Tag: Charity Spotlight

Nancy Messineo was one of those Thoroughbred owners who always looked after her horses once they left the racetrack.

And now, thanks to an extraordinary gift made public only after her passing on June 8, countless other horses will be taken care of, too.

Messineo was a residential real estate agent in the Los Angeles area who prided herself in finding homes for young, first-time buyers. She did well financially, said Bruce Sands, her close friend and longtime partner in the horse industry.

In 2015, Messineo was diagnosed with cancer, and the one thing that kept her going through all the challenges that come with the disease were the horses. She loved visiting with them in the mornings, going to Clocker's Corner at Santa Anita, then cheering them on in the afternoons with friends, whether at Santa Anita or Del Mar. But she was always concerned that her horses would have a life after racing as well.

She and Sands enjoyed good success with runners like North County Guy, Oscar Dominguez, and Magical Touch, among others.

Oscar Dominguez was an Irish-bred gelding they claimed for $40,000 in February 2019. He went on to win nearly $300,000 for Messineo and Sands. The son of Zoffany's victory in the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup later that year was one of Messineo's biggest thrills.

“That was the best,” Sands recalled. “United and some other good ones were in there. Oscar was 11-1, and he just ran his race (rallying from last in the field of 10). Nancy had a blast.”

While those visits to the winner's circle and the stables provided the best medicine for Messineo, she realized the seriousness of the disease she was fighting. Not having any close relatives or heirs, she created a trust with the bulk of her estate benefiting a number of equine charities and an animal welfare organization.

Sands described the trust as “seven figures” and said the California Retirement Management Account would receive the largest percentage. Better known as CARMA, the 501(c)(3) charitable organization was the brainchild of owner-breeder Madeline Auerbach and since 2008 has granted over $5.4 million to organizations that retire, retrain and re-home California-raced Thoroughbreds.

Other equine charities that will benefit from the Messineo trust are the Wild Horse Sanctuary in Shingletown, Calif.; Red Bucket Rescue in Chino Hills, Calif., and Thoroughbred Charities of America, based in Lexington, Ky. She also included the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals among the recipients.

Sands said distribution of funds from the trust should occur within 120 days of Messineo's passing and that there are no strings attached as to how the receiving charities may put the money to use.

Lucinda Lovitt, executive director for CARMA, said she had gotten no forewarning from Messineo about the gift, which is likely the largest the organization has ever received.

“It's amazing,” Lovitt said, “and we were very surprised to find out about it. If there are no specific requirements, we want to create something that would honor Nancy's passion and commitment. She was such a fan, and we want to do something to honor that.”

As for some of Messineo's former runners, Oscar Dominguez is now a trail horse for San Luis Rey equine veterinarian Dr. Lindsey Porubovich, according to Bloodhorse.com. North County Guy and Magical Touch are well cared for as well, Sands said, with one of Magical Touch's foals, Grey Magic, joining her dam after Messineo's death last month.

“Grey Magic ran in April at Santa Anita, and that was the last time Nancy was able to go to the track,” said Sands. “She wanted to have her retired, so the filly is now reunited with Magical Touch.”

Nancy Messineo was one of those people who always seemed to have a smile on her face (“My father would call it a 'Pepsodent' smile,” Sands said), even when you knew she was struggling with her health. She is a difference maker whose love of horses and extraordinary gift in support of Thoroughbred aftercare and other animal charities will be felt for years to come.

If you would like to make a difference, please consider a donation to one of the charities listed above.

Difference Makers is presented by Richard Pearson's Avion Law, a California-based firm specializing on the aviation industry. Avion Law has a “giving back” program supporting awareness campaigns and donating to charitable organizations in and outside of horse racing.

The post Nancy Messineo’s Gift Will Keep On Giving: Difference Makers Presented By Avion Law appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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There are very few words that get the adrenaline pumping and heart pounding like “Riders up!”

That's when all eyes are on the trainer, giving a leg up to the jockey, putting the hopes and dreams of trainers, owners, handicappers, and horse racing fans everywhere on the shoulders of the demure, colorful shoulders sitting aboard a rocket ready to explode. Once the ride is over, the jockey suits up for another round. Each time, he or she puts their trust into several other horses and jockeys, the track, and the horse to make it to the end of the day…just so they can do it all over again tomorrow.

But what happens when the unthinkable happens, and the rider is injured in a race, or even in a morning workout? For most, riding racehorses is all they know, and if they can't return to the saddle, so much depends on that weekly or daily paycheck. Losing the ability to ride prevents the injured jockey to provide for his or her family, or even return to be near the animal they have grown to love.

Enter the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF). Launched at the 2006 Preakness Stakes, the PDJF is an independent charitable organization that provides financial assistance to jockeys (within the Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred industries) who have suffered catastrophic on-track injuries. When created it was a collaborative effort of leaders that represent racetracks across the country, jockeys, horsemen's groups, and others.

While the PDJF is able to distribute stipends to nearly 60 jockeys every month, averaging $1,000, there's still so much more the organization can do, if only they had the dependable assistance.

“One thing our board strives for is financial stability,” says Nancy LaSala, president of the PDJF. “We rely on donations because there's no permanent funding mechanism that comes from horse racing to support the PDJF, so we're always looking for fundraising ideas, which is always a challenge.

“As proud as I am that we've been active and helped so many riders since 2006, I'm somewhat disappointed and frustrated that we haven't been able to increase the monthly stipend because we have not seen the contributions increase or established a reliable revenue stream.”

The PDJF is always looking for initiatives that can become those revenue streams, and while LaSala stresses they're not in the business of event planning, it's those events that seem to be the biggest draw for money. The PDJF has established an endowment, however each month it's difficult to add to that endowment due to the lack of income. While the group's main goal is establishing permanent, consistent funding, the second is to build the endowment to a level to which it can support not only an increase of the monthly stipend to the jockeys but also to be self-sustaining.

“Absent reliable revenue streams, events are necessary,” said LaSala, “Event fundraising was not the primary source of annual funding for the PDJF. The original funding model of the PDJF was industry proposed model whereby racetracks and horsemen's groups would give a percentage every year and that would be the basis for what the initial monthly stipends were approved for. Then the board was tasked to come up with ways to build the endowment and build revenue streams. It became apparent that we were going to have to become a fundraising machine early on when the original funding model did not take seed by all of its participants, and we were faced with not having sufficient funds to make the next month's disbursement to our recipients. Awareness of the PDJF through fundraising became critical to continue the mission set out. As well the industry does not have a national database tracking injuries the only way to reach riders who were catastrophically injured was through events, media, and word of mouth.”

One new initiative of the PDJF Board is a program called “Riders Up” which has been presented and received well by the national industry organizations. Riders Up is a way for a horse owner to donate to the PDJF through their winning purse. Instead of there being a fee for each entry, which is a needed source of revenue for other industry organizations, and the PDJF wants to be sensitive to the costs for owners.  This would be done where the winning owner of the race can contribute based on the purse level. The contribution would be one-half of 1 percent of the winning purse, with a cap of $200.

“We have canvassed with many horse owners around the country and received favorable responses from horse owners,” says LaSala. “As well, this is not intended to be a mandatory program and each owner would be able to privately opt out. We are now working out the elements for implementation of this program at the local track levels with each horsemen group and are thankful to InCompass and The Jockey Club for making the software upgrade for this implementation at no cost to the users.”

The PDJF was originally created to provide these men and women with financial assistance, raise awareness of their needs, promote medical research, and support safety initiatives dedicated to reducing catastrophic injuries. The one benefit organizers say they did not foresee at the PDJF's creation was the community we would be creating for these men and women that did not exist. This community has had such a positive impact on so many of their lives, through the friendships they have formed, their involvement at PDJF events as spokespersons of the PDJF to being for each other in good times and in bad.

“We are blessed with the support we have received, we thank the Paulick Report for their support and the times that Ray and Brad's raised funds during the Breeders Cup of Bust walk from Lexington to Churchill and their drive to California for Breeders Cup,” added LaSala. “A special thank you to Avion Law for the platform they have provided PDJF and other industry charities by sponsoring these articles.”

To learn more about the PDJF, visit their website: http://pdjf.org

The post Offering A Leg Up, One Last Time: Charity Spotlight Presented By Avion Law appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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