read tune in daily.

The following press release was issued on behalf of Mark Allen, co-owner of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, concerning previously publicized comments by Allen to enter the horse Indy Express in an effort to prevent Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra from securing a starting berth in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. — Ray Paulick

For immediate release (Sunday, May 10, 1015 p.m.)
Indy Express out of Preakness 

“When it comes to Rachel Alexandra, I personally don’t think any filly should be in a race against colts at this stage of their careers. I don’t believe in running fillies against the colts. But Rachel Alexandra is a superior filly and could be the exception. Mr. Jackson has a great trainer in Steve Asmussen and I’m sure they will make the right decision and Lord help us all if she does get in.”

“And yes, it’s true that I would like to have my jockey back. Calvin Borel is great and did a great job for us. I also respect him and I completely understand his love for Rachel Alexandra. If the filly gets in we have a commitment from Mike Smith. We have a lot of confidence in Mike, he’s from our part of the country and he’s got some Cowboy in him too, I’ve seen his boots,” said Allen.

 “Additionally, my decision to enter Indy Express in the Preakness was strictly business but after consulting with my Dad and Doc Blach, I have decided to withdraw Indy Express to prevent any further miss understandings. They’re advice to me was just to do what’s right, because arrogance and greed isn’t right. Indy Express is a good colt and showing a lot of potential. I’ll just have to look forward to running him later on down the road. The bottom-line for me is that we came here to race and enjoy our win here in Louisville. So, we’ll meet everyone in Baltimore, ready to run,” said Allen.

The process began on Monday, May 4, when stallion and foal nominators could begin nominating candidates to run for 13 openings on the 48-person Breeders’ Cup board of members and trustees. By now, nominators should have received a letter from the Breeders’ Cup with a customer login and passcode to access a secure voting website that will be open for one week until May 11. Individuals must receive a minimum of 50 votes to be nominated (one vote is assigned for each foal nominated to the Breeders’ Cup and one vote for each $500 in stud fees for nominated stallions). There are 39 elected positions on the board of members and trustees, each with three-year terms, and 13 positions are up for election every year. The other individuals on the board of members and trustees are founding members of the Breeders’ Cup, past presidents and corporate officers.

When nominators go to the voting site, they should have access to a complete list of nominators and the total votes each nominator is eligible to cast. The disclosure of the nominators and number of votes is new to this year’s election.

The next step (from May 12-15), following the closing of nominations, is tabulation of the list of nominees. Individuals that received the required 50 votes are sent a consent form and will be requested to provide a short biography and suitable photo.

On May 18, True Ballot, a company that specializes in elections for labor unions, professional organizations, etc., mails nominators a letter with customer login and password information for secure online election voting. Nominators may request a paper ballot if they prefer.

Voting for the members and trustees election is open from June 1-15 among all nominators to the Breeders’ Cup program.

Following are the 13 members and trustees whose terms are expiring this year: John Amerman, Boyd Browning, Alice Chandler, Donald Dizney, Tracy Farmer, Tom Ludt, Clem Murphy, B. Wayne Hughes, Ogden Mills Phipps, Dan Pride, Richard Santulli, John Sikura, and Frank Stronach. These members and trustees whose terms are expiring are automatically re-nominated unless they opt out of the election.

On June 22, True Ballot will report the results of the members and trustees election and Breeders’ Cup will publish the results. Those results won’t be made official, however, until the annual meeting of members and trustees is held on July 9, and the candidates with the most votes are put up for election by the existing members and trustees. Prior to the vote at the annual meeting, according to section 4.2 of the Breeders’ Cup bylaws, nominations from the floor can also be made by members and trustees.

All members and trustees wishing to be candidates for two-year terms on the smaller board of directors have until 5 p.m. on June 30 to submit their names to Jim Philpott, the Breeders’ Cup corporate secretary. While the election for those open board positions (there are six this year) is conducted during the July 9 annual meeting of members and trustees, individuals unable to attend may vote through the election web site or via proxy, provided the member holding the proxy reveal the identity of each proxy he or she has received at the annual meeting. Each member is entitled to vote for up to six candidates.

The six board members whose two-year terms expire in July are: Reynolds Bell, Don Dizney, Tracy Farmer, Don Robinson (who is serving the remainder of the term of B. Wayne Hughes, who resigned from the board in January), G. Watts Humphrey, and Robert Manfuso. There are 13 elected board members, plus Breeders’ Cup president/CEO Greg Avioli.

Breeders’ Cup will publish the results of the board election, including votes, at the conclusion of the July 9 meeting.

Officers are elected at a subsequent meeting of the newly elected board of directors. According to Breeders’ Cup bylaws, no individual may serve more than five consecutive years as chairman or vice chairman of the board. Bill Farish of Lane’s End Farm is in his third year as chairman.

In a memo to the Breeders’ Cup members and trustees, Farish outlined the changes to this year’s election (publication of vote totals by nominator, full election results, on-line voting for both elections, proxy procedures, and officers electing to abstain in board of director election). “These changes to the election procedures are intended to provide full transparency to all nominators and ensure confidence in the election process,” Farish said in the memo.

The changes were requested by members and trustees who felt previous elections lacked sufficient transparency.

Additional changes have been requested, including amendments to the bylaws that would eliminate voting in the election for the board of directors by current officers (they have voluntarily abstained from the upcoming election); voting in the board of election by past presidents (James E. Bassett III and D.G. Van Clief Jr.); and voting in the board of election by founding members of the Breeders’ Cup, some of whom are no longer active in the Thoroughbred industry.

I’ll have my own thoughts on the Breeders’ Cup election process in a follow-up commentary tomorrow.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
UPDATED 1:10 P.M.: 

If Jeff Mullins serves a seven-day suspension from New York authorities scheduled to begin May 3, he could be the first winning trainer in Kentucky Derby history who isn’t able to go to the stable area at Churchill Downs to check on his horse the morning after the race.

I Want Revenge, trained by Mullins, is the likely favorite in this year’s Kentucky Derby, to be run May 2. Mullins’ suspension is in connection with New York Racing Association detention barn rules he was found to have violated while administering an herbal product to Gato Go Win prior to the Bay Shore Stakes April 4, necessitating that the horse be scratched by stewards. It was at least the 22nd ruling by racing officials against Mullins since 2000.

UPDATE: After this report was published, we were reminded that Larry Jones, trainer of Louisiana Derby winner Friesan Fire, also will begin a seven-day suspension on May 3. That suspension resulted from a positive test for the bronchodilator Clenbuterol in a horse that won a June 8, 2008, allowance race at Delaware Park. It was the first ruling of any kind against Jones, according to the Association of Racing Commissioners International.

Suspensions generally prohibit licensed personnel from having access to secure areas of a racetrack, including the stable area. It is expected the New York State Racing and Wagering Board (and Delaware Racing Commission) ruling will be recognized by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

If I Want Revenge (or Friesan Fire) wins the Kentucky Derby, perhaps Churchill Downs will schedule a press conference at Wagner’s Pharmacy, a popular breakfast spot for trainers just down the road from the stable gate. Dozens of reporters and camera crews traditionally flock to the barn of the winning Kentucky Derby trainer the morning after the race to get quotes for follow-up coverage. This year, they might be able to get some scrambled eggs to go with their stories.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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In the first Good News Friday installment, appropriately on the day the Christian world knows as Good Friday, we tell the story of Father Catesby (Chris) Clay Jr., a member of the Kentucky family that owns and operates Runnymede Farm near Paris, Ky.

By Ray Paulick
Catesby Clay Jr. seemed destined to one day carry on the family’s tradition of breeding Thoroughbreds at Runnymede Farm in Kentucky’s Bourbon County, on land his great-great-grandfather, U.S. Representative Brutus Clay, had purchased for his son, Ezekiel Clay, in 1867, shortly after the end of the Civil War. Ezekiel Clay and his brother-in-law, Catesby Woodford set a high standard for breeding top-class runners at Runnymede from the beginning, and the farm remains a successful commercial operation to this day.

Young Catesby Clay, known to his friends and family as Chris, grew up on the family farm, but he didn’t really get the bug for racing until after his freshman year in college, when he went to work as a hot walker for trainer Jim Baker. He returned to school that fall, graduating from Georgetown University in 1996, and later that year responded to a classified advertisement to proofread Stallion Register pages in the research department at Bloodhorse publications, where I was serving as editor in chief.

He got the job, albeit a temporary one, and made a favorable impression on Dan Liebman, then the research director who recommended hiring Chris for a full-time position when the company launched a new product in 1997, the MarketWatch newsletter.

Chris and I worked closely together on MarketWatch, and he was instrumental in creating a product of great value to breeders and owners that contained useful, never-before-seen statistical data on stallions, auction buyers and consignors, and trainers. He worked tirelessly through technical challenges and production snafus (though he was known to take occasional naps at his desk after staring at pages and pages of data for hours) to put out the product almost singlehandedly.

As much as he seemed to enjoy the work, which was certainly going to help him if he were to someday take over the operation of Runnymede, Chris became increasingly interested in a higher calling spurred on by his Christian faith and a desire, as he now says, “to give more of myself in serving others.”

In the spring of 2002 he used his vacation time to go on a mission trip to Croatia and Bosnia in the Balkans, and came back feeling exuberant. A couple of months later he attended World Youth Day in Toronto, Canada, and was inspired by the message of Pope John Paul II.

The Catholic Church was at a low point at the time, with multiple scandals involving priests and child sex abuse. The number of young men entering the priesthood was falling as a result. Chris, instead of letting the church’s problems deflate the inner calling he felt, was more motivated than ever. In August of 2002, he entered the seminary at St. Meinrad School of Theology in southern Indiana. He studied there for five years and was ordained as a Catholic priest May 19, 2007, by Bishop Ronald Gainer for the Catholic Diocese of Lexington, Ky. He was then assigned to the Cathedral of Christ the King in Lexington as a parochial vicar, or associate pastor.

Chris was the first employee I ever lost to the priesthood, yet seeing his ordination was one of the happiest days of my professional life, because I grew to learn how important it was for him to be able to serve his fellow man.

“As my desire to serve others grew, people started coming up to me and asked if I’d thought of becoming a priest,” Father Chris, now 34 years old, recently told me. “At first I’d say ‘no,’ because I hadn’t thought of it. But then I thought maybe they see something in me that I don’t see in myself. I took it to prayer, and there was a confirmation in prayer.”

It was while at prayer shortly after he returned home from work one night that he said was his “definitive moment” pushing him toward the priesthood. “I knelt down by my bed and prayed, ‘God, what is your will for me?’” Father Chris recalled. The telephone rang, and his father, Catesby Clay Sr., was on the line. Catesby was with Father Norman Fischer and seminarian Teka Berhanu, who had been a family friend since Chris’s childhood.  His father put Teka on the line and Teka told Chris about his experience at a seminary in Rome and invited him to join him there, saying he would love it. “This was the answer to my prayer,” Father Chris now says.

“All that involves is maybe coming up to someone and introducing myself if I don’t know them or greeting someone I do know,” he said. “I might offer them a blessing if they like. It may be a brief visit, but I want my presence as a Catholic priest to remind everyone who sees me to remember that they are important before God; what they are doing is important, and that God loves them deeply. We all need more hope, love and mercy of God in our lives. Hopefully I can bring a little bit of Christ’s love in my ever-so-brief visits.”

Many of the Christ the King parishioners are active in the Thoroughbred industry, and he always enjoys talking horses with them. “Of course, as a priest, we will be hit with weightier matters than horses,” he said.

Father Chris said the funeral Mass for David Mullins only a few months later was one he’d never forget. “I celebrated the mass with Deacon Bill Rood and we went to the cemetery for the burial. There we stood as so many familiar faces walked in sorrow behind the horse-drawn hearse with a bag-piper playing. It was all very fitting for us to be there together in grief for our friend David who had brought so much life and love to us all.”

He also talks with Sandra White, who directs Women in Racing and Bethlehem Farm in Paris, Ky., about the ministry she does for women recovering from addictions. “In all this, the great challenge is not forgetting my primary responsibility involves serving the parishioners at the Cathedral,” he said.

So if you’re wandering through the Keeneland stable area one morning and come across a young Catholic priest, be sure to say hello to Father Chris Clay. You’ll find a man who is just as comfortable talking of things spiritual or equine, and someone who is helping make the world a better place, one person at a time.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report 

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Back in July of 2005, the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, which oversees licensing and the rules and regulations of pari-mutuel racing in the Empire State, revoked the owner’s license of Ernie Paragallo for financial irresponsibility. The wealthy New Yorker who in 1996 raced the Kentucky Derby favorite and now leading stallion Unbridled’s Song owed money (reportedly $18,000) to the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton equine hospital, apparently for veterinary work done on one or more of his Thoroughbreds.

But that ruling didn’t appear to slow Paragallo down, whose horses race in the name of Paraneck Stable. Paragallo’s daughters, Jennifer and Kristen, are licensed in New York as the “owners” of Paraneck Stable, which is among the leading owners in New York. Ernie Paragallo is licensed by the SRWB as an “authorized agent.” When I spoke with Paragallo last week about the mares from his Center Brook Farm that were found in a lice infested and malnourished condition at a New York livestock auction’s kill pen, he said he “runs” the stable as an employee of his daughters.

Why, then, does the New York Racing Association’s media guide list Ernie Paragallo’s biography as the owner of Paraneck Stable and everyone associate Ernie as the voice and face of Paraneck? Is this one of those wink-wink nod-nod things where the rules are made to be broken, or least overlooked?

“If I wanted to be licensed I’d have to prove to the board that I’ve satisfied the bill,” Paragallo said.

The University of Pennsylvania isn’t the only business that had to go to extremes to collect money owed by Paragallo. When the SRWB revoked his license, he reportedly owed $500,000 to the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. That bill was said to be paid.

I can say from personal experience that Paragallo (or a business entity he controlled) wasn’t quick to pay for advertising invoices to at least one Thoroughbred trade magazine , either. On at least one occasion, a publication I was affiliated with was forced to hire an attorney and threaten to take legal action to collect money owed on advertising for Paragallo’s stallions.

I wonder if other businesses have had similar problems.

Five years ago, in July 2004, Paragallo announced he was going to sell all of his racing and breeding stock by the end of that year because of unspecified health problems. It’s a shame he didn’t.

Now I know that I’m going to be castigated for that statement by some people in the industry who will be quick to point out all the good things Ernie Paragallo has done: the $1 million given to the NTRA Charities New York Heroes Fund in 2001, the seasons to Unbridled’s Song and other stallions he has donated to charities, and the money he spends in the industry.

Racing does need Thoroughbred owners, and it needs more owners than it currently has. But it needs owners who act responsibly regarding the care and treatment of their horses. Based on what I’ve learned about the horses under Paragallo’s care, at least those at his Center Brook Farm, I don’t believe he fits into that category.

Of course, Paragallo isn’t even licensed as an owner, is he?

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