In addition to the annual toy drive, throughout the year the jockeys also raise funds for PDJF (Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund) and for HVAF (Hoosier Veterans and Families) Inc. of Indiana. “It's nice to help and I want to help out whenever I can,” added Marcelino Pedroza, Jr., who is a three-time leading jockey at Horseshoe Indianapolis. “Giving back is important to me. It's the way I was raised, and I want to help any way I can. I hope we can brighten the day of a few kids this Christmas.”

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“This means the world to me, and I was riding for my dad, because I couldn't have been here without him,” said Parker, who lost his Dad, Daryl, a longtime steward in the state of Ohio in the spring of 2021 to cancer. “He knew I was getting close to this milestone, but he never said much about any of the milestones. He's the one that kept me calm, and if I was getting worked up over something, I would give him a call and tell him what was going on and he'd calm me down. I miss not being able to do that.”

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Sent off as the .70-1 favorite in the $100,000 Juvenile, the sophomore son of Unified, tracked the pace set by the embattled Grunt and Charco through contested fractions of :21.76 and :45.63. Four-wide on the turn for home, he battled briefly with eventual third place finisher Charco mid-stretch before putting that rival away. Unified Report led into the deep stretch, and held safe of the late closing 1.80-1 second choice, the maiden Bron and Brow, stopping the timer in 1:10.55.

“Truly it all goes back to thanking Mr. Murray (owner Valene),” Hernandez said. “Year after year, he just keeps finding these really good Louisiana-breds. I think this is like the third or fourth year in a row we've won one of these 2-year-old (stakes) races. He (Unified Report) looked like he was the best horse in the race and I just did my job, give him the cleanest trip we could. He's a young horse, but he was two for two (coming in) so he's got a little experience behind him. There were for of them in front, so I just let him find his rhythm, I got him in the clear and off he went. What really impressed me today was the way he galloped out. He hit the wire and kind of stepped away from those horses again, so he kind of shows you that he wants to stretch out and go to two turns.”

With the win, Unified Report remained perfect from three starts, increasing his bankroll to $154,720 in the process.

Bron and Brow, who finished third at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., in his career debut, added blinkers for the Juvenile, and after a difficult trip with some traffic trouble, he too stamped himself as a youngster to watch.

“It was a little troubled trip for me,” jockey Deshawn Parker admitted. “He was trying to run and had nowhere to go for a while. So once I came out of the turn, I tried to dig him out. But it was real trouble. Trouble. He's a maiden but he won't be a maiden much longer.”

“We had a horrible trip,” assistant trainer David Carroll added. “He was loaded the whole way, had to check hard off heels, then had to wait for room. He closed fast. To me, he was much the best horse in the race. He's a talented colt and we look forward to running him back. That's racing.”

A longtime supporter of Louisiana racing, Murray Valene was thrilled with his colt's performance.

“We had an undefeated filly (Big Time) win for us on this day last year, and this year it was the colt (Unified Report),” Valene said. “I want to thank Dallas Stewart and his team for doing such a great job. This colt looks like he wants to go longer and he might have the talent to do it successfully.”

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Off slowly in the field of 11, the 3-year-old gelded son of Street Boss, was far off the early pace set by 1.30-1 favorite Mangelsen through honest early fractions of :23.81, :48.97, and 1:14.15 with the rail 20 feet out on the Stall-Wilson Turf Course, but once jockey Deshawn Parker found clear sailing to the outside, the horse did the rest.

“We wanted to get a little better break, but he didn't break too sharp today,” Parker said. “He was so relaxed on the backside. When I called on him, he gave me an explosion. He gobbled them up so fast. As soon as I got to them, he just rolled by.”

Sent off as the third choice at 3.40-1, Who Took the Money stopped the timer in 1:45.93 for the 1 1/16 miles distance on grass, besting fellow deep closers Budro Talking (13.40-1), also trained by Calhoun) and Treys Midnight Moon by 5 ¾ and 7 ¾ lengths respectively, while the pacesetting Mangelsen faded to third.

Who Took the Money was cross-entered in the Classic, but trainer Bret Calhoun opted to run eventual runner-up Highland Creek there instead.

“We tried him (Who Took the Money) on turf once before and he ran alright,” Calhoun said. “We had two horses that could have gone either way so I had to make a tough decision. Knowing his pedigree, I just thought he would be the right one for the grass. He really showed the kind of turn of foot today that we were wanting to see. We were disappointed a little early on because of the break and we were kind of buried behind traffic. I wasn't optimistic early in the race, but when he (rider Parker) kicked him out. The horse exploded.”

Last year as a 3-year-old, Who Took the Money flipped in the post parade prior to the running of the Crescent City Derby, but won the race anyway as the .50-1 favorite. His behavior hasn't improved all that much since.

“He's not as difficult to train as he is to run,” Calhoun explained. “The antics in the paddock and going to the gate, he'll test you. He's got quite a bit of ability, but he's got some (mental) issues.”

With the win, Who Took the Money boosted his record to 8-5-0-1 with earnings of $217,627.

“At the top of the stretch I was looking at Bret and I didn't think we had a shot, and then boom,” Thomas said. “We really didn't know what to expect. We thought he'd be alright on the turf. Bret made a good call (to run him in this race). Deshawn rode a great race. We're delighted.”

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Parker, based at Indiana Grand, was chosen in ballots cast by more than 350 professional jockeys at North American tracks. He outpolled a distinguished group of finalists including Junior Alvarado, Julien Leparoux, Scott Stevens and Gerard Melancon, and will be recognized in a special ceremony on Thursday, September 2 at Saratoga Race Course.

Created in 1989, the Mike Venezia Memorial Award is awarded to a jockey who displays the extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship that personified Venezia, who died as the result of injuries suffered in a spill in 1988. Venezia, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., won more than 2,300 races during his 25-year career.

“It's an honor just to be on the ballot for this award,” said Parker. “It's extra special that my fellow riders are the ones who made the selection. I take a lot of pride in being a role model both on and off the track. I will cherish this award.”

In a career that has spanned more than 30 years, Parker, 50, was America's leading rider in 2010 with 377 wins, becoming the first Black rider to do so since 1895. He led all jockeys again in 2011 with 400 wins; and is now closing in on 5,900 career wins. A native of Cincinnati, Parker was a dominant rider for more than 20 years at Mountaineer Park in West Virginia. He has also enjoyed considerable success at Indiana Grand, where he was leading rider in 2020, and at Sam Houston Race Park, where he was leading rider in 2015.

Winning the Venezia Award is another major accomplishment for Parker in a year he described as “personally emotional but exciting.” In early March, Parker lost his father, Daryl Parker, a longtime Ohio racing steward, to cancer. Parker called his father his mentor and inspiration for becoming a jockey, especially after telling his 5-foot-10-inch son to ignore the naysayers who said he was too tall to make it as a professional rider.

“My idol, my best friend and a great father!” Parker said of his father. “He meant so much to my life and my career. I can only hope to be as great as he was.”

Two weeks after the passing of his father, Parker was selected by a vote of jockeys nationwide as the winner of the 2021 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, presented by Santa Anita Park.

The Venezia Memorial Award is a 13-inch bronze sculpture with a title that reads, “The Jockey, A Champion.” Parker joins a legendary group of riders who have won the award previously, including Venezia, who posthumously earned the inaugural award in 1989, as well as Bill Shoemaker, Angel Cordero, Jr., Jerry Bailey, Mike Smith, Gary Stevens, Richard Migliore, Edgar Prado, Ramon Dominguez, Joe Bravo and Javier Castellano.

For Migliore, the 2003 Venezia Memorial Award winner who is now with NYRA TV, the award continues the legacy of Venezia.

“Winning the award myself was one the proudest moments of my career because Mike Venezia embodied everything you look for in a rider,” said Migliore. “He continues to be an example for today's jockeys and for our sport. DeShawn Parker is a worthy addition to this group of jockeys.”

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“My agent told me we had horses going in, but this was a surprise,” said Parker, who is listed to ride Bourbon Thunder in the $500,000 Grade 3 Derby and Bourbon Calling in the $200,000 Grade 3 West Virginia Governor's Stakes, with mounts in four other stakes and two overnight events.

Parker, who raised his family in East Liverpool, Ohio, not far across the river from Mountaineer, and still has his home there, decided in late 2013 to leave the West Virginia track and branch out to Texas, Indiana and Kentucky. At the height of his Mountaineer success, Parker often would have mounts in all nine or 10 races, five nights a week.

Statistics provided by Brisnet.com show Parker has won an amazing 4,785 races from 28,221 starts at Mountaineer alone, and 5,886 overall. He leads all categories, which include stakes victories and earnings.

Parker, whose mounts have earned $75.7 million, first started riding for trainer John Semer at Mountaineer, and eventually landed in the barn of Dale Baird, the track's all-time leading trainer, and as of Aug. 4 Thoroughbred racing's all-time leading trainer with 9,445 wins. That set the stage for multiple years of more than 300 wins for Parker, who in 2011 won 400 races.

With Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen just a handful of wins away from eclipsing the late Baird's record, Parker reflected on his success with Baird at Mountaineer.

“It's going to break my heart,” Parker said. “People would say Dale was very hard to approach, but I know that once you got to know Dale, he was great. He would even ask me to go on trips with him to buy horses. I felt honored he wanted me to go with him. And remember, Dale only had one string of horses that would go back and forth between the track and his farm.”

Parker earlier this year received the prestigious George Woolf Memorial Award, which recognizes riders whose careers and personal character garner esteem for the individual and Thoroughbred racing. He was joined at Santa Anita Park in California by Luis M. Quinones, another Mountaineer veteran and riding champion who won the award in 2020 but whose ceremony was postponed because of COVID-19 restrictions.

“It worked out perfectly,” Parker said of the delay. “We both ended up at Santa Anita together. It was a great weekend.”

And he's happy to be spending this weekend with family and friends in his own back yard.

“Mountaineer is always going to be home,” Parker said. “I love the track and love the people. When the (purse) money started getting less and less, I made a choice between having to ride so many races and win so many races, or ride less and make more money.

“To this day people ask me how I could have stayed there that long. Well, I love it, and I don't have a bad thing to say about it. There are great people there, including the fans. Mountaineer boosted my career to where I never thought it could be.”

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Created in 1989, the Mike Venezia Memorial Award is awarded to a jockey who displays the extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship that personified Venezia, who died as the result of injuries suffered in a spill in 1988. Venezia, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., won more than 2,300 races during his 25-year career.

All active jockeys in the continental U.S. are eligible to vote for the award winner.

“No one knows better than their fellow riders who is the most deserving of this award,” said Terry Meyocks, President and CEO of the Jockeys' Guild. “No matter who is chosen this year, each of these finalists is an accomplished athlete whose skills and dedication to racing is rivaled only by the respect they earn off the track.”

The 2021 Mike Venezia Memorial Award will be presented in a special ceremony at Saratoga Race Course Sept. 2.

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Created in 1989, the Mike Venezia Memorial Award is awarded to a jockey who displays the extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship that personified Venezia, who died as the result of injuries suffered in a spill in 1988. Venezia, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., won more than 2,300 races during his 25-year career.

The competition was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making this year the first time the award will be bestowed since 2019. This year's award — in which the riders will select the winner — marks a change from the past several years when fans voted for the Venezia Award.

“No one knows better than their fellow riders who is the most deserving of this award,” said Terry Meyocks, President and CEO of the Jockeys' Guild. “No matter who is chosen this year, each of these finalists is an accomplished athlete whose skills and dedication to racing is rivaled only by the respect they earn off the track.”

For Richard Migliore of NYRA TV, a retired jockey and the 2003 Venezia Award winner, the award serves to continue the legacy of Venezia.

“Winning the award myself was one the proudest moments of my career because Mike Venezia embodied everything you look for in a rider,” said Migliore. “He continues to be a role model for riders and for our sport. This group of nominees is as well.”

The 2021 Mike Venezia Memorial Award will be presented in a special ceremony at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Thursday, September 2.

The first Venezia Memorial Award was awarded posthumously to Venezia in 1989. Recent winners of the award include Hall of Famer Javier Castellano [2019], Joe Bravo [2018], Kendrick Carmouche [2017], Mario Pino [2016], Jon Court [2015], Hall of Famer John Velazquez [2014], and Hall of Famer Ramon Dominguez [2013].

2021 nominee biographies:

Junior Alvarado: A native of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, and the son of a jockey, Alvarado is a mainstay on the New York and Florida racing circuits, with more than 1,800 races and $103 million in purses in a career that dates to 2007 in the U.S. In New York, Alvarado has consistently excelled, winning the 2019 Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic aboard Arlow and the Grade 1 Woodward presented by NYRA Bets on Preservationist; and in 2014, Moreno in the Grade 1 Whitney. In his first start in a Triple Crown race, the 2016 Kentucky Derby, Alvarado finished fourth aboard Mohaymen.

Julien Leparoux: A native of Senlis, France whose father was a jockey-turned-assistant trainer, Leparoux has amassed more than 2,800 wins and $175 million in prize money since moving to the U.S. in 2005. Those victories include seven Breeders' Cup races, including the 2015 Mile aboard Champion Turf Mare Tepin and the 2016 Juvenile on Classic Empire. At the 2009 Breeders' Cup, Leparoux earned the Shoemaker Award as the winningest jockey with three victories. Also in 2009, he led the North American earnings list and received the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey.

Deshawn Parker: In 2010, the Cincinnati native and son of a jockey became the first African American rider since 1895 to lead all North American jockeys in races. Racing professionally since 1988, Parker has amassed more than 5,800 wins and $75 million in earnings with many of those victories compiled at Mountaineer Park, where he was a perennial leading rider at Mountaineer Park in West Virginia for more than 20 years. Earlier this year, Parker was selected by a vote of jockeys nationwide as the winner of the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, presented annually by Santa Anita to the rider whose career and personal character earn esteem for the individual and for racing.

Gerard Melancon: On June 11, 2021 in the eighth race at Evangeline Downs, the Rayne, Louisiana native reached a milestone when he became the 37th jockey in North American history to reach 5,000 wins. Melancon's first professional ride was at Delta Downs in 1984 – and since then, he has ridden in more than 31,900 races and earned more than $88 million in purses. Melancon has won multiple riding titles at Delta Downs, Evangeline Downs and Louisiana Downs; and ridden successful horses ranging from Bonapaw and Fantasticat to Rise Up, Sabrecat, Skate Away and Zarb's Dahar.

Scott Stevens: Breaking into racing in 1976 and accepting his first mount at age 15 at Les Bois Park in his native Idaho, Stevens has established himself through the years as top rider at Turf Paradise, where he has won nine titles, and one of the best at Canterbury Downs, where he has earned three riding titles. Stevens has compiled career marks of 5,049 wins and $43,680,518 in purses to date. In 2019, he was honored with the George Woolf Award. He is the older brother of Hall of Fame rider and 1999 Venezia Memorial Award-winner Gary Stevens.

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“Very encouraged,” said Ellis Park General Manager Jeff Inman. “It's been a really busy day for our opening day. We got through everything well, we'e executed well. Few little glitches, but we're going to be able to fix them quickly. The team is excited and happy to see the crowds. The crowds are happy. We've got kids. We've got cheering. We've got the thunder of the horses. We're a racetrack again!”

Much of the pre-meet conversation centered on all the high-profile trainers who will have horses stabled at Ellis Park this summer because of the closure of Churchill Downs for off-season training. But when the Pea Patch began its 99th season, local horsemen were the fastest out of the gate.

Bonnie Pittman of Evansville was the winning owner-trainer as Shape of You ($31.20 to win) captured the first race, a starter-allowance with an optional $10,000 claiming price, under Angel Rodriguez. Pittman predicted that Eric Foster of the Owensboro area would follow suit in the second. And, as it turned out, also the third race.

Sir Acealot ($8.40), owned by Joseph A. and Hugh D. Scates, captured the second race for $16,000 maiden-claimers by 5 1/2 lengths, to give DeShawn Parker his first Ellis Park victory in a 5,870-win career. Foster came right back with the $10,000 claimer Can'tbetemall ($4.80) and jockey Chris Landeros winning for the Scateses, Foster Family Racing and R.K. Eckrich Racing. Both races attracted the usual jammed-packed winner's circle whenever Foster wins a race.

“It's awesome, just awesome,” Pittman said. “It's great to see everybody back in the stands again, and we're ready to rock and roll. We've all been out here training the last few months, and I think we're ready to go.”

“We move in early and get them ready,” Foster said after the second race. “That's why I like to win here so much because family and friends get to come who don't always get to go to the races. It makes it that much better.”

Parker, the leading rider at Indiana Grand last year, plans to ride regularly at Ellis Park for the first time because the two tracks don't overlap. Ellis runs Fridays through Sundays and Indiana Grand Mondays through Thursdays.

“We finally got it done,” Parker said of his first Ellis victory, though in fairness he hadn't ridden much before at the track. “It feels good. Nice crowd, nice place, everything.”

“You're kidding,” Foster said when told it was Parker's first victory at the Pea Patch. “He's been everywhere and done everything. He's awesome.”

Foster said he doesn't view it as competition between the local trainers and those coming in from Louisville and Lexington.

“I look up to so many of them,” he said. “I hope they would all be behind us. Any time the guys around here need advice, they'll give it to you.” But, he added, “It is nice for me and Bonnie to get the 1-2.”

After he won again, Foster said, “It's a good day. I tell you what, I already was so happy for Bonnie, and to win two more, it's a blessing. You've got to enjoy every win, and to do it twice in a row.”

Inman was delighted to see Ellis' local horsemen do so well. “Really, it's the local guys who are always here for us,” he said, adding in reference to Churchill Downs' meet ending Saturday, “The big guys are here, but they're coming in right now. I think Brad Cox has had a few horses come in. But we're really not expecting the majority of our top-flight trainers to be here until the 4th or 5th of July.”

Brad Cox, who last summer earned his third Ellis Park training title in a tie with Kenny McPeek, is the reigning Eclipse Award winner as North America's outstanding trainer and recently won his first Triple Crown race with 2-year-old champion Essential Quality in the Belmont Stakes.

Cox made his presence known early on Sunday, taking the fourth race, an entry-level allowance event for 3-year-olds, with heavily favored Swill and jockey Florent Geroux. Swill, racing as a gelding for the first time, came in off a six-month layoff since finishing fourth in Aqueduct's Jerome Stakes. He dominated the seven-furlong race Sunday, winning by seven lengths over Espionage in a field that scratched down to four horses. Swill, a son of Munnings, is owned by Louisville's Rick Kueber and the Ten Strike Racing partnership headed by Marshall Gramm, professor and chair of the economics department at Rhodes College in Memphis.

Geroux and Cox teamed to win the fifth as well with Arkansas timber man John Ed Anthony's 4-year-old gelding Pine Knoll winning a maiden race on his eighth attempt, this race at 1 1/16 miles on turf. Pine Knoll went virtually wire-to-wire, holding off the late-running Chad Brown-trained first-time starter Orchestration by 1 1/2 lengths.

The first 2-year-old race of the meet was won by Frank Fletcher's filly J L's Rockette, with 2019 meet-titlist James Graham aboard for Bill Mott, one of four Hall of Fame trainers who will have a sizable division of horses stabled at the track. The other Hall of Famers are Steve Asmussen, Mark Casse, and legendary D. Wayne Lukas, who is stabled at Ellis for the first time.

J L's Rockette was a first-time starter by Spendthrift Farm's super-sire Into Mischief. J L's Rockette battled for the lead, opened up a four-length lead with an eighth-mile to go in the five-furlong race, and then held off the on-coming Tap N Glo, who came up just short of giving Cox and Geroux their third winner of the day.

Mott is stabled at Ellis Park for the first time, with those horses overseen by his Churchill Downs assistant, Kenny McCarthy.

“That was fantastic,” McCarthy said of J L's Rockette, adding cheerfully, “He's owned by Mr. Frank Fletcher, and this horse is named after his wife and his daughter. He said, 'So you better win!'”

Thomas Haughey's PTK LLC stable was last year's leading owner with six wins. His family's stable took a step toward defending that title by taking the seventh race, a $52,000 one-mile turf allowance, with the appropriately named Continuation. Joe Rocco Jr. was aboard for trainer Dane Kobiskie.

Continuation needed nine attempts before he won a Churchill Downs' maiden race but now has won two in a row. The 4-year-old son of Munnings made the most of his turf debut, stalking early leader Wentru before taking over through the stretch for a 2 3/4-length victory in the field of nine.

“I'm very thankful for the opportunity,” Rocco said. “Dane does a great job. All of his horses feel like they're ready to run when they bring them over to the races.”

Rocco is among those planning to ride two tracks full-time this summer. The twist is that he won't be just making the three-hour trek from Indiana Grand but from Colonial Downs, 717 miles away in New Kent, Va. Colonial Downs races Monday through Wednesday, July 19 through Sept. 1.

“I bought an RV and am going to drive it there and stay in it,” Rocco said. “I'll just fly from Richmond to Evansville. There's no direct flights. I have to go through Atlanta, but I'll put on a lot of frequent flier miles this summer.”

And he's doing this because?

“Why not?” said Rocco, who turns 40 on July 19. “The dark days don't conflict with each other. Mike Tomlinson, I ride a lot of horses for him and he's taking his whole barn there. So are a lot of other people from Kentucky… And I want to come back and keep the business I've got here as well as much as we can.”

Joe Talamo, the Eclipse Award winner in 2007 as North America's outstanding apprentice jockey, relocated to Kentucky from California last year and won his first riding title in the commonwealth at Ellis Park. This year has presented some challenges as Talamo missed part of the Oaklawn Park meet after contracting COVID. But the 31-year-old jockey made a good start to his title defense by taking the opening-day finale on Michael Cannon's There Goes Harvard, 1 1 1/4-length winner over Tango Tango Tango in the 1 1/16-mile maiden race on turf. There Goes Harvard is trained by California-based Michael McCarthy, who has started a Kentucky division.

“It feels great,” said the unfailingly cheerful Talamo. “I'm grateful for the opportunity that Michael McCarthy gave me. I know him pretty well from back in California. He's a really good horseman, really good trainer. Yeah, it's great to be back. I love the vibe out here with fans. Last year it was a little different; only the owners and trainers could be out here. So it's definitely nice to see it back to normal. Fans interacting and stuff, it's really nice.”

Ellis Park runs through Sept. 4, racing Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays along with Thursday, July 1.

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Instituted by Santa Anita in 1950 to honor the legacy of the legendary jockey George Woolf, the Woolf Award, which can only be won once, honors those riders whose careers embodied class and dignity and have thus represented Thoroughbred horse racing in a consistently professional manner.

Currently based in Ohio, Quinones, America's second leading rider by races won in 2019 with 314 victories, was originally scheduled to accept the 2020 Woolf Trophy on March 22 of last year, but due to complications related to the COVID-19 virus, he will instead participate in a Runhappy Winner's Circle ceremony between races with his close personal friend and 2021 Woolf Award winner DeShawn Parker this Sunday.

Quinones, 42, outpolled a highly respected group of finalists last year that included Tyler Baze, Javier Castellano, Chris Emigh and James Graham.

“It's a great honor just to be on the ballot for this award,” said Quinones last spring.  “Winning the Woolf Award is incredible.  I'm looking forward to coming out there and I know this is something I will never forget.”

DeShawn Parker, who at five feet, 10 inches, “stands out” in any jockey colony, became the first African-American rider since 1895 to lead all American jockeys in races won in 2010, with 377 trips to the Winner's Circle and he becomes the 72^nd Woolf Award winner, dating back to Gordon Glisson in 1950.

In 2011, he upped that total to 400 wins, and was again the nation's leading jockey by races won.  A Cincinnati, Ohio native, Parker, 50, was a dominant force at Mountaineer Park in West Virginia for more than 20 years and he has also enjoyed much success at Indiana Grand, as he led all riders there in 2020, and at Sam Houston Race Park, where he was their leading rider in 2015.

Fast closing in on 6,000 career wins, Parker is the son of longtime highly respected Ohio racing steward, Daryl Parker, who passed away in Cincinnati on March 4.

“My idol, my best friend and a great father!” Parker tweeted on March 5.  “He meant so much to my life and my career.  I can only hope to be as great as he was…”

Parker, who outpolled fellow jockeys Alex Birzer, Jorge Martin Bourdieu, Kendrick Carmouche and Aaron Gryder to win this year's Woolf Award, and Quinones, will be accompanied on Sunday by their wives, children and close friends.

Billy Johnson, who died last December, was agent for both Parker and Quinones during the years they were at or near the top of the national standings by wins.

The exact timing of Sunday's event will be determined following entries on Thursday.

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