Dreaming Of Julia Takes Home Broodmare Of The Year Honors

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA) and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders (KTOB) awards dinner Apr. 5 in Lexington named Dreaming of Julia (A.P. Indy), dam of Grade I winner Malathaat (Curlin) and Grade II winner Julia Shining (Curlin), the 2022 Broodmare of the Year.

Summer Wind Equine was awarded a bronze mare and foal as the breeder of Flightline (Tapit), who was crowned Champion Kentucky-Bred Horse of the Year and Champion Kentucky-Bred Older Dirt Male.

Godolphin received multiple bronzes as the recipient of the P.A.B. Widener Trophy, best known as the KTOB Breeder of the Year, as well as KTDF Owner & Breeder of the Year.

2022 KTOB Broodmare of the Year and her owner and 2022 Champion Kentucky-Breds and their breeders:
Broodmare of the Year: Dreaming of Julia (Owner: Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC)
Horse of the Year, Older Dirt Male: Flightline (Summer Wind Equine)
Two-Year-Old Male: Forte (South Gate Farm)
Two-Year-Old Filly: Wonder Wheel (Three Chimneys Farm, LLC & Clearsky Farms)
Three-Year-Old Male: Epicenter (Westwind Farms)
Three-Year-Old Filly: Nest (Ashview Farm & Colts Neck Stables)
Older Dirt Female: Malathaat (Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC)
Male Turf Horse: Casa Creed (Silver Springs Stud, LLC)
Female Turf Horse: War like Goddess (Calumet Farm)
Male Sprinter: Jackie's Warrior (J & J Stables)
Female Sprinter: Goodnight Olive (Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC)
Racing Abroad: Country Grammer (Scott Pierce & Debbie Pierce)
Steeplechase Horse: Snap Decision (Phipps Stable)

Four merit awards will be presented to individuals for their contributions to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Industry.

2022 Merit awards will be presented at the KTOB Awards Dinner Presented by Anthem:
P.A.B. Widener Trophy for KTOB Breeder of the Year: Godolphin
Hardboot Breeders' Award pays tribute to distinctive but unsung breeders that help make up the backbone of our industry: John Williams
Charles W. Engelhard Award acknowledges a member of the media for outstanding coverage of the Thoroughbred Industry: Steve Byk
William T. Young Humanitarian Award distinguishes a person or organization in the thoroughbred industry “who recognizes and promotes the human endeavor: H. Greg Goodman

Also to receive awards are the top Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) money earners in 2022 in five separate categories.

2022 Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) Leaders:
KTDF Sire of the Year: into Mischief (Spendthrift Farm)
KTDF Earner of the Year: Kitodan (Foster Family Racing, Douglas E. Miller & William J. Wargel)
KTDF Owner of the Year: Godolphin
KTDF Trainer of the Year: Brad Cox
KTDF Breeder of the Year: Godolphin

Recipients of the 2022 KTOB Kentucky-Bred Champion awards were voted on by the full membership of KTA/KTOB while the KTDF category leaders were tabulated using purse money won at Kentucky racetracks in 2022. KTOB merit award recipients were voted on by the KTA/KTOB Board of Directors.

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COVID-19 Claims Dr. J. David Richardson, Ky-Based Owner, Breeder, Regulator

David Richardson, M.D., a distinguished Kentucky-based surgeon who owned and bred Thoroughbreds for nearly half a century and was known as a thoughtful, cerebral racing regulator whose zeal for the sport shone through in his volunteer service on numerous industry-related boards, died Sept. 7 in Saratoga Springs, New York, after developing pneumonia related to COVID-19.

Richardson had been briefly hospitalized in the intensive care unit at Saratoga Hospital; he was believed to be 76 years old.

Chauncey Morris, the executive director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders (KTA/KTOB) organization, confirmed the details of Richardson's passing to TDN. Morris noted in an email that Richardson had been vaccinated against COVID-19.

“David was a remarkable man who touched so many lives in his capacity as a brilliant surgeon, mine included, and seamlessly blended his Eastern Kentucky sensibilities with his dual professions and passions of horse racing and medicine,” Morris wrote. “There are countless people on the backside and frontside who literally owe their lives to David thanks to his keen observations of some health issue which led to first-class treatment, despite [a patient's] ability to pay.”

Tommy Drury, who trained horses for Richardson, wrote on Facebook that, “My heart is truly broken, as I'll never get the chance to thank you for all you've done to make my life better. RIP Dr Richardson. My life just won't be the same without you.”

James David Richardson (he was generally known by either just his middle name or “J. David” to friends) was the first child born into a working-class family in Morehead, Kentucky. According to a biography published earlier this year in The American Surgeon, Richardson was an outstanding student who rose to be valedictorian of his high school class, winning a state essay contest on ethics and citizenship while also teaming to win the Kentucky debating club championship.

Richardson graduated from Morehead State University in just three years with a near-perfect grade point average, then was awarded a scholarship to the University of Kentucky (UK) medical school.

Upon graduating from UK in 1970, he was recruited as an intern and resident to the Department of Surgery at UK, then transferred to the University of Texas at San Antonio where he completed both general surgery and thoracic surgery residencies. Richardson subsequently became one of the nation's few quadruple board-certified surgeons (general, thoracic, vascular and critical care surgeries).

Soon after, Richardson was recruited to the faculty of the University of Louisville, where for decades he served as a professor and later as vice chair of surgery. In 2014, he was elected president-elect of the American College of Surgeons.

“I did big surgery,” Richardson told TDN in a 2019 profile. “The first liver transplants in Kentucky, for example. I ran a trauma program for years. Major surgery is extraordinarily high stakes, high risk, high reward–and a lot of pressure. But while I've never had to do horses for business, I'm very sympathetic with people who do. If you've paid a big stud fee, or bought a high-priced mare, and are counting on that to make your nut for the year, I would think that's a very intense thing. Great when it works, terrible when it doesn't. It's not like life and death. But it's certainly a lot of pressure.”

In response to Richardson's passing, the University of Louisville Hospital released a statement Tuesday which read, “U of L Health extends its sympathy to his family and is grieving with them. He was an outstanding mentor and skilled surgeon who saved the lives of thousands through his work and education of many future doctors. Dr. Richardson was a beloved member of our family and will be missed.”

Horses had fascinated Richardson since boyhood, when he would leave friends at the Coney Island amusement park in Cincinnati to bluff his way, underage, into the adjacent River Downs racetrack. He bought his first Thoroughbred in 1975, at age 30, and had his first stakes winner in 1978.

“I enjoy all aspects of it,” he told TDN. “I like to bet. I like to breed horses. I love to race horses. Even in claiming races, I still get a kick out of winning.”

While carving out a career as a young medic, Richardson was taken under the wing of Hall-of-Fame trainer Woody Stephens, who was a family member and, like Richardson, had also risen from modest means in rural Kentucky to achieve wider success in his chosen field (Richardson called Stephens “Uncle” even though the trainer was Richardson's father's cousin). Through Stephens, Richardson availed himself of opportunities to learn everything he could about selecting, raising and training racehorses.

By the early 1980s, Richardson had learned enough to get involved in picking out some of the better-known horses campaigned by owner Henryk de Kwiatkowski that Stephens would go on to train. Among them were Danzig, Conquistador Cielo, and Sabin.

According to his American Surgeon bio, around the mid-1980s, Richardson began to devote more time to owning his own horses, especially broodmares. “Either by himself or in partnership with others, he has raised and sold over 1,000 horses that have ultimately won races at different tracks,” the bio stated. As of earlier this year, Richardson owned about 40 horses in various stages of development.

“I've spent tens of thousands of hours working things out,” Richardson told TDN in 2019. “I've looked at thousands of yearlings. I've looked at broodmares, November and January, snow knee-deep or bitter, freezing my butt off. So to me, that's part of paying your dues, and trying to become better versed, and staying up with the game. Because if you really do that carefully, you see how sometimes horses that win races aren't the prettiest things, or the best conformed.”

When it came to acquiring his own horses, Richardson relished that challenge of coming up with overlooked contenders that outran their auction purchase prices. In 1991, he bought eventual MGSW Northern Emerald in partnership for $55,000; she won the 1995 GI Flower Bowl H. Richardson also co-owned the homebred MGSP Mrs. Revere in the 1980s; that filly now has a stakes race named in her honor at Churchill Downs.

Richardson was a member of The Jockey Club, and twice served as president of the KTA/KTOB. He served as chairman of Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders of America and also as chair of its American Graded Stakes Committee. He also served on the Breeders' Cup Board of Directors.

“It's a tough business, but it's a great sport,” Richardson told TDN in 2019. “Horses are such wonderful creatures. I take a lot of people out to the track–we do it every year with the surgical residents–and the joy people have when they experience racing, even as novices, is amazing to see. So I hope we never lose that.”

According to Morris, Richardson is survived by his wife, Maxine, and three children.

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KTA-KTOB Reveals Newly-Elected Officers, Board Of Directors

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association (KTA) and Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders (KTOB) elected officers and members of the board of directors.

The officers of KTA/KTOB serve two-year terms and are voted on by members of the KTA/KTOB board of directors. Members of the KTA/KTOB board of directors serve three-year terms and are elected by the full membership of the organization.

Elected KTA/KTOB officers for 2021:

President, KTA/KTOB: Joseph Seitz—Director of Sales, Brookdale Farm
Vice-President, KTA: Walker Hancock—President, Claiborne Farm.
Vice-President, KTOB: Natanya Nieman, D.V.M.—Resident Veterinarian, WinStar Farm
Secretary, KTA/KTOB: Christopher L. Baker—COO, Three Chimneys
Treasurer, KTA/KTOB: Dermot Ryan—Manager, Ashford Stud

Newly elected KTA/KTOB board of directors for 2021:
Bill Daugherty—Owner, BlackRidge Stables
Kim Smith— Founder/Executive Director, Second Stride, Inc.

Christopher L. Baker, James Baker, Patrick Costello, Walker Hancock and Dermot Ryan were re-elected to the Board of Directors.

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Derby Winning Trainer John Ward Jr Passes at 75

John T. Ward Jr., whose many wins included a victory in the 2001 GI Kentucky Derby with Monarchos, passed away Saturday at age 75.

His death was reported by Churchill Downs, which released a statement from track president Mike Anderson.

“John Ward Jr. personified the phrase 'Kentucky hard-boot,'” Anderson said. “He was a third-generation horseman who worked tirelessly throughout his career, culminating with service as Executive Director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. The dedication to his craft as a trainer was amplified 20 years ago when he patiently prepared Monarchos to a memorable victory in the 2001 Kentucky Derby. Our hearts and prayers will be with Ward's family and friends throughout Derby Week as they grieve during this difficult time.”

It was not immediately known what the cause of death was.

Ward's grandfather, John S. Ward, his father, John T. Ward Sr. and uncle, Sherrill Ward, were also successful horsemen, who helped pave the way for the University of Kentucky graduate. Sherrill Ward is a Hall of Famer and trained Forego.

Ward sent out his first horse in 1976, but his best years would come in the '90s and early 2000s, when he teamed up with owner John Oxley. The two teamed up to win the GI Kentucky Oaks in 1995 with Gal in a Ruckus. They also campaigned Eclipse Award winner Beautiful Pleasure, the winner of the 1999 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. In addition to the Kentucky Derby, Monarchos won the GI Florida Derby.

After starting just six horses in 2012, Ward retired from training, but stayed active in the sport. Shortly after his retirement, Ward became the executive director of the Kentucky Racing Commission and also served as the chairman of the Association of Racing Commissioners International. He was also a founding member and past president of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, as well as the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (KTOB). He stepped down from his position at the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission in 2016.

“John Ward was a true gentleman who loved Thoroughbred racing,” the KTOB said in a statement Sunday. “Our deepest condolences to Donna.”

In a statement released Sunday evening, the Breeders' Cup said, “John T. Ward Jr. was a consummate horseman who enjoyed great success as both a trainer and as an industry executive, and engendered enormous respect among his peers throughout his career. From his training victories of Monarchos in the Kentucky Derby and Beautiful Pleasure in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, to his leadership as president of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, chairman of the Association of Racing Commissioners International and executive director of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, John served our sport with honor and distinction. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family and loved ones.”

Ward retired from training with 568 wins and 37 career black-type winners. He also won the GI Hopeful S. in 2002 with Sky Mesa, the 2002 GII Fountain of Youth S. with Booklet and the 2001 GI Acorn S. with Forest Secrets.

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