Our good friend Joy Rose Murphy who rolled out the red carpet for the Paulick Report when we swung through Oklahoma City for the Breeders’ Cup or Bust tour will be participating in the Mrs. Oklahoma pageant this April. True to herself, Joy has chosen the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund as her platform.
Below is the press release on her entry. Please feel free to write well wishes to Joy as she tries to bring national attention to an incredibly important issue to our industry.
Choctaw native to compete for title of Mrs. Oklahoma America
Joy Rose Murphy will represent the City of Choctaw at the official state preliminary for the Mrs. America Pageant
CHOCTAW, Okla. – Joy Rose Murphy, a committed volunteer and local horse racing personality, has been chosen to compete for the title of Mrs. Oklahoma America from a field of applicants received from throughout the area. Murphy is the promotions coordinator at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, where she hosts a televised race-day program.
The 2010 Mrs. Oklahoma Competition will take place April 16 and 17 at the historic Guthrie Scottish Rite Temple. Murphy will compete in three categories for the Mrs. Oklahoma title: personal interview, swimsuit and evening gown.
If selected as Mrs. Oklahoma America she will use her title to bring state and national attention to her platform, the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF), for which she recently raised $25,000. The organization works to provide financial assistance to former jockeys who have suffered catastrophic on-track injuries.
“Oklahoma has a thriving horse industry, and my husband and I are so proud live and work here,” says Murphy. “By supporting PDJF and bringing awareness to this cause, I hope to promote the welfare of all jockeys, who are pound-for-pound the best athletes in the world.”
In her free time, Murphy is devoted to community service. She is a Sunday School teacher at St. Philip Neri Parish organizing and directing the curriculum for second grade students. She has held the position for five years.
Her husband, Glen, is a top thoroughbred jockey in the Midwest region. The couple makes their home in Choctaw.
About the Mrs. Oklahoma Competition
Mrs. Oklahoma is the official state preliminary for Mrs. America, the only nationally televised pageant for married women in the country. Mrs. America celebrates the achievements, poise and personality of today’s married women. Mrs. Oklahoma delegates are judged on their communication skills, achievements, poise and appearance.
By Ray Paulick
He is a combination of P.T. Barnum, Perle Mesta and Frank Sinatra—an innovative promoter, unmatched host and fiercely independent man. He rules over one of the last family-owned racetracks on the American landscape. He is Charles Cella, the longtime president of Oaklawn Park, and if anyone is going to lure Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta into the same starting gate, it’s him.
Cella announced plans to increase the purse of the April 3 Apple Blossom to $5 million if the two champions show up. He didn’t need to go out and find a corporate sponsor, didn’t hire a slew of consultants, didn’t seek approval from the bean counters or a board of directors.
He did it his way.
That’s how Cella has been running Oaklawn Park since taking over the Hot Springs, Ark., racetrack upon the death of his father in 1968. There have been hard times and good times. The venerable track, founded in 1905, has taken some lumps, but through perseverance and innovation has managed to survive and even thrive at times. That’s more than we can say about a lot of racetracks these days.
“I think he has been great for the sport,” said longtime Keeneland executive Ted Bassett, one of Cella’s closest friends. “He’s put the best interests of Oaklawn and the sport above his self interests. Always. And he marches to his own drum, regardless of the pressures or the cacophony from the outside.
“He is at heart an impresario. He loves to think and to create events. He is a master at that.”
Long before the Breeders’ Cup championships, Arlington Park’s International Festival of Racing, the Maryland Million, or Keeneland’s Fall Stars Weekend, there was the Racing Festival of the South. Created in 1974, the week-long festival packs a bundle of top-class stakes races onto the end of the annual winter/spring meeting, culminating with the closing-day Arkansas Derby, which has attracted crowds in excess of 70,000.
For years, racing-starved fans from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and other states in the region swamped Hot Springs. But then competition sprang up with shiny new tracks like Louisiana Downs, Remington Park and Lone Star Park, and later came casino boats in Mississippi and slot parlors in Louisiana and Oklahoma. Oaklawn Park no longer was the only game in town.
Cella and his management team launched the first full-card simulcasting parlor of any track in the country. It wasn’t enough to keep pace. They tried to get a casino at Oaklawn, but realized it was a longshot at best. So, working with Ted Mudge at tote provider AmTote, Oaklawn came up with a pari-mutuel based electronic game called Instant Racing. It’s been the track’s salvation since the first machines were installed 10 years ago.
In 2004, Cella wanted to do something special to recognize Oaklawn Park’s 100th anniversary, and created a $5-million “centennial bonus” for any 3-year-old that managed to sweep the Rebel Stakes, Arkansas Derby and Kentucky Derby. The triple had only been accomplished once before, by Sunny’s Halo, in 1983, but Smarty Jones stepped up and swept the series, and Cella happily handed over $5 million to Smarty’s owners, Pat and Roy Chapman. It was the richest payday in American racing history. A $5-million Apple Blossom would be the richest filly and mare race in history.
“It’s a genius idea,” Bassett said of the Apple Blossom purse boost. “Even if they don’t show, he’s gotten a million dollars worth of publicity.”
I wouldn’t bet against it happening—not yet, even though the statement from Jess Jackson, the owner of Rachel Alexandra, was a bit non-committal and the 2009 Horse of the Year has a lot more training to do to get back into racing shape.
“He has the courage to take the chance,” Bassett said of Cella, “the courage of his convictions. What other racetrack would have the courage, foresight and will to propose this? If they show, he will show.”
And if they show, you can be certain Cella will throw one helluva party to celebrate the event. “He is the male Perle Mesta,” Bassett said, a reference to the legendary Washington, D.C., “hostess with the mostest” from a half-century ago. “He loves to throw a party. He’s a modern P.T. Barnum.”
But Cella is a lot more than Good Time Charlie. In an era of corporate ownership of racetracks, where heads of top management roll over with the frequency of Pick Threes and Daily Doubles, Oaklawn Park has been an island of stability, not unlike the other remaining family-owned tracks in America: the Carey family’s Hawthorne in Chicago and Stella Thayer’s Tampa Bay Downs in Florida.
“Continuity and stability have been hallmarks of Oaklawn Park,” said Bassett. “They know where they are, they know when they are going to open. He never quakes to outside pressures. Charlie was the lyricist of Sinatra’s ‘doing in my way.’"
By Bradford Cummings
Just four and a half years ago I was working as a barista at a Starbucks in Louisville, Ky., trying to get a break after an acting career cut short and yet just a few days ago I had the pleasure of finishing a 13-day, 7-“city” tour with who I believe is one of the preeminent thinkers in the Thoroughbred industry. As they say, only in America.
And it was our beautiful and remarkable country that served as an appropriate backdrop to a trip that so easily could have gone wrong. The idea for a fundraising “drive” across country to the Breeders’ Cup was hatched two weeks prior to our visit with Keeneland, the first stop on the tour to raise money through Breeders’ Cup Charities to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and The V Foundation for Cancer Research. In that time, five of six racetracks, TVG and the Breeders’ Cup all quickly rallied around the cause and captured our vision. Tens of sponsors were called and agreed to shell out $2,000 each. And two guys who have a general liking for each other but have opposite views on the world (what type of person continues to root for a team that hasn’t won the World Series since Teddy Roosevelt was President?) successfully completed 13 days in a car together and are still on speaking terms and managing a growing business.
Each day was an adventure. Spending part of our day with Tom Leach, while not a big deal for this Louisville Cardinals fan, served as great fodder for my many poorly misguided University of Kentucky friends. Getting to meet the father/son duo of Randy and Brandon Meier at Hawthorne made it clear that when this sport is in the family, it stays in the family.
The pain in my thighs two days after the bouncy ball race at Remington Park did not last as long as the emails I still receive laughing about the YouTube video featuring that giant man racing people half his size. The drive to Hobbs, N.M., was a long and arduous one (on a side note, don’t stay at the Motel 6 in Amarillo) but led us to a perfectly small racetrack not pretending to be anything more than it is.
Going from the outhouse to the penthouse, we finished the stretch run of our trip through Phoenix and to Las Vegas where the truly spectacular Wynn Hotel accommodated us. We were unsuccessful in our betting there, but our nights of rest there were much needed.
And of course, the Breeders’ Cup was topnotch. I’ve been to several major sporting events yet this event was by far the best. The racing was dramatic, the corned beef sandwich was delicious and I got to meet Bo Derek. Oh, and as one of our Facebook followers said, the mare that won the feature at Santa Anita on Saturday gave quite a performance, too.
But the real magic was in meeting the jockeys at each stop and hearing their stories. They ranged from the tragic to the inspiring, often depending on where they were on their journey back from the brink.
I can’t remember a more heart-heavy day than when we visited Michael Straight’s hospital room in Chicago. To see a young man who was on his way to accomplishing his vision for his life get it all stripped away, crushed the dreamer in me. He was understandably emotional about what had happened to him with even the idea of moving hospital rooms setting off his ire. And yet through my tears and heartache, I left his room knowing things would be okay for Michael because he is blessed to have such an amazing set of parents by his side. And though I didn’t meet his twin brother Matthew, I know that relationship will never be strained. Whether he walk again, whether he ever rides a horse, Michael Straight will come out of this tragedy with a strong purpose for his life.
In Oklahoma City, we met Jo Hays, who will most likely be in her wheelchair for the rest of her life. She was paralyzed in an accident at Remington Park so for her to revisit the scene of the accident must cause her to go through emotions you and I will never understand. And yet she too is blessed with a supportive family network including a strong, quiet husband and several beautiful children. You could see the spirit in her eyes and just how grateful she was for what she had. And yet there was the pain of knowing she could never get back on a horse, at least not a fast one (her words). But pain is not entirely a bad thing for I imagined it is pain that keeps her going on some level, keeps her motivated to enjoy the life she has been given.
Dennis Keehan, who we had the pleasure of meeting at Hawthorne in Chicago, may not have had the support system of others on our journey but his spirit and love for humanity was clear. (Of course, your opinion of someone you share fried green beans and cheese balls with will always be slanted to the positive.) A 64 year-old man, Dennis had already gone through the struggles of accepting the cards dealt to him in his life and had come out the other side a person our industry can be proud of. It is my sincere hope that he has a chance to talk with jockeys like Michael Straight and Julia Brimo, recently injured at Keeneland, as they work their long road back in recovery.
And of course, who could forget Stacy Burton and Jan Hortyk in Phoenix. Turf Paradise management was less than supportive for the fundraising cause, though they did buy us lunch. We decided to reimburse them for the cost; perhaps they can use that money to improve the backside we heard nightmares about.
These two dynamos—Stacy and Jan–were enough to put a smile on any face. Stacy defines fighting spirit, having worked her way back from a brain injury and paralyzed lower half to walking on her own again. She spends seven days a week in rehab, still working to get as close to all the way back as she can. And despite a slow speech pattern suffered from a stroke she had during the beginning of her road back, she has a sense of humor and quick wit that was both surprising and uplifting. But her recovery could not have been possible without the love and support of Jan, who has been there every step of the way in Stacy’s recovery. While I found it disappointing Stacy’s parents weren’t more involved in her life, Jan serving as her caretaker is truly a divine intervention. Our country would be better off if we were all a bit more like her.
But any story about the PDJF should begin and end with a tribute to Nancy LaSala. Few organizations are fortunate enough to have her brand of talent and energy leading their cause. Whenever we needed something to make our trip easier, Nancy was on the spot. Every disabled jockey we spoke with sang her praises without hesitation. Dennis Keehan put it best when he referred to her as ‘lightning’. Having someone like Nancy in charge should reassure all who want to give to this cause that their money will be used as effectively as possible.
The stories of these disabled jockeys along with the 60 or so others we did not get the pleasure of meeting need to be told. We as an industry must shine a light on these permanently disabled athletes who willingly participated in a dangerous sport—because they loved it, and still do. Sadly, one consistent theme we noticed throughout our trip was how the jockeys felt like second-class citizens in horse racing. When discussing synthetic tracks, several stated that while people thought about the well being of the horse, no one considered what it would be like for a jockey to land on what some of them said was a hard and unforgiving surface.
Ultimately, this is why we chose the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund as one of our charities. We believe the horses need to be taken care of and found homes after their careers in racing are over. We hold horse welfare issues close to our hearts. But things have gotten a little backwards in our thinking as of late with over 50 horse related charities and only a handful of groups concentrating on the jockeys that risk their lives every day. We have forgotten about the people on the back of the horse and what happens to them if tragedy strikes. In an ideal world, there is enough support to go around but if given the choice to only help animals or concentrate solely on people, I will pick a human being every single day of the week.
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.
ON THE ROAD FROM OKLAHOMA CITY TO AMARILLO, TX.—Somewhere near the Oklahoma-Texas border, while listening to the Broadway showtunes station on satellite radio, Brad Cummings and I heard Alfred Drake’s booming voice singing “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” from the 1940s hit musical “Oklahoma!”
How appropriate.
We’d left Remington Park a couple of hours earlier on our BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST fundraising drive, and, oh, what a beautiful morning it had been, as well as a beautiful day. From the moment we’d contacted the track’s general manager, Scott Wells, a couple of weeks ago, we had a feeling that Remington Park might be the highlight of this seven-stop, 10-day journey to raise money and awareness through Breeders’ Cup Charities for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and The V Foundation for Cancer Research.
We had no idea how special the day would be. Thanks to the track’s new owner, Global Gaming Solutions (a subsidiary of the Chickasaw Nation tribe), general manager Wells and his staff (particularly an amazingly creative and hard-working promotions coordinator, Joy Rose Murphy), and very giving jockeys, horsemen, and patrons, we were able to add nearly $25,000 to the money raised for the two charities, putting our total for the first five days above $60,000. We were overwhelmed by their passion for the cause and the gracious hospitality they afforded us during our 24-hour stopover in Oklahoma City.
Global Gaming donated $12,500 to the cause, well beyond the $2,000 we had been asking for segment sponsorships. Murphy, along with the 16 jockeys who, after the day’s regular program was over, competed against Brad and me (more like humiliated us) in a pair of “hippity hop races” on big rubber balls, raised more than $10,000 to sponsor each starter in the races. And two well-cast young ladies roamed the facility and filled a pair of jockey boots with cash donated by track patrons.
Ray before the race
Ray after the race
Brad ‘hopping’ in race
But the BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST fundraising drive is about more than just raising money. Remington Park really scored on this account, too. Jo Hayes, a former Remington Park jockey paralyzed in a 1997 riding accident and a beneficiary of the PDJF, was invited to take part in winner’s circle ceremonies and the presentation of the check to Breeders’ Cup Charities. She was also the subject of a heartfelt video tribute produced by Remington Park that recapped her riding career and her life since the racing accident.
As with our previous stop in Chicago, where we spent a day at the races with paralyzed former jockey Dennis Keehan at Hawthorne and then met with recently injured Michael Straight and his family, our resolve to not let these people be forgotten was further strengthened by the courage and dignity shown by Jo Hayes. The one thing I’ve learned about disabled former jockeys like Dennis and Jo is that while they may be out of racing, they haven’t abandoned their love of the sport. Jo still enjoys riding horses, though she admitted she gets frustrated that she can’t ride the fast ones anymore.
There was a sense of pride among the management team and many members of the jockey colony that Remington Park was the leader in raising money for Breeders’ Cup Charities. That may come from a feeling that Remington’s comeback from a near-death experience only five years ago has been largely overlooked on the national scene. This is a proud group, and for good reason.
The Remington Park comeback was fueled by legislation permitting slot machines at state racetracks. Before slots, according to Wells, purses at Remington Park had bottomed out to a paltry $64,000 a day. Currently, he said, thanks to the addition of revenue from electronic gaming machines, purses and state incentive awards total more than $250,000 per day, almost a 400% increase. It’s attracted stronger stables and better horses, and it should be a matter of time before it is recognized by more simulcast and account wagering customers as a top product on which to wager.
It’s interesting to compare Oklahoma to Kentucky. Both states have only a couple of major population centers and both have deep-rooted horse traditions. Christian values are equally important in both states, yet Oklahoma’s legislature had the foresight to allow racetracks in the state to play on a more level playing field with the 81 Indian casinos throughout the state by giving the tracks the opportunity to install slot machines. While Kentucky has no such competition from Native Americans within the state, its borders are virtually surrounded by casinos in adjacent states.
Remington was built by the late Edward J. DeBartolo in 1988 under the supervision of former track executive David Vance, who was on hand for Sunday’s fundraising activities. Twenty years later, it remains one of the best designed and comfortable facilities in racing, though most of its first-floor grandstand has been converted to an electronic gaming facility. Vance built a spirit of commitment to both the local community and racing industry within the track’s management team, and that commitment has continued through the bad times and good times that followed his departure.
We would like to thank the following individuals who sponsored the two “hippity hop” races: JoAnn Adams, Duane Harrel and Jimmy Harrel; Steve and Julie Asmussen; Danny Caldwell, Tim and Terry Doocy; Terry Edwards; Roger Engel; Global Gaming Solutions and the Chickasaw Nation; Ace and Randy Hare; Chris and Hillary Hartman; Heidelberg Family; Heritage Place; Joe and Hazel Lucas; Randy Morse; Glen and Joy Murphy; Kenny and Sally Nolen; Joe and Karen Offolter; Oklahoma Thoroughbred Association; Dustin Orono Photography; Tommy and Claire Page; Petalino Racing Stable; Danny and Sabina Pish; Pasquali and Palumbo Law Firm; Randy Patterson; Remington Park; Remington Park Jock’s Room; Remington Park Jockey’s Agents; Richter Family Trust; Carol Ricks; Rusty Roberts; Duane and Joyce Salisbury; Mark Sommers; St. Philip Neri Church and School; Gary Thomas; Von Hemel Family; Dr. Robert H. Zoellner.
I’d also like to apologize to my race sponsor, the Pasquali and Palumbo Law Firm, for putting forth such a poor effort when eased in the late stages of the “hippity hop race.” I did have an excuse, however: I was stuck in a bad post position, broke slowly, and never got ahold of the track. It’s clear that I was at least one or two workouts short of being fit for this spot. I think I needed a race over the track.
We also want to thank the following sponsors for the Chicago to Oklahoma City portion of this fundraising drive: 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.
If you’re interested in sponsoring one of the remaining segments of BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST, please send an email to info@paulickreport.com or give me a call at (859) 312-2102.
We’ll be on the road bright and early Monday morning, headed to Zia Park, in Hobbs, N.M., for an afternoon of racing
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
When a jockey goes down in a race, there’s no one that shows more concern than a fellow rider, even if it’s been 45 years since that fellow rider has been on a horse’s back. I witnessed that concern Thursday afternoon at Hawthorne, when a horse named Loose Lips got cut off a few strides out of the gate in the seventh race and jockey Angel Stanley tumbled to the ground.
Brad Cummings and I were sitting with former jockey Dennis Keehan in the box area when the incident occurred, and the look in his eyes when Stanley went down was a picture I’ll remember for some time. Fortunately, Stanley jumped up and apparently was uninjured.
Keehan wasn’t so lucky the last time he fell onto a racetrack. It was 45 years ago at Sportsman’s Park when a horse he was riding was shut off, stumbled and went down in a four-horse spill. A trailing horse tripped and fell right on top of his chest, paralyzing him from the waist down. Keehan was 21 years old, and needless to say, he’s been through a lot since then. Claire Novak tells his story in a poignant ESPN.com article here.
Today, Keehan is a witty and engaging man who now and then enjoys coming out to the track, handicapping the races and betting a couple of bucks. Life isn’t easy when you’re in a wheelchair and on your own, but the monthly check he gets from the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund helps Keehan get out from under the medical bills that can pile up when you have special needs.
To see the Dennis Keehan interview, click below.
We were at Hawthorne on day two of the BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST fundraising drive from Kentucky to California, and as I said in our sendoff from Keeneland yesterday, where we were blanked at the betting windows, Chicago is our kind of town.
We’d like to thank TVG, Bill Casner and WinStar Farm, Barry Irwin of Team Valor International, and Kate Lantaff of Tahoma Stud for sponsoring this segment of the trip. Their sponsorship dollars go directly through Breeders’ Cup Charities and will be divided equally between the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Lane’s End, Darley, Airdrie Stud and Overbrook Farm sponsored the first segment.
Hawthorne’s management and staff provided the same great hospitality we were treated to at Keeneland, but the horses here were much more accommodating. The wagering bankroll provided to us by Breeders’ Cup more than doubled (thanks largely to a 7-1 winner, Watch Pat, in the fifth race) making up for a tough start in Kentucky. Our guest handicapper from the TVG online community, Steve Hunsberger, also had a good day at Hawthorne, hitting an exacta in the sixth along with a sizable place bet on the second-place finisher, Napoleon’s Retreat, whose Waterloo came in the final sixteenth of a mile. Had Napoleon’s Retreat held on for the win, Steve would have cashed an even bigger ticket. on behalf of the charities. Thanks to TVG for their partnership on this fundraising effort and to all the members of the TVG community who participated.
Hawthorne got into the spirit, too, bankrolling Katie Mikolay, the track’s personable simulcast hostess and handicapper, and assistant general manager Jim Miller. If they went bust (like I did at Keeneland on Wednesday), Hawthorne was going to make a generous donation to Breeders’ Cup charities. A special thanks to Hawthorne president and general manager Tim Carey.
All proceeds from the winnings go to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
Whether you are an owner, breeder, trainer, racing fan/horseplayer or someone like me who has had the good fortune to make his living in this industry, I hope you’ll consider making a donation to support these two worthy organizations.
Please click here to go to the Breeders’ Cup Charities page and make a donation.
Hawthorne was where I became a racing fan and horseplayer when I lived in Chicago in the mid-1970s, and it’s always fun coming back to the track where I “cut my teeth” in racing. Like any racetrack in Illinois that has to compete with casinos in the Chicago suburbs or in neighboring Indiana, there have been some struggles, but the Carey family that’s owned Hawthorne for 100 years is committed to racing, and it shows.
While here, we had the opportunity to meet several members of the jockey colony, including Jerry LaSala, a board member and treasurer of the Jockeys’ Guild, and the unique father and son riding duo of Randy and Brandon Meier. Randy Meier’s broken 50 bones during his career, and he wasn’t crazy about his son following in his footsteps, but racing has a way of getting into your blood. In talking with him about 21-year-old Brandon, though, you can sense the pride he has in him and can tell how much fun he’s having riding with and against his son.
See interviews with Jerry LaSala and the Meiers by clicking below.
We’re meeting PDJF executive director Nancy LaSala Friday and hope to have a chance to talk with Michael Straight, who suffered a devastating injury this summer as a young apprentice rider at Arlington Park and is undergoing rehabilitation. Then it will be back on the road for the drive to Remington Park in Oklahoma City for some fun and fundraising activities on Sunday.
We’ve got a long road ahead of us between here and California for the Nov. 6-7 Breeders’ Cup, but it’s nothing compared to what these disabled riders face when their passion and their world comes crashing down on them.
If I haven’t asked you already, and I know I have, I’ll ask you again: please give.
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.
Oh, and as one of our Facebook followers said, the mare that won the feature at Santa Anita on Saturday gave quite a performance, too.
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.