The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers Association today announced that William S. Farish, owner of Lane’s End Farm and a pre-eminent industry leader of multiple organizations and causes, will be honored with the Eclipse Award of Merit for a lifetime of outstanding achievement in Thoroughbred racing.
Farish will receive the Eclipse Award of Merit on Monday, January 18 at the 39th Annual Eclipse Awards ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
“I am so honored to have been selected for a sport which has given me and my family so much pleasure and enjoyment for the past 35 years,” said Farish, who resides in Lexington, Ky. “I am humbled to be chosen to join this list of outstanding people who have received this Award of Merit, many of whom have been long time friends.”
A successful owner and breeder who has served the Thoroughbred industry in a number of high-profile positions, Farish is one of the world’s most well-known and influential horsemen. He is a steward and vice chairman of The Jockey Club, a director and former chair of the executive committee of the Breeders’ Cup (for which his son, Bill, currently serves as chairman of the board), a member of the board of directors of the Keeneland Association, and a Keeneland trustee. He was chairman of the board of Churchill Downs from 1992-2001, where the company grew from a single race track to a multi-track corporation.
“Will Farish is deeply involved in every phase of the Thoroughbred Industry,” said Keeneland president Nick Nicholson. “If you follow the life cycle of the Thoroughbred each stage from mating, breeding, raising, registration, sales, training, racing, and then back to the farm for breeding, Will has positively impacted each step along the way. His knowledge, passion and willingness to give of his time for the betterment of the Industry and the sport have meant so much for the modern Thoroughbred world. We are grateful to have him serve as a trustee of Keeneland and appreciate his advice and counsel.”
In June, the William Stamps Farish Fund donated $1 million to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF). As a member of the PDJF board, and working with its executive director, Nancy LaSala, Farish is helping to raise some $10-12 million to endow a fund that will provide continuous support for disabled riders. “The more I explored the situation,” said Farish, “the more I realized that a sustaining pool of monies was necessary. I feel that everyone who is associated with our sport realizes that a permanent source of funding is needed improve the lives of these disabled riders.”
Farish was born in Houston, Texas and is the grandson of the late William S. Farish II, the founder of Humble Oil and Refining and chairman of Standard Oil of New Jersey. Farish’s grandfather founded the famed Lazy F Ranch in Texas, which campaigned three-time Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year Forego in the mid-1970s.
Will Farish purchased his first Thoroughbred in 1963. In 1972, he campaigned Preakness Stakes winner Bee Bee Bee. In 1979, Farish founded Lane’s End, a stallion and breeding farm and public sales operation that covers more than 3,000 acres near Lexington, Ky. Among the 22 stallions currently standing at Lane’s End are 1992 Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year A.P. Indy; 2003 Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year Mineshaft, which Farish campaigned; leading sire Smart Strike; and Smart Strike’s sons Curlin, Eclipse Award Champion Horse of the Year in 2007 and 2008, and English Channel, 2007 Eclipse Award Champion Turf Male. With the late Warner L. Jones Jr., Farish bred Seattle Dancer, who set the world-record price for a yearling when he was sold for $13.1 million in 1985. Farish is a two-time recipient of the Eclipse Award as leading breeder, including in 1999 when he and his partners bred the winners of all three Triple Crown races that year. Farish has raced more than 150 stakes winners in his name or with various partners.
From 2001-2004, Farish served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Court of Saint James, and the Farishes have hosted Queen Elizabeth II on her visits to Kentucky, most recently to attend the 2007 Kentucky Derby.
“In his many leadership roles over the years, Will Farish has been an immensely important contributor to the sport and business of Thoroughbred racing,” said D.G. Van Clief, Jr., former president and CEO of the Breeders’ Cup and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. “Whether serving as an Epsom Oaks-winning U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, the chairman of Churchill Downs, a trustee of Keeneland or the master of Lane’s End Farm, his presence has ensured progress and success. I know firsthand that Will’s service as the chairman of the Breeders’ Cup executive committee was instrumental to its successful launch and subsequent growth as a world championship. Without him it would not be the globally respected event it is today. Wherever Will Farish has applied his personal brand of leadership the sport has benefited, and there is no more deserving recipient of this award.”
The Eclipse Awards are bestowed upon horses and individuals whose outstanding achievements in North America have earned them the title of Champion in their respective categories. The Eclipse Awards are named after the great 18th-century racehorse and foundation sire Eclipse, who began racing at age five and was undefeated in 18 starts, including eight walkovers. Eclipse sired the winners of 344 races, including three Epsom Derbies.
The 39th Annual Eclipse Awards will be held on Monday, January 18 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. For hotel accommodations and Eclipse Awards ceremony reservations, contact Michele Ravencraft at the NTRA’s Lexington office, (800) 792-6872, or e-mail mravencraft@ntra.com.
By Ray PaulickPlease click here to donate to Breeders’ Cup Charities benefiting the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and V Foundation for Cancer Research. Give a minimum of one penny per mile and you will be eligible for a drawing to win one of 10 Breeders’ Cup caps to be signed by the winning jockeys of all 14 Breeders’ Cup races this Friday and Saturday.
Mischief Man was a handful as his groom led him out of the Zia Park walking ring and toward the racetrack for Monday’s 10th race, a $12,500 claiming event for 3-year-olds and upward. He was the last one out of the paddock because of his temperamental behavior, and stopped suddenly by a metal fence that lined the pathway to the track, digging his feet into the ground.
Jockey Rico Flores tried to coax the son of Awesome Sword to join the others in the post parade, but the gelding would have none of it. Instead, he reared up high in the air and then flipped over backwards, transforming Flores into a projectile heading toward that hard metal fence and a potentially crippling injury. Luckily, he hit it with only a glancing blow to his body, tumbling to the ground on the other side.
Mischief Man’s foot got caught in the fence and he thrashed around for a few seconds before freeing himself and getting back to his feet. Flores got up, too, shaken, but not seriously injured. He was examined immediately by emergency medical personnel on the scene.
The outrider scheduled to accompany Mischief Man to the gate rode into the paddock and asked if the horse was going to be scratched. “No!” Flores shouted, not wanting to give up the mount that had been acting so crazily just a few moments earlier.
The track veterinarian overruled Flores, and he walked sadly back into the jockeys’ room after Mischief Man was taken out of the race.
The incident demonstrated how quickly things can go wrong for jockeys or handlers of these high-strung Thoroughbreds—even before a race is run. Flores escaped injury this time, though his head came dangerously close to smacking the fence as he fell toward the ground. It also showed the courage (some might craziness) of these athletes who risk their lives every time they get on a horse’s back.
I was at Zia Park with my Paulick Report partner, Brad Cummings, on the fourth stop of our 10-day BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST fundraising drive, held in partnership with Breeders’ Cup Charities to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and V Foundation for Cancer Research. We were at the Hobbs, N.M., track to enjoy a day of Quarter horse and Thoroughbred racing and participate in a handicapping contest with a couple of local sharpshooters, KRUI radio talk-show host and handicapper Tim Keithley, and trainer Todd Fincher, a former leading at Ruidoso Downs and other tracks in the Southwest.
It was our first trip to Zia Park and Black Gold Casino, a racetrack and casino in eastern New Mexico about 100 miles southwest of Lubbock, Texas. R.D. Hubbard built the track for $50 million in 2004 and sold it three years later for $200 million to Penn National Gaming—a pretty good pinhook. The slot machines support the purses for what is a pretty good racing product Those $12,500 claimers were racing for a $13,500 purse; New Mexico-bred 2-year-old maidens competed for a $27,700 purse earlier in the card.
Hobbs is a working-class town of about 28,000 people, and their median household income is $28,100. Cowboy hats, Wranglers and big belt buckles are the order of the day for this horse-loving part of the country.
Rick Baugh, the assistant general manager who hosted us for the day, gave Keithley and Fincher a $1,000 bankroll to build up for the two charities. Brad and I also had $1,000 to wager. Whatever was left at the end of the day would go to Breeders’ Cup Charities, and the team with the biggest bankroll after the final race would bragging rights.
The Kentucky invaders didn’t embarrass themselves, hitting several winners on the card, including a maiden winner that had gone 0-for-32 prior to the day, and a couple of exotic bets. We managed to wind up with about $1,600 and looked like we would cruise to victory over the local hotshots, but Keithley and Fincher (a pretty sharp trainer, with 11 wins from 31 starts going into the day) hit the exacta and trifecta on the final race, nearly doubling their bankroll. We were more than happy to finish second, since it meant that more than $3,000 would go to the charities.
The $3,000-plus from Zia Park brings our total to nearly $65,000. Many thanks to this segment’s sponsors, Robert and Blythe Clay’s Three Chimneys Farm; Cot Campbell’s Dogwood Stable; numerous affiliates of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association; and Zia Park/Penn National Gaming.
Sponsors for our previous segments were Global Gaming Solutions and Remington Park; Terry Finley and his West Point Thoroughbred partners; Tommy Simon’s Vinery; Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farm; TVG; Bill Casner and WinStar Farm; Barry Irwin of Team Valor International; Kate Lantaff of Tahoma Stud; William S. Farish’s Lane’s End, Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley, Brereton C. Jones’ Airdrie Stud and the Young family’s Overbrook Farm. A special thanks to our media partner TVG and the TVG’s online community for playing such a big part in promoting the drive.
It was all ion good fun, and that seems to be what Zia Park is all about. It’s a friendly track, well designed, and about the right size for what racing needs to be in a town like Hobbs. One bit of advice from locals that’s worth passing on: if you stop in, be sure to have the green chile cheeseburger. You won’t find anything like it in Kentucky.
It’s a 10-hour drive from Hobbs to Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Ariz., where we’re scheduled to be on Tuesday afternoon. Another track I’ve never had the chance to visit, and another opportunity to raise money and awareness for two worthy charities. Zia later, Hobbs. It’s been fun.
By Ray Paulick Please click here to donate to Breeders’ Cup Charities benefiting the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and V Foundation for Cancer Research. Give a minimum of one penny per mile and you will be eligible for a drawing to win one of 10 Breeders’ Cup caps to be signed by the winning jockeys of all 14 Breeders’ Cup races this Friday and Saturday.
Saturday was supposed to be strictly a driving day for the BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST fundraising drive, but Brad Cummings and I never met a racetrack we didn’t like, so when we saw that Will Rogers Downs was just a couple miles from the Claremore, Okla., exit on I-64, we felt compelled to stop.
The fundraising drive, done in partnership with Breeders’ Cup Charities, will benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
There was no live racing going on at WRD, but plenty of slot machines, simulcasting and a friendly staff. We even saw a patron arriving on horseback—not something you see every day.
The simulcast room was relatively full, and we talked with one of the regulars, a fellow who looked like a love child of Yosemite Sam and ZZ Top. He was a serious player, bringing a briefcase full of trip notes on tracks around the country, but said he was looking forward to the live meeting that begins at WRD in February. “The racing’s gotten pretty good here,” he said. “Some of the horses from the Fair Grounds and Oaklawn Park will show up.”
This is one of those racetracks that probably wouldn’t be in business were it not for slot machines, or in this case Indian gaming. Will Rogers Downs is owned by the Cherokee Nation, one of three Indian tribes that own racetracks in Oklahoma. The Choctaw Nation owns Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw. That’s the track where jockey Mark Pace died earlier this month. Since that tragedy, the Choctaws announced they will be closing the track because of economic reasons related to the track’s location.
Tomorrow, we’ll be visiting Remington Park, which recently was purchased by Global Gaming Solutions, a subsidiary of the Chickasaw Nation. No track has taken ahold of the bit on raising funds for the BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST drive like Remington Park has, and I think we’ve got an exciting and gratifying day ahead of us tomorrow. Scott Wells and his staff have gone above and beyond any of our wildest expectations, and we owe a special thanks to Joy Rose Murphy, the track’s promotions coordinator.
I’m not sure I’ll feel the same way after tomorrow’s “Hippity Hop” race, when Brad and I mount giant rubber balls and bounce our way down the track against members of the local jockey colony. But if you’re going to be humiliated, you might as well do it for a good cause.
On a serious note: If our experiences with Remington Park under its new ownership are any indication, horse racing is going to benefit from the Chickasaws’ involvement in the industry. It appears they understand the value of good corporate citizenship.
The visit with Michael Straight and his family at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago will be with us for a long time. Sadly, just in the last 24 hours we’ve learned of more spills and mishaps involving jockeys, beginning with an accident at Keeneland involving Julia Brimo, a Sovereign Award winner as leading apprentice in Canada. She was listed in critical condition at a Lexington hospital. Apprentice Amanda Casey, who earlier on Friday at Aqueduct celebrated her first win of the meeting, ended up at a New York hospital with a bruised liver after getting kicked in a paddock mishap. Earlier today, we learned that Omar Moreno was involved in a spill at Woodbine in Canada.
The beat goes on, and so does the industry’s need to help provide for jockeys who are permanently disabled from riding accidents. If you haven’t made a donation to Breeders’ Cup Charities to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and the V Foundation for Cancer Research, please do so by clicking here.
After Friday’s visit with the Straight family, we headed south and encountered heavy rainfall alongo the way. We thought we’d stop in and catch some racing at Fairmount Park’s simulcast room late in the afternoon, but didn’t bring our waders to walk through the parking lot to the front door. Apparently we’d just missed a heavy storm that flooded the parking lot and other businesses in the St. Louis area.
Our Saturday began with a tasty breakfast at a Waffle House in Springfield, Mo., in the Ozarks. I thought I’d walked into a bizarre rehearsal for the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but Brad reminded me that it was Halloween morning, and the crew was just having a little fun. Too bad. I think the Rocky Horror Waffle House could be the next big thing in the franchise world.
Sponsors for the Chicago to Oklahoma City portion of this fundraising drive are: Global Gaming Solutions and Remington Park; Terry Finley and his West Point Thoroughbreds partners; Tommy Simon’s Vinery; and Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farm.
Sponsors for our previous segments were
TVG; Bill Casner and WinStar Farm; Barry Irwin of Team Valor International; Kate Lantaff of Tahoma Stud; the William S. Farish’s Lane’s End, Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley, Brereton C. Jones’ Airdrie Stud and the Young family’s Overbrook Farm.
A special thanks to our media partner TVG and the TVG’s online community for playing such a big part in promoting the drive and raising awareness and money for these charities. All sponsorship dollars go directly to Breeders’ Cup Charities, to be divided evenly between the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
By Ray Paulick
Every kid should be so lucky to have parents like Sandy and Beth Straight.
“They are very inspirational people,” said Nancy LaSala, executive director of the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.
The Straights are parents of 23-year-old twin sons, Michael and Matthew, who were living out their dream together as professional Thoroughbred jockeys until that dream turned into a nightmare in a split second on Aug. 26. That’s the day Michael Straight suffered severe spinal and head injuries in an Arlington Park racing accident. The lives of the family from Albany, N.Y., took a dramatic and tragic change.
Sandy and Beth Straight were watching the race at the Albany OTB parlor. Matthew was riding in Kentucky. All of them knew immediately that this was a bad spill. Arlington Park chairman Dick Duchossois dispatched his private jet to New York to bring Michael’s parents to the hospital. Matthew didn’t need to be told. He got in his car and began driving to Chicago within minutes of the accident.
Sandy and Beth Straight put their lives on hold and have remained with their son in Chicago since August. Every day they come to the hospital, first at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge and now at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, where Michael was moved Oct. 11 and is now undergoing occupational, physical and speech therapy. They are there from nine in the morning till seven at night many days, offering support, love and hope to their son. “It’s one day at a time Michael,” Beth Straight said.
The Straights aren’t wealthy people; they work for the state of New York’s labor department—or used to until Michael was injured. But thanks to fellow riders, friends, family, people in the horse industry and organizations like the Jockey Club Foundation, the Don MacBeth Fund and the Jockeys’ Guild, they are getting able to stay with Michael. Right now, the situation is grim. “No one knows,” Sandy Straight said. “The spine is a mystery. You just can’t give up hope.”
Matthew has been there for his twin, too, spending as much time with him as he can. “He likes us to be around,” Sandy said, “but there’s nothing that lifts his spirits as much as seeing his brother.” Earlier this week, Matthew took Michael out for lunch and cruised the Magnificent Mile on Michigan Avenue, not far from the Rehabilitation Institute.
Michael and Matthew Straight have always been best friends, and they both grew up dreaming of becoming jockeys. Sandy Straight talked about how as young boys he’d seen them straddling the back of a couch, using pillows for saddles and crouching low while driving their mounts to the wire in an imaginary race. When they were nine, the boys went from riding the couch to practicing on an Equicizer, the simulated riding device developed by jockey Frank Lovato and used by professional jockeys to get back in riding shape after taking time off. At 12, Michael and Matthew learned about an organization started by the late Trudy McCaffery, “Kids to the Cup,” which offered expense paid visits to tracks hosting major races around the country including the Breeders’ Cup. Getting a close-up look at their sport through the “Kids to the Cup” program cemented their desire to ride.
Eventually they went to the North American Riding Academy that Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron established at the Kentucky Horse Park, Matthew graduating in 2007 and Michael the following year. As required by the NARA curriculum, Michael served an apprenticeship, working in the stable of trainer Wesley Ward. He launched his career earlier this year, winning with his first mount at Tampa Bay Downs on March 6. He had 39 career wins when Im No Gentleman, the horse he was riding Aug. 26 apparently clipped heels and fell, throwing Michael to the Polytrack surface awkwardly. The horse, which apparently died from a broken neck, did not fall onto or roll over the jockey.
One of the Chicago-area owners Michael rode for, Dan Sullivan, organized a fundraiser for the jockey and his family on Oct. 25 at a restaurant Sullivan owns in a Chicago suburb. “Dan Sullivan has been incredible,” Sandy said. “He’s done so much for us. One of his kids wrote that letter up there on the wall,” he said, pointing to an over-sized, hand-printed letter signed by all of his classmates.
“Bill Thayer (Arlington Park racing executive) just loves Michael and he’s devastated over what happened. Guys like Wesley and Chris are being really hard on themselves, thinking they somehow are to blame for this, but it’s not their fault.”
Sandy and Beth said it was tough to watch Matthew when he rode at Arlington Park for the first time after Michael’s injury, and they watch his races from a completely different perspective today. “We always said ‘just get around the track safely,’” Sandy said, “but now…” He didn’t need to finish the sentence.
We had the opportunity to visit with Michael and his parents, along with the PDJF’s Nancy LaSala on Friday morning, while in Chicago on the second stop of the BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST fundraising drive from Kentucky to California. The drive, in partnership with Breeders’ Cup Charities, is benefiting the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and the V Foundation for Cancer Research. We’ve had some fun raising money for the charities, but today’s visit really hit home what these seriously injured riders go through.
Everyone in racing is hoping that Michael Straight will not have to become the next rider to benefit from the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund—certainly not his parents. But the PDJF has to be there to help these riders when there are no miracles and prayers are not enough.
Michael and Matthew Straight will turn 24 years old in a couple of weeks, on Nov. 12. The best birthday present for them would be an improvement in Michael’s condition, but the odds are against that happening so soon. A donation to Breeders’ Cup Charities to benefit the PDJF and V Foundation would be an appropriate way to recognize their birthdays. Please click here to make a donation.
If you can’t give, please consider sending a birthday card to lift Michael’s spirits. (It can be sent to Michael Straight, c/o Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, 345 E. Superior, Chicago, IL 60611.) It might also lift the spirits of Sandy and Beth Straight. They have shown incredible strength over the last 10 weeks, but the stress they are experiencing and the pain they are feeling is taking a toll on them, too.
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Liberation Farm celebrates the many horsemen and horsewomen who strive each day to make things better for horses and those who work with them. To learn more about Liberation Farm, click here.
Our first day of the BC or Bust trip has started off with a bang. We were fortunate to have about ten jockeys attend an autograph signing including stars Kent Desormeaux, Jon Court, Robby Albarado and Julien Leparoux. We sold nearly 100 hats with all the proceeds of course are going to our two charities, the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and The V Foundation for Cancer Research.
These proceeds are great and will add nicely to the over $20,000 we have already raised privately. A special thanks to our Keeneland to Chicago segment sponsors Lane’s End Farm, Darley, Airdrie Stud and Overbrook Farm for coming through with a generous donation to the charities. The outpouring of support has been remarkable but we still have more money to raise. If you are interested in sponsoring a leg of our trip, drop us an email at info@paulickreport.com. If you would like to give a smaller amount, you can always make secure credit card donation on the Breeders’ Cup Charities page linked here.
It only took two hours into our journey for Ray to cop out so this first blog falls on the shoulders of his humble correspondent, Brad Cummings. I’ve become accustomed to carrying his water so nothing new on my front!
According to Mike Wolken who works at the Equestrian Room, the best bet of the day is the grilled rueben sandwich here. That seems to be a safe bet as Tom Leach, voice of Kentucky Wildcats football and basketball lost his first bet on the opening race with a win bet on the four horse. Here’s to hoping that was our only stroke of bad luck today!
Please drop any suggestions you might have in the comments section below.
A few video clips from today. First is a quick look at the autograph lineup of jockeys. Some of the best in the world are here at Keeneland.
Second is a great interview with Kent Desormeaux who was gracious enough to give his time. (Due to user error, the first 20 seconds were chopped off. I promise this will be my first and last mistake over the next 10 days…)
Two races down and few more bets have failed. Our TVG Community friend Angelo missed on his first leg of the Pick 4, going with the 4 and 11 horses. No worries though, he’s got a couple more bets to go. Due to our association with TVG, we’ve been able to include a couple of their top community handicappers and look forward to much success on their bets.
Be sure to catch Tom Leach and Ray on TVG as they talk about the BC or Bust fundraising drive right after the third race at Keeneland.
Ray’s got his first bet of the day in the fourth race on the three horse. Looks like Tom is going for the ten. Both would be great for our charity drive. May the best man win! (Appropriate that Tom would pick a horse named flexthegoldenpipes since he’s a radio guy)
And another poor showing. We’re bleeding here folks. On a side note, Petecarol won the race. Ray’s wife’s name is Carol and a USC grad. For those of you who don’t know, Pete Carroll happens to be the name of the USC football head coach. I think Ray might be in the dog house for not catching on to the obvious sign here.
By Ray Paulick TO SAY THE WAGERING SELECTIONS HAVE BEEN COLD would be an understatement. My solo wager of the day, Doubles Partner, broke a bit slowly and then rushed up to engage for the lead around the turn. But the son of Rock Hard Ten paid for his early efforts and had nothing left when Petecarol cruised past at the top of the stretch.
Tom Leach, who was kind enough to take time from his busy schedule to go one-on-one with me in a handicapping challenge (he’s calling a Blue-White University of Kentucky basketball scrimmage later today on WLAP/630 and 98.1 FM The Bull) hasn’t had much luck, either, but we’ll both be swinging in the seventh race. Our TVG community partner, Angelo Lieto, has his big bet of the day in the eighth, on the Indian Charlie filly Silver Time.
In the seventh, Tom and I both are trying to beat the favorite, the Bernstein filly Orchestrator, and we’ve wound up on the same horse: Check the Label, a daughter of Stormin’ Fever owned by Brereton Jones and trained by Graham Motion. I’ll not only be playing a straight bet on Check the Label, but I’ll be pulling for the filly because Jones’ Airdrie Stud is one of the four sponsors for the first leg of this fundraising drive, along with Lane’s End, Darley and Overbrook Farm.
Julien Leparoux will be riding Check the Label. He was one of the many jockeys who took time out of their schedule earlier today to sign Breeders’ Cup caps in front of the Keeneland gift shop. Proceeds, as Brad Cummings mentioned, go the two charities.
At the end of the autograph line was Robby Albarado, who was showing the effects of a nasty spill at Keeneland the weekend before last when he went down and was kicked in the eye. This was one of those spills that could have been devastating, and Robby was lucky to escape with "only" an eye completely swollen shut.
Sitting next to Robby in the autograph line was Kent Desormeaux, who lost the hearing in his right ear from a spill 17 years ago. He’s come back and is riding at the top of his game, but both riders know the dangers of their profession and how important it is to have a safety net in the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.
Just 10 minutes to post before our last bet of the day, and unless our TVG online community friend Angelo Lieto is correct, we could be shut out on the day, a tough way to start this portion of the fundraising drive. Silver Time, his pick, Silver Time, has been bet down from her 8-1 morning line to 9-2 with just a few minutes to post time. A win by Silver Time and Jesus Castanon for trainer Larry Jones and the Cottonwood Stables will give us a profit on the day. A loss puts us in a hole that we’ll have to dig out of tomorrow at Hawthorne.
Well, no complaints. Silver Time ran a good race, just not good enough to win. She got a good trip from the inside, bid for the lead turning into the stretch, and was simply outfinished by the late-running Diamond Song, an Unbridled’s Song filly owned and bred by diamond explorer Charles Fipke. Diamond Song was ridden by Kent Desormeaux and trained by Dallas Stewart.
No one said picking winners would be easy. We’ll take our swings tomorrow in Chicago. For Brad and me, it’s our kind of town, Chicago.
Thanks again to the management and staff of Keeneland for helping us launch the BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST fundraising drive, and thanks to the jockeys who gave their time to meet fans and autograph Breeders’ Cup caps, TVG for helping promote the fundraiser and to Tom Leach and TVG online community member Angelo Lieto.
And a special thanks to the four sponsors of this segment of the journey: William S. Farish’s Lane’s End, Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley, Brereton C. Jones’ Airdrie Stud and the Young family’s Overbrook Farm for their generosity toward the two charities.
Please consider a donation of any amount to Breeders’ Cup Charities, to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Click here to donate.
By Ray Paulick Some people think I’d do just about anything to not get on an airplane. One of those folks is Brad Cummings, my partner in the Paulick Report. A couple of weeks ago, knowing that I’ve had my fill of bad experiences with commercial airlines, he asked if I’d be driving out to the Breeders’ Cup from my home in Lexington, Ky., to Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.
“Are you nuts?” I asked. I told Brad I was in the process of booking a flight but then, for some reason, said, “Why don’t you drive out there with me.” We had just been discussing our disappointment in not being able to get a group of people together from Central Kentucky to fill a chartered bus and attend a Chicago-area fundraiser Oct. 25 for apprentice jockey Michael Straight, who was seriously injured in a riding mishap at Arlington Park this summer. Brad had really been hoping to show that people in Kentucky had the young jockey in their thoughts and prayers, but understood that giving up a Sunday and Monday to attend the event was a tall order for many folks.
“Maybe we can put together our own fundraiser,” I told Brad, stopping at tracks along the way, and somehow raising awareness and money for not just Michael Straight but for all the injured riders who depend on the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. It’s an organization that provides sorely needed financial assistance to more than 60 jockeys who have suffered some form of paralysis, head trauma or other debilitating injury.
From that lunchtime meeting in Lexington came the idea for BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST: A FUNDRAISING ‘DRIVE’ that gets under way at Keeneland this Wednesday (Oct. 28), continues at Hawthorne in Chicago on Thursday (Oct. 29), Remington Park in Oklahoma City on Sunday (Nov. 1), Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M., next Monday (Nov. 2) and Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Ariz., next Tuesday (Nov. 3). We’ll stop at a Las Vegas racebook next Wednesday (Nov. 4) and then arrive at Santa Anita Park on the eve of the Breeders’ Cup.
We made a few phone calls after our initial discussion, including one to someone at the Breeders’ Cup to see if the organization was interested in partnering with us on this crazy idea. To my astonishment, they were immediately supportive. So was TVG, the racing network and account wagering company, which will help promote this fundraising effort on both their telecasts and online through the TVG community as our exclusive media partner.
Breeders’ Cup Charities officials suggested we branch out and consider a second charity to benefit from this drive, specifically The V Foundation for Cancer Research, founded by ESPN and the late North Carolina State basketball coach and television commentator Jim Valvano. Coach V, who died from brain cancer in 2003, gave the foundation its motto, “Don’t give up…Don’t ever give up,” during an unforgettable speech at the inaugural ESPY awards when he received the Arthur Ashe Courage & Humanitarian Award, just eight weeks before his death.
We’ve all lost friends or loved ones to this disease, and the absence of stricken Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel from this year’s Breeders’ Cup will serve as a sad reminder of how devastating cancer can be. The V Foundation has funded vital research into unraveling the mysteries of cancer over the past 15 years. It ranks among the top 2% of all charities ranked by the independent organization, Charity Navigator, for maintaining extremely low administration and fundraising expenses.
While these two organizations deal with serious medical issues, we plan to have some fun while raising money on behalf of Breeders’ Cup Charities and the two organizations. We’ll be raising awareness for them, too, chronicling each stop on the zig-zagging, 2,835-mile road trip with live blogs detailing our experiences.
We hope you’ll stop by the Paulick Report, beginning Wednesday when BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST starts at Keeneland, where the jockey colony will be autographing Breeders’ Cup caps and I’ll be participating in a one-on-one handicapping challenge with local radio personality Tom Leach, the voice of the Kentucky Wildcats. Breeders’ Cup is staking us to a bankroll that we hope to increase throughout the trip with help from the TVG community and handicappers and horseplayers at each track.
Other promotions along the way include a race pitting the two traveling partners of the Paulick Report against members of the Remington Park jockey colony riding big, bouncing rubber balls. I think I’m at least 50-1 to win that contest.
You’ll have an opportunity to support the ‘drive,’ too, by pledging a specific amount per mile at the Breeders’ Cup Charities secured web site and making a tax-deductible online donation. Please click here to donate now.
In addition, for each of the six segments of the drive, we are soliciting individuals, businesses or charitable foundations as sponsors willing to donate a minimum of $2,000 to the charities. Please email us at
info@paulickreport.com if you are interested in sponsoring a segment, which will be acknowledged throughout the trip in our daily blogs.
It’s been less than 18 months since the Paulick Report launched as an independent source of news and commentary for the Thoroughbred industry. As many of you know, in our early days we were sustained by the support of readers like you who contributed during National Public Radio-style fundraising drives. Since then, we’ve been blessed with overwhelming growth in both readership and advertising support from businesses throughout the racing and breeding communities.
Because of that support, we feel privileged to be able to put our energies toward something that truly is a worthy cause. We are asking you to give again. Please join us in supporting Breeders’ Cup Charities to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and The V Foundation for Cancer Research.
By Ray Paulick Permanently disabled jockeys got a huge boost today with the announcement that the Williams Stamps Farish Fund has pledged $1 million to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, the organization currently assisting 60 former riders who have been seriously injured in racing accidents.
The president of the Farish Fund is William S. Farish, the owner of Lane’s Farm and vice chairman of the Jockey Club. His pledge, to be annualized with equal payments over four years beginning in 2009, was accompanied by a message of hope that others in the industry will also step up on this issue.
“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.
“I’m hopeful and feel like by putting our name behind this very, very important organization, we can help financially and draw attention to the need,” he said.
“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.
There was no live racing going on at WRD, but plenty of slot machines, simulcasting and a friendly staff. We even saw a patron arriving on horseback—not something you see every day.
After Friday’s visit with the Straight family, we headed south and encountered heavy rainfall alongo the way. We thought we’d stop in and catch some racing at Fairmount Park’s simulcast room late in the afternoon, but didn’t bring our waders to walk through the parking lot to the front door. Apparently we’d just missed a heavy storm that flooded the parking lot and other businesses in the St. Louis area. 
We hope you’ll stop by the Paulick Report, beginning Wednesday when BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST starts at Keeneland, where the jockey colony will be autographing Breeders’ Cup caps and I’ll be participating in a one-on-one handicapping challenge with local radio personality Tom Leach, the voice of the Kentucky Wildcats. Breeders’ Cup is staking us to a bankroll that we hope to increase throughout the trip with help from the TVG community and handicappers and horseplayers at each track.