Led by the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission staff, the sweeps took place first in Erie at Presque Isle Downs before spending three days downstate at Parx Racing in Bensalem through Saturday's GI Pennsylvania Derby.

As part of their integrity program, the Commission once again put together a group of investigators–this time from nine states, plus representatives from England–and set them to work policing the barns and stable gates.

“We do this as part of our commitment to the integrity of horse racing in the Commonwealth and for the safety and security of the horses involved,” said Director of Enforcement, Jason Klouser. “The Commission is able to assemble such a large team of investigators through the contacts made from the Organization of Racing Investigators, whose members are the best and brightest when it comes to enforcement at their local tracks.”

The Organization of Racing Investigators, known as ORI, is a membership organization composed of specialists who are employed by state racing commissions and racetracks. The members' tradecraft helps protect the sport and perform a myriad of duties from combating allegations of race fixing, stopping horse doping, and breaking up nefarious activities in the barn areas. Their network fights a host of other offenses which are committed against equine athletes. The Pennsylvania Racing Commission is a regulatory agency, however, ORI members in various other states are commissioned law enforcement agents. No matter their standing, all investigators are essential when it comes to enforcing the rules.

In the lead up to the big day at Parx, the Commission's integrity teams moved across the state in an effort to maintain the integrity of horse racing in the Commonwealth.

Car search at Parx Racing | PSHRC

“The Commission utilizes all industry assets at our disposal to ensure a level playing field for all participants,” Klouser said.

Conducting enforcement operations in the barn area and searching vehicles entering the stable gate at both Presque Isle Downs and Parx yielded results.

Based on updates through the Commission's website, Ruling No. 23096PI was handed down to trainer William Joseph Dowling, when a search found him with two loaded needles and syringes. The 6-year-old dark bay state-bred gelding Saketumi (Maclean's Music) was scratched from the seventh race Sept. 18 and a summary suspension was issued by the board of stewards Sept. 21.

Shifting the search to Parx last Friday and Saturday, Assistant Starter Luis A. Gonzalez Jr. was found in possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia. Ruling No. 23254PP indicated that Gonzalez was in possession of a methamphetamine pipe containing residue and marijuana. He was summarily suspended by the Parx Board of Stewards Sept. 22.

“The Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission is incredibly proactive at the state level and will continue to liaise with organizations in order to strengthen the integrity of horse racing and the health and safety of the equine athletes,” said Klouser. “The Racing Integrity Team was a collaborative effort between the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission, Parx Racing, Presque Isle Downs, and the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association.”

Click here to access the state's rulings portal.

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In fact, after more than a half-century of raising and racing Massachusetts-breds, the Kirby clan managed to outlast all Thoroughbred racing in their home region. That meant that even before Suffolk Downs ceased racing for good in 2019, the youngest trainer in the family had already been forced to hit the road and relocate to Parx in Pennsylvania to ply his trade.

The Claiming Crown likes to bill itself as the “blue-collar Breeders' Cup,” and that's a pretty fair analogy. But how many trainers at the national level are willing to make a 675-mile van ride in the trailer with their lone entrant for that event, like Kirby did with Hero Tiger (Hero of Order), the 4-1 winner of the $100,000 Ready's Rocket Express?

“I rode in the back. Just wanted to make sure he shipped good and everything,” Kirby told Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (PTHA) video correspondent Dani Gibson post-win.

“Bobby Mosco's horse was on there, too,” Kirby added, referring to Out of Sorts (Dramedy), the 10-length victress of the $150,000 Tiara who completed a Parx-based double in a Claiming Crown otherwise swept by home-track Kentuckians.

“Everything went so smooth and the stars aligned. We just got so lucky,” Kirby said.

Perseverance and a horse-first work ethic honed by three generations didn't hurt either.

John T.'s grandfather, John F. Kirby, had always worked around horses growing up, and he began training Thoroughbreds in 1953, when racing in New England consisted of a robust circuit in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Maine, plus a summer and fall slate of regional county fairs.

Kirby started breeding Thoroughbreds at his Smokey Valley Farm in Dover in 1967, about a half-hour southwest of Suffolk Downs, and he had already built up a small band of broodmares by the time Massachusetts started earmarking money for state-bred purse incentives in 1972.

After training for outside clients for two-plus decades, the elder Kirby cut back to focus on his homegrown racing stock in 1975. When the Massachusetts-bred program expanded to include state-bred stakes in 1981, at least one Kirby-raised horse would win at least one of those stakes each year for a streak that lasted three decades.

The horses that carried the family's green-and-white shamrock silks were known for durability and soundness. One foal from Kirby's 1968 crop named Brik (“Kirb” backwards) won 23 races from 184 starts.

The family was hardy, too, and although not standings-toppers at Suffolk, they were widely respected for their horsemanship. In 1985, John F. Kirby said in a Boston Globe profile that between the farm and the track, the work schedule was “seven days a week, from dawn until exhaustion.”

Timothy Kirby, John T.'s father, began training in 1991 and still has a small stable at Parx. Patriarch John F. Kirby stopped training in 1999 and died in 2011. The once 40-acre family farm got downsized in pieces as the horses left the property and the bloodstock business in New England dried up and vanished.

The youngest Kirby recalled in a 2019 interview with the PTHA's Dick Jerardi how as a high schooler, he was often reprimanded for reading a Racing Form hidden inside his binder.

“If we had a horse racing, odds were that I would be at the track and not in the classroom,” John T. Kirby said.

But Kirby got schooled in other, more meaningful ways. Just as important as race results, he learned from his father and grandfather, was what happened after the finish.

“We always had Mass.-breds,” Kirby said in that PTHA write-up. “They treated us well. We mostly kept them when they were done and let them live out to their old age on the farm.”

On a raw, unseasonably snowy Saturday at Churchill that surely must have given Kirby flashbacks of the bygone, brutal days of winter racing at Suffolk, there was a moment at the head of the homestretch when it looked like Hero Tiger, despite being full of run, was going to get squeezed out of contention because a narrow gap that jockey Luis Saez had been aiming for turned into a wall of horseflesh before the 6-year-old gelding could punch through.

“Honestly, when that hole shut on him, I thought he lost his momentum. But Luis really rode him hard and got his momentum going again, and this horse just has the biggest heart–the biggest heart,” Kirby said, his voice momentarily cracking with emotion after the highest-profile win of his career.

With limited stock, Kirby has won 14 races from 98 starts this year, hitting the board at a 45% clip while competing primarily at Parx, Delaware and Penn National. But he's no stranger to New York, where he's won one race each at Saratoga and Belmont in 2021 and '22, the most recent victory being a 21-1 upset in June with a $45,000 claiming turfer who blitzed six furlongs in a swift 1:07.34.

Back on Sept. 4, Kirby dropped a $40,000 claim slip for Hero Tiger at the Spa on behalf of owner Gregg O'Donnell, and Saturday's claiming Crown win returned $56,000 on that investment.

Instead of taking credit, Kirby complimented his jockey in a post-race interview while brimming with enthusiasm about bigger and better things to come.

“The first horse we ever put [Saez] on, he won at Saratoga. And then earlier this year they [nearly] broke the track record at Belmont,” Kirby said. “So we're 3-for-5 with Luis, and this is just the beginning. We'll get him a lot more mounts.”

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“We've lost not only a great horseman, but also a great friend and leader,” said PTHA board of directors president Salvatore DeBunda. “Mike dedicated 25 years of his life to championing the well-being and care of equine athletes, as well as championing the interests of horsemen at Parx Racetrack and across Pennsylvania. When he retired, Mike left behind an incredible legacy at the PTHA.”

A graduate of Widener Law School, an attorney, and a District Justice in Pennsylvania, Ballezzi's contributions to Pennsylvania racing were extensive. He was instrumental in the passage of the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act, which legalized slot machines in the Commonwealth and set aside a percentage of the revenues for purses, breeding incentives, and health and pension benefits; advocated for Parx Racing backstretch improvements; and helped start Turning for Home, the non-profit track-based racehorse retirement program that has placed more than 3,200 horses. He also created The Granny Fund, which provides scholarships to Parx stable employees to continue their education in college and night classes.

Ballezzi had been a licensed Thoroughbred owner since 1973 and was also a former trainer. He served as a member of the national Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (THA) board of directors and was recognized in 2020 for outstanding service to the racing industry. He was honored in 2019 by Parx with the naming of the M.P. Ballezzi Appreciation Mile. Ballezzi was named 2008 PTHA Man of the Year and was inducted into the Parx Racing Hall of Fame in 2014.

“Mike Ballezzi's impact on Pennsylvania racing, horsemen, and our retired race horses will live on for many years to come,” said Jeffrey Matty, executive director of the PTHA. “But his impact extends far beyond the policies and programs he championed. He touched so many people on and off the track on a personal level, and that may be his greatest legacy.”

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Matty will fill a vacancy left by Michael P. Ballezzi, who announced his retirement earlier this month after 25 years of leadership.

“We are thrilled to have Jeffrey Matty joining the PTHA as our new executive director,” said Salvatore DeBunda, president of the PTHA's Board of Directors.  “He brings to the position a clear commitment to advocating for horsemen and a significant amount of passion and energy for our sport.”

“I'm an avid fan of racing, and being born and raised in Bensalem, I fell in love with the sport at Philadelphia Park,” said Matty.  “I consider myself a Parx horseman, so, in many ways, this is like returning home. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with and advocate for the owners and trainers who make up the PTHA.  I don't look at this position as a job, but as a responsibility — to do what's best for horsemen day in and day out.”

Matty has served as racing manager for Besecker Racing Stable in King of Prussia, Pa., since 2014.  In his capacity, he managed more than one hundred horses at any given time that were part of the stable's portfolio, overseeing and managing results that consisted of more than 750 wins and $16.5 million in earnings.  He also advised trainers on entries, nominations, and campaign outlooks, as well as assisted with purchasing broodmares, yearlings and 2-year-olds in training.  In December 2019, he organized and executed the full Besecker dispersal at the Fasig-Tipton sale.

His first job in racing was as a racing official at Parx Racing, where he worked for two summers under Sal Sinatra and under the mentorship of Albert Ott.  Matty then went on to work for two summers as an assistant stakes coordinator at Monmouth Park. He is a graduate of Saint Joseph's University, where he earned dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Management and Sports Marketing.

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“We are thrilled to have Jeffrey Matty joining the PTHA as our new executive director,” said Salvatore DeBunda, President of the PTHA's Board of Directors. “He brings to the position a clear commitment to advocating for horsemen and a significant amount of passion and energy for our sport.”

“I'm an avid fan of racing, and being born and raised in Bensalem, I fell in love with the sport at Philadelphia Park,” said Matty. “I consider myself a Parx horsemen, so in many ways, this is like returning home. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with and advocate for the owners and trainers who make up the PTHA. I don't look at this position as a job, but as a responsibility–to do what's best for horsemen day in and day out.”

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Since becoming executive director of the PTHA in February 1996, Ballezzi has played an integral role in shaping Pennsylvania's horse racing industry. He, along with PTHA president Salvatore DeBunda, were fierce advocates for passage of the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act (Act 71 of 2004). The legislation legalized slot machines in the Commonwealth and set aside a percentage of the revenues to bolster racing purses and breeding incentives, as well as provide health and pension benefits to individuals in the racing industry.

Driven by the enormous respect he holds for race horses, Ballezzi championed the creation of Turning for Home in May 2008, a non-profit program that has provided more than 3,200 former Parx race horses with new homes and careers after their racing careers have ended.  The program was featured on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel as an alternative to slaughter and earned widespread recognition as a model program for the industry. The goal of Turning for Home has been a personal priority for Ballezzi and, after it was founded, the PTHA implemented a zero-tolerance policy toward former Parx horses being sold at slaughter auctions.

“We owe it to these horses to help them find new careers and new purpose after they leave the sport of racing,” said Ballezzi.

Ballezzi's legacy will long be remembered at Parx as well. He created the Horsemen's Purchasing Association that provides horsemen with bedding, feed, supplements and equipment at supply-discounted prices on the backstretch of the track. In 2000, he spearheaded the creation of The Granny Fund — named in honor of Catherine “Granny” Youmans, the mother of PTHA office manager and long-time personal secretary to Ballezzi, Connie Youmans – which provides scholarships to Parx stable employees to continue their education in college and night classes.

Following the legalization of slot machines, Ballezzi played an instrumental role in negotiations with Parx Racing management regarding increased capital investments in the backstretch that included rebuilding all of the existing barns and renovating all existing dorm rooms with heat and A/C, new wiring, and secured windows and doors. He also prioritized putting in place strong health insurance policies for eligible horsemen that include emergency room visits, hospitalization, doctor's visits, prescription plan, vision and dental care, and life insurance.

“Mike Ballezzi has had an immense impact on Parx and Pennsylvania racing, and he has created a legacy that will benefit horsemen, backstretch workers, and our equine athletes for years to come,” said DeBunda.  “The Turning for Home Program he created showed incredible vision and a commitment to the health and well-being of our retired racehorses.  Mike dedicated the past 25 years of his life to championing the interests of those who work in our industry and fighting to create a fair and level playing field for all horsemen.  On behalf of the PTHA Board and the horsemen at Parx, I thank Mike Ballezzi for his unwavering commitment to horsemen and his leadership in our industry.”

A graduate of Widener Law School, Ballezzi is an attorney and previously served as a District Justice in Delaware County, Pa., from 1983-1998. He has been a licensed Thoroughbred owner since 1973, is a former trainer, and currently races under the name of Balmora Farm.  He was named 2008 PTHA Man of the Year and he was inducted into the Parx Racing Hall of Fame in 2014.

Ballezzi not only served as executive director of the PTHA but also was elected nine times as owner/director of the PTHA Board of Directors. He also served as a member of the national THA Board of Directors and was recognized in 2020 by the national Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association for outstanding service to the racing industry. He also is a member of the Parx Mortality Review Board. He was honored in 2019 by Parx when they named the M.P. Ballezzi Appreciation Mile in recognition of his service to all horsemen and women who are Parx racing.

The PTHA will be interviewing potential candidates for the executive director position over the course of the next few weeks.

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Before entering training, the Philadelphia native was a Pennsylvania State Trooper assigned to the mounted unit. He stayed with the state police for five years before shifting gears and becoming a trainer. He first became interested in racing when his father took him to the track when he was a freshman in high school.

Glorioso started out in the late sixties at Liberty Bell Park and shared the training duties with his then-wife Patricia. In 1974, Parx, then known as Keystone, opened and Glorioso was the first trainer to arrive on the backstretch.

A member of the Parx Racing Hall of Fame, Glorioso campaigned a modest-sized stable at Parx for much of his career. He was involved in a serious car accident in 2011, which created lingering problems that required several surgeries. With a significantly smaller stable, he continued to train up until 2018 when he was physically unable to do the job. At his peak, he had 27 horses in his barn.

“Ron was an optimist in a game of pessimists,” said Dick Jerardi, who developed a friendship with Glorioso during his years covering racing for the Philadelphia Daily News. “He was always certain he was going to win the next race. He was a memory-maker for his two daughters and a loyal friend to everybody who knew him.”

Equibase records show that since 1984, Glorioso won 685 races. It is believed that he won more than 1,000 during his career.

Glorioso had been on the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association since 2007.

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