Toys For Tots Day Set For Dec. 3 At Aqueduct

NYRA's annual “Toys for Tots” day of giving will take place on Saturday, Dec. 3, GI Cigar Mile Day, at Aqueduct Racetrack. The event is being offered in partnership with the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Foundation.

Toys for Tots collects and distributes new, unwrapped toys to local children in need each holiday season. There will be several ways to contribute during the weekend of giving–at donation boxes at the Turf and Field entrance, the Clubhouse lobby by the escalator at Aqueduct, and online as well.

Online donations are accepted by clicking here and using a credit card or by selecting and donating toys through the organization's virtual toy box. You can also give with a check made out to “Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Foundation” and mailed to: U.S. Marine Corps; Attention: GySgt, John Sardine; 605 Stewart Avenue; Garden City, N.Y. 11530.

“Ensuring that needy children throughout New York City and across Long Island get to enjoy the holidays always makes this weekend of giving extra special,” said Pat McKenna, NYRA's Vice President, Communications. “Racing fans have been generous in the past and we look forward to their continued and heartfelt commitment to our community.”

As part of its support of the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Foundation, NYRA is making a financial contribution to the organization.

“NYTHA salutes the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Foundation and their efforts in getting toys to underprivileged children in the area,” said NYTHA President Joe Appelbaum. “Our horsemen take a lot of pride in supporting these children and making sure they can enjoy a great holiday.”

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Even Marines Need a Hero

by Matt Koch

Editor's Note: In honor of Veterans Day and the 247th birthday of the United States Marine Corps (USMC), celebrated Nov. 11 and Nov. 10, respectively, we are honored to share this story from USMC Captain Matt Koch of Shawhan Place, a second-generation Marine following his father, longtime Claiborne Farm manager Robert “Gus” Koch. Matt, who will be honored next month as the 2022 Ted Bates Farm Manager of the Year by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club (KTFMC), is also the state representative of the 72nd district (Bourbon, Nicholas, and Fleming Counties).

Even Marines need a hero. Mine is David Pope. David is quiet, he goes to church every Sunday, and he works for a Thoroughbred farm in Bourbon County. His wife Kym works at the local extension office, and to put it simply, they are just good people. Good people who have done something extraordinary. David stepped up and donated a kidney to a man in another state whom he had never met. I don't think I can tell this story without first starting with my father's journey.

My father received his final orders last year after a long, hard fight with kidney cancer. USMC Sergeant Gus Koch proudly served in Vietnam from 1966-67. Thirty years later, he was diagnosed with kidney cancer and that started the fight that continued for the next 25 years. Whether it was the Agent Orange or the drinking water at Camp Lejeune, we don't know for sure. Dad had a kidney removed, faced multiple rounds of chemo, had brain tumors and stomach tumors. We moved up countless family weddings and anniversary celebrations because doctors told us Dad wouldn't make it six more months. The Marine in him wouldn't stop. He saw all 10 of his children graduate college, get married, and start families.

It wasn't long after Dad passed away that I learned the story of one of my Marines from Afghanistan. Corporal Chris Kilpatrick and I worked in the S-2 (intelligence) shop together. On Oct. 31, 2019, Chris had been diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). He was in end-stage renal failure and in urgent need of a transplant.

PKD is normally an inherited disease, but in this case, it was due to the toxic exposures to the burn pits which we were exposed to in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is no cure, and the only option is a kidney transplant.

Chris's story hit me pretty hard. I started the donation process. Many others also started the process and were weeded out. In January, 2022 I shared the post about Chris on Facebook. I didn't say anything about Dad or the back story. Unbeknownst to me, a friend of my father, David Pope, saw the post and felt the call to action. Just a month prior, while attending Christmas Eve mass with his family in Ohio, David had heard a sermon about giving of yourself. He prayed for an opportunity that he may have that chance. The Popes didn't realize that something would come along so soon. When David and Kym saw the Facebook post they thought maybe they should give it a try, with the thought that there was no way he would match. He started the process and passed stage 1. He continued the journey and passed again.

David ended up being such a good match that the doctors said it was almost like they were brothers. He traveled several times from Kentucky to Florida for a man he never met and to make a major life decision. He was going to give Chris a kidney.

When David called to tell me he was going to be the donor, I shed a few tears. You see, he had been friends with my father. They shared common bonds of being in the horse industry and served in the Knights of Columbus together at the Church of the Annunciation in Paris. He didn't know that Dad's cancer was service related.

Far too often veterans believe we live on an island. We can rest easy knowing that good men and women like David Pope have our backs. David, we salute you for having our backs when times were bad. Gunny Brossette, our Intel Shop Staff NCO (Noncommissioned Officer), said it best: “David, although you were never in uniform, you saved the life of one of our Marines and that, sir, makes you one of us for life.”

David and Chris are both recovering and doing well.

Happy Birthday, Marines!

Semper Fi, David.

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Veteran, Trainer Jeff Hiles Seeks First Stakes Win With Shesa Mystery In Dogwood

Jeff Hiles launched his training career just four years ago but the 41-year-old United States Marine Corp. veteran is poised to record his first stakes victory with 3-year-old filly Shesa Mystery in Saturday's $275,000 Dogwood (Grade 3) at Churchill Downs.

Owned by John Gaynor's Let It Ride Stables, Shesa Mystery enters Saturday's seven-furlong Dogwood with a lifetime record of 5-2-1-0 with $84,332 in purse earnings. The chestnut filly by Verrazano broke her maiden four starts ago at Indiana Grand by 4 ¾ lengths and returned three weeks later to score a 2 ¾-length first-level allowance victory.

“We're really excited about her in this spot,” Hiles said. “She's coming into this race in great shape. (Carribean Caper) is a really nice filly for (trainer) Al (Stall Jr.) but if she can handle the shortened distance I think she'll run a big effort.”

Shesa Mystery finished second two starts ago in the $225,000 Iowa Oaks (GIII) and enters Saturday's affair with an enigmatic seventh-place finish in the $100,000 Pucker Up (G3) over the turf.

Hiles is quietly having a solid year hitting at a 25 percent win-clip with 13 wins from 53 starters. His purse earnings of $313,761 are higher than his first three years of his training career combined.

Fans may recognize Hiles as the son of veteran Kentucky-based conditioner Rick Hiles. Prior to starting his career in 2018, Hiles served as the Churchill Downs-based assistant to Kenny McPeek.

Shesa Mystery is based at Highpointe Farm and Training Center which is located in La Grange, Ky., about 45 minutes northeast of Churchill Downs.

The Dogwood drew a compact field of seven 3-year-old fillies and was carded as Race 8 with a post time of 4:22 p.m. (all times Eastern). Saturday's 11-race card features a stakes trio including the inaugural runnings of the $275,000 Bourbon Trail® and $275,000 Harrods Creek, both for 3-year-olds. First post is 12:45 p.m.

The complete Dogwood field from the rail out (with jockey, trainer and morning line odds):

  1. Coppelia (Martin Garcia, Phil Bauer, 15-1)
  2. Carribean Caper (Colby Hernandez, Stall, even-money)
  3. Li'l Tootsie (James Graham, Tom Amoss, 3-1)
  4. Malloy (Joe Talamo, Wayne Catalano, 10-1)
  5. Shesa Mystery (Miguel Mena, Hiles, 10-1)
  6. Patty H (Julien Leparoux, Mike Miceli, 7-2)
  7. Someone Said So (Adam Beschizza, Coty Rosin, 15-1)

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