December, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Louis Cella Named To Equibase Management Committee

Louis A. Cella, the president of the Oaklawn Jockey Club, has been appointed to serve on the Management Committee of Equibase Company LLC, it was announced Wednesday by Equibase Company Chairman Ian D. Highet.

In 2017, Cella was named president of Oaklawn, succeeding his late father, Charles J. Cella, and became the third generation of his family to serve on the board of directors of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America (TRA). Cella has also been a member of The Jockey Club since 2017 and serves as a director of the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau and on the board of trustees for the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Cella fills a board seat being vacated by Daisy Phipps Pulito, racing manager of the Phipps Stable, who joined the Equibase Management Committee as a representative of The Jockey Club in 2016.

“As someone involved in all aspects of Thoroughbred racing, Louis is not only passionate about our sport, but brings a vast knowledge and experience to this committee, and we look forward to his contributions,” Highet said. “Daisy's personal and professional involvement in Thoroughbred breeding and racing, as well as her background in sports and television, provided a valuable perspective to the committee, and we thank her for her service.”

The Equibase Management Committee is composed of members from each of the company's two general partners – The Jockey Club and the TRA. The TRA representatives are Peter Berube, Happy Broadbent, Christopher McErlean, David O'Rourke, Mike Rogers, and Josh Rubinstein. Besides Highet and Cella, The Jockey Club representatives are C. Steven Duncker, James L. Gagliano, Stuart S. Janney III, and Nick Nicholson.

Equibase Company is a partnership between subsidiaries of The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America and serves as the Thoroughbred industry's official database. Through its website and mobile applications, Equibase offers a comprehensive array of free statistical information as well as premium handicapping products and reports in support of the North American Thoroughbred racing industry. Additional information is available at equibase.com.

The post Louis Cella Named To Equibase Management Committee appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Work To Ride: Equine Program For Under-Resourced Youth Breaks Ground On State-Of-The-Art Facility

Recently, Work to Ride (WTR), a nonprofit organization that provides horsemanship education and equine sports training to youth from under-resourced communities, hosted a groundbreaking ceremony and launched the public phase of its $8 million capital campaign to renovate The Chamounix Equestrian Center in Fairmount Park. The organization has already raised $6.2 million for the project which will update its existing outdoor riding arena and create an indoor equestrian arena for local, regional, and national equestrian events. The arena is expected to be complete by 2023.

Lezlie Hiner, WTR Founder & Executive Director, said, “The Work to Ride barn has been a home away from home for young people from nearby dense urban communities for nearly 30 years. These young men and women are an inspiration every day. The proposed indoor arena and renovations will allow us to expand our program to reach even more young people and transform more lives.”

Philadelphia Councilman Curtis Jones, Jr. who attended the groundbreaking event, said, “On behalf of Mayor Jim Kenney and the Commissioner of Recreation, Kathryn Ott Lovell, we are grateful to have the Work to Ride program. I've been able to attend a polo match and saw how lifechanging it can be for people who sometimes don't get to leave 10 square blocks from their house. If you are able to travel and see the world, it changes you forever as you realize that the world is a much smaller place. You actually have more in common than you ever thought possible.”

WTR is one of only a handful of programs throughout the country that use equine sports to improve the life prospects and outcomes of urban youth. Recent success stories include Daymar Rosser, who with his teammates at Roger Williams University, won the 2017 United States Polo Association's National Intercollegiate Championship; and 2016 graduate Shariah Harris, who received a scholarship to Cornell University and in 2017 became the first African American woman to play 20-goal polo.

Harris, who attributed much of her success to the Work to Ride program, spoke at the event noting “Everyone who has been through this program has been successful…The program teaches you how to live life, get along with others, develop a positive work ethic and fall in love with horses.”

Kareem Rosser, a board member and alumnus of Work to Ride has been vocal about the impact WTR has had on the trajectory of his life.

“This program is absolutely life-changing.” Rosser said, “Students who participate not only grow as athletes but develop life skills and learn life lessons that follow them into adulthood.”

Now a financial analyst, Rosser participated in Work to Ride as a young boy and used the skills he acquired to become 2015 Polo Training Foundation Male Intercollegiate Polo Player of the Year. He tells the story of his remarkable polo journey in his recently published memoir, Crossing the Line: A Fearless Team of Brothers and the Sport that Changed Their Lives Forever.

The McCausland Foundation is one of several leadership donors to the project. Peter Ernst, Director of the McCausland Foundation stated: “The McCausland Foundation has been honored to support the Work to Ride program since 2017. We are delighted this important project is underway and enthusiastic about WTR's goal of giving more children the WTR experience for years to come.”

Founded in 1994, WTR has impacted the lives of hundreds of students through its year-round, evidence-informed, equestrian programs that promote discipline, self-esteem, motivation, social development, life skills, academic achievement, and physical fitness. Student participants work to clean and maintain the stables and care for the horses in exchange for lessons in various equine sports, of which polo is a perennial favorite. WTR made history when three of its polo players became the first all-African American team to win the United States Polo Association's National Interscholastic Championship in 2011.

About Work to Ride

Work to Ride is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that provides constructive activities centered on horsemanship, equine sports, and education to under-resourced youth from ages 7 to 18 years-old while creating positive outcomes for student participants since 1994. The program is housed at Chamounix Stables, located in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. In addition to the Work to Ride program, Chamounix Equestrian Center engages the community at large through various equestrian programs; including horseback riding lessons, summer camp, discovery days and polo program. For information about Work to Ride, or to make a donation, go to www.worktoride.net.

The post Work To Ride: Equine Program For Under-Resourced Youth Breaks Ground On State-Of-The-Art Facility appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

ThoroughbredAuctions.Com Online Mixed Sale Opens December 30

ThoroughbredAuctions.com is starting off the new year with a mixed auction of Thoroughbreds.

Entries are now open and early entries include daughters of Curlin, Tiznow, Flat Out and Bodemeister. Covering sires include first-year stallions Thousand Words and the exciting young son of Uncle Mo, Caracaro.

Bidding opens Dec. 30, and closes Jan. 4. Entry fee is $250 per horse and five-percent commission if sold. There is no RNA fee.

Flashpoint Bloodstock and its subsidiaries SportHorseAuctions.com and ThoroughbredAuctions.com have surpassed 2,000 horses sold in internet auctions. The team pioneered Internet Auctions for equines and has produced than 101 Internet Auctions since 2012, selling more than 2,062 horses for over $13,000,0000.

The Flashpoint team produced some of the most successful online equine auctions ever held: The R.D. Hubbard Dispersal with 54 horses sold for $1,560,350 with an average price of $28,895; the 2012 U.S. Marshalls Service Auction of Assets of Rita Crundwell with 81 horses sold for $1,642,200 and an average price of $20,774; and the Rancho Corazon production sale of Sport Horses selling seven horses with an average price of $17,643.

Flashpoint Bloodstock LLC owners Tim and Cathy Jennings, have managed more than 380 live horse auctions selling over 80,000 horses for $200 million. Their experience includes management of the Pony Finals Auction, the AQHA World Championship Show Sale and the All-American Quarter Horse Congress Super Sale.

The post ThoroughbredAuctions.Com Online Mixed Sale Opens December 30 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

NFL Legend, Savior Of West Virginia Horse Racing: Tribute Paid To Sam Huff At Memorial Service

“Sam Huff saved the Thoroughbred breeding and racing industry in West Virginia.”

That declaration was made by Ken Lowe, the chairman of the West Virginia Racing Commission, as approximately 150 friends and business acquaintances gathered Monday afternoon at the Middleburg Community Center in Middleburg, VA. to pay tribute to Robert Lee “Sam” Huff. The Pro Football Hall of Fame football player and Thoroughbred owner and breeder died Nov. 13, 2021 from complications of dementia in Winchester, VA.

Lowe was one of several speakers at the service, which was held just a few furlongs from the farm where Huff lived with his longtime partner Carol Holden.

Among them was J.W. Marriott, Jr., the 89-year-old executive chairman of Marriott International, who fondly recalled Huff's long association with the company as the vice president for special markets. He told the story about Huff's persistent request for one of the parking spots at Marriott headquarters that were reserved for Marriott board members.

Shortly after Mr. Marriott granted Huff's wish, several other vice presidents complained. So, Mr. Marriott told those who complained that those spots were reserved “for board members and anyone else in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”

Leonard Shapiro, a former sports writer and editor at The Washington Post, who co-authored Huff's autobiography “Tough Stuff,” talked about Huff's upbringing in a coal mining camp near Farmington, WV.

Frank Herzog, one of Huff's longtime radio broadcast partners covering the Washington Redskins, shared tales of their time together in press boxes across the country. (Huff spent more than 30 years as a broadcaster for the team.)

Keith McIntosh, a regional representative for Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, also made some remarks to the attendees.

The 35^th edition of the West Virginia Breeders Classics, co-founded by Holden and Huff in 1987, was held Oct. 9, 2021. The event has now generated more than $29 million in purses for the breeders and horsemen of West Virginia. In recent years, Huff served as the chairman emeritus; Holden still serves as president.

Lowe read an official resolution honoring Huff from the West Virginia Racing Commission that read in part:

“Sam Huff's efforts grew the West Virginia Breeders Classics into a premier event, bringing local and national television coverage to showcase the State of West Virginia, Jefferson County, Charles Town and the hard working people of the racing and breeding industries of West Virginia…The West Virginia Racing Commission would like to issue this resolution in honor of Sam Huff for his support, contributions and unwavering dedication to the Thoroughbred racing industry, the West Virginia Racing Commission and the State of West Virginia.”

In addition to starting the West Virginia Breeders Classics, Huff and Holden co-hosted a syndicated weekly radio show called “Trackside” for many years on their Middleburg Broadcasting Network.

The service also featured a video highlighting Huff's coal mine experience, his popularity as a member of the New York Giants and the cover story on him in TIME magazine.

Also in attendance was trainer Graham Motion, who trained Huff's stakes-winning filly Bursting Forth.

The service concluded with some personal remarks from Huff's namesake and grandson Robert Lee Huff III and music provided by the Mount Pisgah Baptist Church's gospel chorus.

Contributions in Huff's name may be made to Aftercare Charles Town, PO Box 136, Ranson, WV 25438. The 501(c)(3) organization is responsible for rehoming Thoroughbred racehorses that have raced at Charles Town.

The post NFL Legend, Savior Of West Virginia Horse Racing: Tribute Paid To Sam Huff At Memorial Service appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post