Tag: People

Following his passing in 2022, Skip Achuff's family created the Stalwart of Steeplechase Award to recognize those who epitomize the qualities Skip brought to the sport.

Nominees for the award represent the sport of steeplechase with professionalism, integrity, and dedication; uphold the rules of the sport; and prioritize the safety of horses and jockeys. The winner receives a one-time cash prize of $1,000.

On behalf of the Achuff family, Radnor Hunt Races is proud to announce V. Brooke Boyer of Colora, Maryland, as the first recipient of the inaugural Stalwart of Steeplechase Award. Over the years, Brooke has assisted at several steeplechase racecourses including The Pennsylvania Hunt Cup, Willowdale, Cheshire Point-to-Point, Mt. Harmon Point-to-Point, and Fair Hill, always with high concern for the safety of horses, jockey, and spectators. For those events, he performs a variety of tasks from flagging the course to serving as a patrol judge, to sourcing stewards and much more—all as a volunteer.

Recently, for Radnor, Brooke played an integral part in identifying the new Race Director, James Slater, and has been committed to helping James assume the responsibilities of his new role. Brooke was nominated for the award by Janet Elliot.

We congratulate Brooke and thank him for his contribution to the sport of steeplechase.

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Graham Motion, a native of England who has been a mainstay on the Maryland circuit for more than three decades, claimed the top prize of $50,000 in the Maryland Jockey Club's $100,000 trainer bonus offered to horsemen for their participation in stakes races over Preakness weekend, May 19 & 20, at historic Pimlico Race Course.

Motion started seven horses in three stakes over the two days, finishing with 34 points. All his runners came on the undercard of the 148th Preakness Stakes (G1), capped by 3-year-old Nagirroc's popular 3 ¼-length victory in the $100,000 James W. Murphy on the grass.

Prior to the Murphy, Motion saddled three of the top five finishers in the $100,000 Gallorette (G3) for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on the grass – Sopran Basilea (second), Bipartisanship (third) and Vergara (fifth) – and two of the top four finishers in the $200,000 Dinner Party (G3) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on the turf in Hurricane Dream (second) and Speaking Scout (fourth). Easter, also from Motion, ran sixth.

To be eligible for the bonus, trainers had to run a minimum of five horses in the 15 Thoroughbred stakes races during Preakness weekend, not including the $100,000 UAE President Cup (G1) for Arabians. Points were accumulated for finishing first (10), second (seven), third (five), fourth (three) and fifth through last (one).

The trainer with the most points earned $50,000, followed by $25,000 for second, $12,000 for third, $7,000 for fourth, $4,000 for fifth $2,000 for sixth.

This marked the seventh straight year the MJC has offered the trainer bonus program. Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen earned the top prize in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022. Brad Cox (2019) and Mike Maker (2020) have also led the standings.

Motion, who turned 59 Monday, is based at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md. He is a career winner of 2,653 races including the 2011 Kentucky Derby (G1) with Animal Kingdom. He has also won Breeders' Cup races with Sharing, Main Sequence, Shared Account and Better Talk Now and was co-leading trainer at Pimlico's 2017 Preakness Meet.

Chad Brown finished second with 31 points. On the Black-Eyed Susan (G2) Day program he won the $100,000 Hilltop for 3-year-old fillies going a mile on the grass with Aspray, also finishing fourth with Up and Down. He had three more starters on Preakness Day, respectively running first and seventh with Whitebeam and Eminent Victory in the Gallorette and losing the $1.65 million Preakness, Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, by a head with Blazing Sevens.

Ken McPeek finished third with 22 points. McPeek ran two of his five starters on the Black-Eyed Susan undercard, finishing fifth with Butterbean in the $100,000 Allaire du Pont Distaff before sending out Grade 1 winner Rattle N Roll to a popular victory in the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3). The next day he ran third with Denington in the $100,000 Sir Barton and Frosted Departure in the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) and sixth with Gunning in the $100,000 Skipat.

Cox and Maryland-based Brittany Russell tied for fourth with 21 points apiece, and shared a $5,500 prize. Of Russell's seven starters she hit the board with Prince of Jericho, second in the Chick Lang; Circling the Drain, third in the James Murphy; and L Street Lady, third in the $100,000 Miss Preakness (G3) for 3-year-old fillies. Cox had six starters, his best finish a runner-up effort by Tapit's Conquest in the Sir Barton.

Maker rounded out the top finishers with 17 points from seven starters. His best finishes were a second in the du Point with Misty Veil and a fourth in the $100,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint, a five-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up, with Artemus Citylimits.

Bonus money totaling $50,000 was also offered for trainers having the most points in non-stakes races during Preakness weekend. Points were accumulated in similar fashion with $25,000 going to the leader, $10,000 to second, $7,500 to third, $4,000 to fourth, $2,500 to fifth and $1,000 to sixth.

Trainers needed to have a minimum of three starts to qualify for the bonus.

Russell earned the top prize with 43 points, followed by Maker (35), Motion (26), Michael Trombetta (19), Jamie Ness (12) and Rudy Sanchez-Salomon (11).

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Irwin Driedger, named to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame class of 2023, died at the age 66 in Toronto on Saturday evening after a long battle with cancer.

Driedger, who was to be formally inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame in August, transitioned in his post-riding days to have a continued impact on the sport. In addition to his accolades on the track and work with the Jockey's Benefit Association of Canada, Driedger shared his expertise with Woodbine as the track's Director of Racing Surfaces for more than a decade.

Driedger, who was a native of Russell, Manitoba, started out as an exercise rider at age 11 in 1967his riding career in 1967. He sharpened his horsemanship skills at fairs in Western Canada before shifting his tack to bush tracks and eventually to recognized tracks such as Assiniboia Downs, where he rode from 1973 until 1982.

Driedger set an Assiniboia record of 161 wins in 1979 before surpassing his own accomplishment in 1980 with 180 victories. In 1981, he won 214 races, a record that stood for many years. Over the next 17 years, he rode at major tracks across Canada winning 1,633 races while amassing purse earnings of $14.6 million.

The recipient of the 1998 Avelino Gomez Memorial Award, Driedger rode Sovereign Award winners Liz's Pride, Phoenix Factor, Classy 'n Smart, In My Cap, Grey Classic, and Imperial Choice.

Driedger retired from race riding in 1990 and became the Secretary-Manager of the Jockeys Benefit Association of Canada, serving his first term until 2006. Under his direction Canadian jockeys became the first in North America to wear safety vests.

Driedger was also instrumental in helping to install safety rails at Woodbine. From 2006 until 2018, Driedger held the position of Director of Thoroughbred Racing Surfaces at Woodbine. In 2019 he returned the Jockeys' Benefit Association of Canada to again assume the role of Secretary-Manager, a position he held until his retirement in 2021.

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After a relatively quiet winter at Santa Anita, jockey Umberto Rispoli has been in a  groove since the start of the inaugural Hollywood Meet April 21 at the Arcadia, Calif., track.

Entering Friday's action, Rispoli has connected at a 30 percent clip (10-for-33) at the stand. Furthermore, Rispoli has bagged five stakes wins in California the past three weekends. On April 29, he won a trio of stakes at Golden Gate for trainer Phil D'Amato. He has since added wins at Santa Anita in the Singletary Stakes May 7 with Mi Hermano Ramon and the Grade 3 San Luis Rey last Saturday with Offlee Naughty.

Rispoli this week noted, “I'm the same person and rider I was Dec. 26,” when the Classic Meet opened, but the recent run of success has been largely due to having the right horses.

“I do the best I can. But like every jockey, you need the right horses and support from the big barns to get where you want to be,” he said.

Rispoli's run of success has largely coincided with the hiring of Matt Nakatani as his agent. They started their business relationship March 9.

“Matt is doing a great job,” Rispoli said. “It's always complicated to pick up the right horses. But he's doing it and I'm driving them to the wire.”

Nakatani is the son of retired jockey Corey Nakatani, who earlier this year was voted into the Racing Hall of Fame. Matt Nakatani described the 34-year-old Rispoli, who has ridden all across the globe, as a “world-class” rider.

“Umberto's a really smart jockey who knows the business inside and out,” Natakani said. “He was his own agent when he rode in Hong Kong. He knows how it works. So we're able to bounce ideas off each other.

“But at the end of the day, it's let me focus on the business and you ride in the afternoon,” Nakatani continued. “That's helped take his mind off what's going on in the morning and I think it's really paid off.”

Through 12 racing days at the Hollywood Meet, Rispoli trails leading rider Juan Hernandez 15-10.  He is booked on five mounts both Friday and Saturday and has three more mounts on Sunday. He'll ride in both stakes this weekend aboard Honey Pants (6-1) in Saturday's Mizdirection Stakes for trainer Phil D'Amato and Acquired Class (6-1) in Sunday's Desert Code for trainer Peter Miller. Both stakes will be run on the hillside turf course.

“Umberto is one of the most competitive people I've ever been around,” Nakatani said. “He reminds me of my father, who I represented for two years when I was starting out. They demand excellence and only want to win. So for Umberto and I, the goal is to compete for leading rider titles and win graded stakes. So far, it's been going as we hoped.”

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