One-of-a-Kind Maryland Horse Library and Education Center Officially Open to Public

Located in the heart of historic Reisterstown, Md., just down the road from Sagamore Farm, Hall of Fame steeplechase trainer Jack Fisher's Kingfisher Farm, and GreenMount Farm, the birthplace of 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go (Paynter), sits the newly opened Maryland Horse Library and Education Center.

The one-of-a-kind facility, honoring the robust history of horses in Maryland and serving as a hub for educating the next generation, is housed in the Maryland Horse Breeders Association (MHBA)'s building. The stately brick structure with large, white columns, was originally built in 1876 as the Grace Methodist Church South, and later housed Reisterstown Federal Savings and Loan, Shaw's Antiques, various realty groups and another Living Faith Chapel, before it was purchased by the MHBA in April of 2020.

It was only fitting that a building with such a storied past would add a new chapter to its legacy as the permanent home of the Maryland Horse Library and Education Center, representing a collective vision and years-long culmination of work by the Maryland Horse Foundation (MHF), the MHBA's staff, boards and committees, and Cricket Goodall, executive director of the MHBA and Maryland Million Ltd.

“We had several different opportunities over the years that didn't work out and I thought, maybe it's just not going to work out, maybe I'm not going to get this done,” said Goodall, who has worked for the MHBA since 1986 and has served as executive director since 2003. “It was certainly a long-term goal of mine, but really it was sort of fate, I guess, that the right spot came along, and that we had the right board of directors that were willing to take the next step to commit and own something. Even the timeframe, [dealing] with COVID, low interest rates and a whole bunch of other things that we couldn't have ever planned for, it all came together at the right time.”

Walking up onto the porch and through the double set of doors, visitors will find themselves stepping into a facility entirely dedicated to Maryland's diverse and expansive horse industry, featuring a 5,000-book reference library covering a wide range of history, breeds, disciplines, genres and collections. The building also boasts a soundproof media room, research room, conference room/meeting area, a children's activity area and a section that's home to a variety of memorabilia.

The center is a dream turned reality for both the MHBA, whose offices have also found a permanent home in the building, and the MHF, which promotes and oversees a variety of equine industry educational programs as well as operates the library and education center.

Though finding an ideal location to display and share the extensive collection of literature, which has only grown throughout the history of the MHBA, was a main priority, the emphasis on education and creating an inviting place to foster learning, collaboration and future growth was inspired by meetings between Goodall and Jordyn Egan, the former director of development for the MHF.

Egan was an integral part of bringing the right people together to help put the vision for the center to paper, in the form of renderings and plans, along with spearheading the collaboration and support necessary to launch and carry out the capital campaign for the project.

“We put together the narrative of what we really believed it would be and the purpose it would serve for the community, and once we took that message and that vision out, it exploded. We thought this would be a much larger process as far as the capital campaign, but our original goal was surpassed in under a year and it just kept going,” said Egan, now the executive director of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC).

Once the initial goal was reached, the plans could be put into action, as renovations began to gut the majority of what existed in the front section of the building and rebuild to fit the vision of the center. A few initial plans changed as more walls and a drop ceiling were stripped away, with quite a few adjustments and tweaks made to preserve the original barrel ceiling of the church, revealed during the demolition process. A cozy reading loft and a spiral staircase to access it, above the media and research rooms, was also added in.

The $1-million capital campaign launched in March of 2021 and by that June, the goal had already been reached, which prompted the team to extend the campaign in an effort to raise $2 million. Currently, they've raised just over $1.7 million.

“Not only did we raise enough money to do the project, but we were able to have some money to endow the project in the future and make sure that the programming happens.”

Goodall extends a lot of credit to Josh Pons, president of the MHF, along with Richard Blue, Jr. and Dr. Michael Harrison, who led the process of reaching out to potential donors and bringing in donations for the capital campaign.

“It feels like we've won some great prize that we can then build on, I think that's one of the biggest things. We packaged this idea of Cricket's vision for what this building could be and people were creative enough and had familiarity with other museums and other libraries that they could say, 'We should have something like that,'” said Pons. “It's difficult to argue with the merits of not just the library, but also the education center component.”

The library aspect of the project was a beast of its own, as the MHBA and later the MHF had developed an extensive collection of literature over many, many decades, which came along for the ride as the MHBA moved office locations throughout its history before eventually, the books were sent out to be housed in storage units. Another dream realized was that of finally having a fully-fledged library, where the books could be organized, shelved and shared.

But before all of that could come to fruition, the collection had to be pulled out of storage, sorted by hand and eventually catalogued. The MHBA's research specialist Cindy Deubler, along with Wesley Wilson, who retired in January after more than 50 years with Enoch Pratt Free Library in downtown Baltimore, and a small but mighty group of volunteers handled the daunting task.

“We tried to come up with an idea of how to organize it, because there are many ways with libraries, but it's so specialized that it was very challenging to break it apart and define it more for some of the collections. I contacted Becky Ryder at Keeneland Library and she was super helpful to give me some basics on what they did, what system they used and how they were displaying them on shelves. We used the Library of Congress method, which is what Keeneland uses, and we're putting the catalog online, on the cloud, at libraryworld.com,” said Deubler.

The bulk of the library was pulled out of storage in April, with the organizing process beginning at the end of that month and continuing until late September. After flooring was installed and the shelving units were all put up in the library, the final collection of books was moved into the building while the rest, another 5,000, returned to storage.

“The material is everything. It's all disciplines, so many different breeds, from veterinary care and stable management, really any kind of horse book you can think of. We have a decent fiction section and a lot of our Dick Francis books are first editions signed by Dick Francis,” said Deubler. “We're just trying to keep it diverse and we'll try to keep it fresh.”

The library collection is also highlighted by many rare, unique finds, thanks to donations through the years including: the Selima Room collection from the Prince George's County Library System's Bowie branch; at least a dozen copies of The History of Thoroughbred Racing in America, by William H.P. Robertson; and complete sets of The Jockey Club Racing In America series (which covers racing history from the 1600s to the 1970s).

“Most research materials are online, so you don't see many volumes of that coming in anymore. But one thing we kept are old stallion registers, we have them going back to the '50s. I look at it as a researcher, a history writer, that it's nice to be able to get your hands on that. The Daily Racing Form chart books are very much that way,” said Deubler. “We're not just Thoroughbred, but obviously the big focus of the library is that because of who our donors have been.”

The dream has always been to create a central location where the horse industry across the state, and those looking to learn more and become a part of it, can come together and collaborate. Based on the turnout of the official grand opening of the library and education center, held Friday, Dec. 16, where the public, politicians, members of the horse industry and supportive donors came together to celebrate, there's no doubt that Goodall's dream has been realized.

She only hopes it will grow from there, as the center will not only host the MHF's various educational programs, but hopes to be the home base for a variety of other programs and events.

“It's an important look in the future, because when you're educating people, you're hoping and planning that they're going to be learning and carrying on the future of the horse industry,” she said. “We hope to have everything from author talks to speaker series, along with hosting local community groups and seminars, because that's a lot of exposure for the industry.”

Other unique features include the outer wall of the building adorned with colorful racing silks, representing prominent Maryland connections in flat racing and steeplechase that donated to the project, along with the walls and doorways, both inside and out, which are graced with the names of supportive donors and treasured members of Maryland's horse industry, such as Robert E. Meyerhoff and Nancy Lee Frenkil.

Topped off with a beautiful, blue-sky mural that spans the ceiling, there is no space that more perfectly emulates the importance of preserving Maryland's horse history while also educating and inspiring the next generation.

“You drive by a horse farm and you can't always come in, but you drive by the Maryland Horse Library and Education Center and you can come in, talk to people and find out how to get involved. It's also bringing the horse community together because it's a central resource for all of the different disciplines. This building signifies the togetherness of the Maryland horse industry as a whole, along with its health, importance and heritage. It is incredibly meaningful,” said Egan.

The Maryland Horse Library and Education Center is open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.marylandhorse.com.

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Thoroughbred Education And Research Foundation Awards $10,000 To The Maryland Horse Foundation

The Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation (TERF) has awarded $10,000 to the Maryland Horse Foundation (MHF) to be used for a work experience program, the returning of the Maryland Thoroughbred career program, and continued promotion of Marylandhorse.com.

“We are grateful to the TERF Trustees for their continued support,” says Jordyn Egan, acting MHF Director of Development. “This funding will allow the Maryland Horse Foundation to carry on with our educational programs in 2022/2023.”

To learn more about the Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation and/or make a tax-deductible donation to support TERF's mission and programs, please visit www.terfusa.org.

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Countdown Is On for Inaugural Horse Racing Women’s Summit

The inaugural edition of the Horse Racing Women's Summit (HRWS) is just three weeks away and the planning committee behind the buzzed-about event is so enthusiastic about spreading the word that they say down with the TDN to share how the multi-day summit is gaining national attention and discuss why it is important that the event will be bringing in women from all facets of the industry.

“The Horse Racing Women's Summit is designed to empower, connect and remove barriers in leadership in racing,” said Jodie Vella-Gregory, a member of the planning committee and the Director of the Office of Innovation at 1/ST Racing. “It's really for anyone who is interested in pushing the industry forward and is ready to discuss not only how to overcome challenges, but also how we can identify growth opportunities. We see it as a place for leaders, future leaders and any industry participants and we see it as a catalyst to start a conversation and bring people together.”

 

The summit will be held September 28-30 at Santa Anita Park. Susan Packard, the first woman to join the Churchill Downs Inc. Board of Directors and a key player in the launch and development of CNBC, HGTV and HBO, will be the keynote speaker. Thursday's session will include three panels called Thriving Through Challenges, Looking Ahead–Opportunities for the Industry and Industry Integrity–A Brighter Future. Each panel will feature notable industry participants from various aspects of the sport and will end with a Q and A session.

The event will conclude on Friday, which is also opening day of Santa Anita's fall meet, with a handicapping seminar from TVG's Christina Blacker. HRWS attendees will have access to reserved box seats throughout the weekend of racing at Santa Anita, which will be highlighted by two Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' races.

Committee Chair Stephanie Hronis of Hronis Racing was the visionary behind the event. She explained how the idea formed last summer after a Thoroughbred Owners of California women's luncheon at Del Mar was a smashing success.

“Seeing women come together with the opportunity to network there was such a good energy,” Hronis said.

From there, Hronis formed a team and started putting out feelers on how a national summit would be received by the industry.

“It was kind of like tapping into a sleeping giant,” Hronis explained. “The wave of interest was huge. What started out as a vision for bringing women together has really grown into this movement of a summit and bringing people both from within the industry and outside of the industry, which you will see with our panelists and our keynote speaker Susan Packard.”

HRWS committee member Jordyn Egan, who is also the Executive Director for the Thoroughbred Owners of California, said that they received immediate interest from a vast array of women in the industry.

“The feedback was very diverse,” she said. “It was everything from, 'I want to become an owner but I'm intimidated' to 'I've been working in this industry for 20 years and I don't know what to do next.' We had to really think about what we are going to do with this event that will help address, connect and empower all women in racing so that regardless of where you are, this is a great professional and personal development opportunity.”

The HRWS planning team laid out the five core pillars that they hope will be accomplished through the event: to remove barriers, to empower, to build inclusivity and leadership, to mentor, and to develop and grow the sport.

Committee member Kellie Hill, who is involved in the industry as the CEO of Stay Classy Horse Racing and who also works outside of the sport as the Sr. Vice President of MedWest Realty, talked about how the concept of removing barriers will benefit horse racing as a whole.

“What they have found with so many different studies, from Harvard Business Review to the London Business School, is that the more you have gender equality, the profits go up, the innovation goes up and the efficiency goes up,” Hill explained. “So when we're saying that we want to remove barriers, it's so that we can get equal representation across the board in order to propel the whole industry up.”

1/ST Racing and FanDuel TV will be the presenting sponsors for the event with over a dozen other organizations also backing the summit. Hill said the support they have received from the industry through sponsorship has been overwhelming.

“I can't tell you how shocked I have been by the level of sponsorship that has come in and embraced this event,” she explained. “Most of our sponsors pretty much immediately said, 'Yes, no problem' and they have made a bigger leap than we anticipated. I think that put the wind in our sails when we first started this so that we knew that we were headed in the right direction and that this is absolutely needed.”

Shona Rotondo, the Head of Marketing at MyRacehorse, serves as the unofficial East Coast representative of the HRWS committee. She said their team does not shy from the fact that they must receive support from organizations outside of California in order to properly represent women in racing from all across the country.

“This is not just a West Coast Thing,” she said. “We understand that the travel and investment in getting people from the East Coast to the West Coast is a little tricky, but it's also an opportunity to challenge your company to invest in women.”

“I would not take the location as an excuse not to go out there or not to push your company to give the opportunity,” Rotondo continued. “I have said to a lot of businesses, including my own, to invest in your women, send leaders in your organization who are smart and capable and passionate, and let's all get together and come up with some really actionable ideas.”

To learn more about the Horse Racing Women's Summit and to purchase tickets, visit womeninracingsummit.com.

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Owens, Forney Retire from TOC; Egan Named Executive Director

Jack Owens, the longest-serving board member of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, and executive director Mary Forney, will retire from the organization effective July 1. Jordyn Egan will assume the executive director role effective July 20.

An owner and breeder of Thoroughbreds for more than 30 years, Owens races predominately in Northern California. His legal acumen has been invaluable to the TOC Board over the years, and he has worked tirelessly to advance and protect the interests of owners at the legislative and regulatory levels and in negotiations with other members of the industry.

Following Owens' decision not to seek reelection to the board in 2022, TOC membership elected owner Johnny Taboada as one of its three Northern California representatives. The new board takes office July 1.

After 18 years with TOC and over 40 years in the horse racing industry, Forney retires from her role as executive director. In addition to her time with the TOC, Mary worked for Santa Anita Park, the California Thoroughbred Breeders' Association and held various roles during her career in the industry.

“The board joins me in congratulating and thanking both Jack and Mary for their many years of service to TOC and this industry,” said TOC Chairman Gary Fenton. “We know Jack is looking forward to spending more time with his racing and breeding operation, and we hope to see Mary at the races with her family, including her new grandson. California racing is forever grateful to them.”

Egan, born and raised in Fallbrook, Ca., graduated from the Race Track Industry Program and completed the Godolphin Flying Start management training program. Since 2013 she has served as Director of Special Projects for the Maryland Horse Breeders Association.

“It is an honor to be chosen for this position,” said Egan. “I was an intern for TOC in 2006 and had the privilege of working for Mary at that time. I look forward to joining TOC and working closely with the team to effectively represent and grow the pool of Thoroughbred owners in the state of California.”

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