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‘Tremendous Champion Of Thoroughbred Racing’: Dr. David Richardson Dies At 76

Dr. J. David “Doc” Richardson, the distinguished Louisville surgeon who was an owner, breeder and widely-respected leader in the horse racing industry, died Tuesday at the age of 76. According to the Daily Racing Form, Dr. Richardson had been admitted to a hospital in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. with pneumonia following a COVID-19 diagnosis, then suffered a cardiac event.

“Dr. Richardson positively impacted the lives of countless individuals and meant so much to so many people in this community as well as the horse racing industry,” said Churchill Downs president Mike Anderson. “The Churchill Downs family is absolutely devastated to learn of his passing. He was such a fantastic man of the highest integrity and a tremendous champion of Thoroughbred racing. Our deepest condolences are extended to his numerous friends and family and especially to his children Melissa, Amy and Britton, his wife Maxine and brother Dr. Ron Richardson. Churchill Downs won't be the same without 'Doc' Richardson around.”

Born in Morehead, Ky., Dr. Richardson graduated from Morehead State University and the University of Kentucky's School of Medicine. Dr. Richardson rose to become chief of surgery and vice chair of the University of Louisville's department of surgery. He also was the former chair of the American Board of Surgery and a Regent of the American College of Surgeons.

A cousin of legendary late Hall of Fame trainer Woody Stephens, he bought his first horse in 1975 at age 30 and campaigned his first stakes winner in 1978. Either by himself or in partnerships with others, Dr. Richardson raised and sold more than 1,000 horses that ultimately won races. As an owner, he won more than 100 races in his career. Three-year-old homebred filly Lady Edith provided Richardson and partner Sandra New with a thrill on May 8, 2021 when she won the $108,075 Mamzelle Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs by a neck at odds of 24-1.

In partnership with his medical and racing colleague Dr. Hiram Polk, Richardson bred and raced multiple stakes winner Mrs. Revere, who won four Churchill Downs stakes races during a two-year reign in 1984-85. Mrs. Revere collected three of those stakes during her 3-year-old season, thus providing Churchill Downs an opportunity to appropriately honor the filly with a Grade 2 stakes event for 3-year-old fillies on turf each fall. They also campaigned the Grade 1 winner Northern Emerald and stakes winners Maria Balastiere, Liz Cee and Harrods Creek.

Dr. Richardson was a member of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and The Jockey Club, also serving on the executive committee and board of trustees for the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, for which he'd been chairman, vice chairman and secretary, and also chaired TOBA's graded stakes committee.

Richardson was on Churchill Downs' racing committee comprised of racetrack representatives and horsemen. He also was a longtime Breeders' Cup board member and past president of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders.

“We are heartbroken and saddened by the passing of Dr. J. David Richardson, a remarkable man both in the medical community and the Thoroughbred industry,” said TOBA president Dan Metzger. “Dr. Richardson gave selflessly of his time in supporting many of our sport's organizations, including four years as TOBA chairman and nine years on the American Graded Stakes Committee, including seven as chairman. He was admired and loved by the countless he touched throughout the industry and we will forever be indebted to him for his steady leadership at TOBA. We send our heartfelt condolences to his wife Maxine, his children Amy, Britt and Melissa, his brothers Ron and Paul and to his entire family. A life well-lived, he will be dearly missed.”

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Lukas Classic Next For Knicks Go; Monomoy Girl Update

Coming off a dominant win in the GI Whitney S., Horse of the Year contender Knicks Go (Paynter) will make his next start in the Oct. 2 GIII Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs, trainer Brad Cox confirmed Thursday. Knicks Go will be taking a step back in class in the $400,000 race, but Cox has taken that route before. Knicks Go warmed up for the Whitney with a 10 1/4-length romp in the GIII Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H. at Prairie Meadows.

“It's a mile-and-an-eighth race and he'll be coming right out of his own stall at Churchill,” Cox said of the Lukas Classic.

Knicks Go, who has not had a published work since the Whitney, will get back to business Friday morning at Saratoga.

“He's currently at Saratoga training over the Oklahoma training track,” the trainer said. “We will breeze him [Friday morning] at 6-6:30. It will be just an easy maintenance half-mile, nothing special. We will just let him stretch his legs a little bit. He will stay in Saratoga until the second week of September and then will be off to Churchill.”

Cox also had an update on Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), who rejoined his stable at Ellis Park Thursday morning. She has not started since finishing second in the GI Apple Blossom H. Apr. 17 at Oaklawn. Afterward, it was announced that she had been experiencing some minor muscle strains and hamstring

soreness. She was sent to WinStar Farm to recuperate.

“We're just going to gradually start back with her,” Cox said. “We'll start her off [Friday] with some short gallops and gradually increase the workload, as long as she allows us to press forward with her.”

Cox is not confident that Monomoy Girl can make the Nov. 6 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff.

“To be real honest, I think she's really up against it when it comes to making the Breeders' Cup,” Cox said. “We're going to let her tell us, tell us what she's able to do over the next month or so. The first thing will be getting her back on the work tab. With her being an older horse, I don't think it will take a whole lot of works to ger her fit. But, she'll tell us over the next month or two if she's going to be able to make it back or not.”

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UOFL Equine Industry Series in Person in ’21

The University of Louisville Equine Industry Program (EIP), in conjunction with Horse Racing Nation, released its free Fall 2021 speaker series, which will be held in person this year on the UofL campus. The series includes panel discussions on the “Super Card” trend in racing and growing racing through diversity and inclusion.

The final event in the series will be an interview with Houston business owner, philanthropist and horse owner Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale. The events will be held from 5:30-6:45p.m., and will be broadcast live on the Horse Racing Nation Facebook page.

This year's series features:

Sept. 14 – “Examining Horse Racing's 'Super Card' Trend,” Horn Auditorium – UofL College of Business

Eric Halstrom – vice president and general manager of racing, Indiana Grand Racetrack & Casino
Ben Huffman – vice president, racing and racing secretary, Churchill Downs and Keeneland
Jon Moss – executive director, Iowa HBPA Inc.

Panel moderated by Jude Feld, racing analyst and contributor, Horse Racing Radio Network.

Oct. 12 – “How Racing Can Grow Through Diversity and Inclusion,” UofL Student Activities Center

Jason Wilson – chief operating officer, 1/ST Content
Greg Harbut – founder and president, Harbut Bloodstock
Ron Mack – executive director, Legacy Equine Academy

Panel moderated by Alicia Hughes – digital content editor, TVG/FanDuel.

Nov. 9 – “An Evening with “MATTRESS MACK,” aka Jim McIngvale,” UofL Student Activities Center

The series concludes with an entertaining evening with Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, known in racing circles for his strong opinions on the sport, horses running medication free and supporting the ecosystem of horse racing by placing wagers at the racetrack instead of advance-deposit wagering accounts.

Tickets are required for the free events. For more information and tickets, contact Kimberly Spear at kimberly.spear@louisville.edu or 502-852-7727.

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The Bitter End: Arrogance Of Arlington Park Management Washes Away Memories Of A Better Time

The new millennium was not kind to horse racing in Chicagoland.

In 2000, the Bidwill family's Sportsman's Park, the bullring in the gritty south side suburb of Cicero that for years hosted both Standardbred and Thoroughbred racing, had just been transformed to an auto track that planned to continue offering Thoroughbred races on dirt spread over a concrete oval. That absurd experiment lasted a couple years. The auto track was a dud and a financial disaster. The dirt track was unsafe. Sportsman's ran its last horse race in 2002 and is now the site of several big box stores.

And 2000 was also the year Richard Duchossois merged his family-owned Arlington Park in the northwest Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights into the portfolio of the publicly traded Churchill Downs Inc. Then under the leadership of Thomas Meeker, Churchill Downs had been on something of an acquisition spree, having just purchased Calder Race Course near Miami, Fla., and Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif.

We know how those acquisitions have worked out for the Thoroughbred industry. Meeker left Churchill Downs in 2006, one year after Hollywood Park was sold to a land development company that would close the track in 2013 and construct an NFL football stadium in its place.

Calder's grandstand was torn down in 2015 and the racing surface and a portion of the stables were leased to The Stronach Group, owner of Gulfstream Park, to run a spectator-less meet re-branded as Gulfstream Park West. That lease expired last year and Calder/GP West is now history. So, too, are the purse supplements that came from the Calder Casino, for which horsemen helped Churchill Downs Inc. fight for approval in a 2008 referendum.

It's difficult to imagine how there is a future for Arlington Park as a racetrack after the current meet ends next month. Churchill Downs Inc. is majority owner of Rivers Casino 10 miles away and turned down the opportunity created in 2019 by gambling expansion legislation that would have permitted an on-site casino at Arlington. Illinois breeders, owners and trainers were stunned and felt betrayed when Arlington said it would not apply for a casino license and instead sell the property for development. For years, decades even, horsepeople stood side by side with Arlington representatives in the state capitol in Springfield, lobbying for legislation to permit slots or casinos at racetracks.

Arlington did not apply for 2022 racing dates and it would not be in Churchill Downs Inc's best interests as a casino company to sell the track to anyone who would offer pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing. That would be competition for the gambling dollar and conceivably could hurt Rivers Casino's business.

The Carey family's Hawthorne Race Course appears to be Illinois racing's last hope – unless you count old Fairmount Park in southern Illinois, which has been rebranded as FanDuel Sports Book and Horse Racing.

Hawthorne, which sat directly adjacent to Sportsman's Park, announced plans for a $500 million casino expansion following the 2019 gambling legislation. But construction on the casino was halted in April, with no public explanation or a timeline for completion.

Even if the Hawthorne casino is completed, the situation is far from ideal. Hawthorne is now the only track hosting Standardbred racing in the Chicago area, and this creates not only a potential conflict over racing dates between the two breeds, but future revenue from the casino earmarked for purses will have to be divided between Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds. The 2019 legislation permitted a new harness track/casino to be built in an area south of Chicago, but to date neither a suitable investor or property has been approved.

Arlington's racing days are dwindling down to a precious few, The palatial grandstand remains one of the great wonders of the North American racing world, though it's obvious the once pristine aesthetics and maintenance standards set by the very hands-on Richard Duchossois have fallen considerably as he approaches the century mark in years. Unsightly weeds growing throughout the plant are just one of the eyesores that wouldn't have been there a decade ago. In fact, back then, Duchossois himself might have grabbed a weed wacker to show the maintenance crew how it's done, just as he took control of traffic flow into the parking lot one Arlington Million day not that many years ago.

Speaking of Arlington Million Day, or whatever it was called this year after the signature race's purse was slashed and renamed the Mr. D. Stakes in honor of Duchossois, how about that Tony Petrillo, the track's president?

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Based on reporting by Jim O'Donnell in the Daily Herald (apparently the only Chicago-area newspaper to cover this year's three Grade 1 races, with both the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times ignoring them), Petrillo had quite the meltdown, lashing out at media members who did come to cover the races. According to O'Donnell and confirmed by several writers and photographers from horse racing publications, Petrillo would not allow photographers, other than the track photographer, to get in position to photograph any of the big turf races.

After the day's final race was run, buoyed with members of the security staff, Petrillo cleared out the press box while those same writers and photographers were trying to finish their assignments and send their stories and pictures to their respective publications. Petrillo even told one photographer who happened to be on assignment for a Churchill Downs Inc. subsidiary, that she was “banned for life” from Arlington Park.

It's the same treatment owners and trainers have been receiving from Arlington management in recent years.

There was a time when Arlington Park's press box was as welcoming and friendly as any track in the country. It wasn't just the comfortable accommodations or the excellent meals that were served to grateful writers and photographers. More importantly, Richard Duchossois would walk through the press box and thank each member of the media individually for coming to Arlington Park, asking them if there's anything they needed.

How times have changed.

My gut feeling is that this is the end of the road for Arlington Park, the track where I fell in love with racing in the 1970s. It's been a long, slow and painful death to observe since Duchossois relinquished complete control of Arlington in 2000. I may not agree with them, but I understand business decisions and fiduciary responsibilities that drive publicly traded companies like Churchill Downs Inc. What I don't understand is the arrogance and nastiness from Arlington's management that has accompanied the track's tragic fall.

I had always thought the final days of Arlington Park would be bittersweet, a mix of sorrow with the great memories furnished by the horses and people who put on the show for so many decades. But the architects of what seems destined to be this wonderful track's final chapter seem hell bent on making sure it's a bitter end.

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