DeShawn Parker will accept the 2021 Pedersen Award on behalf of his late father, Daryl, on June 25, 2022, at Thistledown (JACK Thistledown Racino) during the Ohio Derby festivities.
Family members and friends will be present to be part of the presentation ceremony.
The Racing Officials Accreditation Program (ROAP) announced in December the winners of the 2021 Pete Pedersen Award, which is presented to stewards who have demonstrated professional excellence, integrity, and benevolent consideration in the performance of their duties. Contributions of time and expertise to the horse racing industry on the local and national levels are also significant factors in the selection of Pedersen award winners.
The late Daryl Parker was one of two winners for 2021. Parker was the first African-American to serve as a steward in U.S. racing history. Beginning in 1986, he served as a steward at all three of the Ohio Thoroughbred tracks as well as in Michigan. He was accredited by ROAP in 1993.
Prior to becoming a steward, he spent many decades on the racetrack working as an exercise rider, pony person, and jockey agent, before becoming the second Black racing official in the country. Parker held various positions in the racing offices at Fairmount Park and the now defunct Cahokia Downs in Southern Illinois.
Pete Pedersen, for whom the award is named, worked as a steward in California for 50 years before retiring at the age of 85 in 2005. The Seattle native became the second steward to receive the Eclipse Award of Merit in 2002. He was also the recipient of the Laffit Pincay Jr. Award in 2008 for serving the racing industry with integrity, dedication, determination, and distinction. Pedersen worked at nearly every track on the West Coast, and his reputation for objectivity and kindness was widely known.
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