Tag: People

Thoroughbred trainers Dale Romans, John Sadler, Shug McGaughey and racing and bloodstock manager Gavin Murphy have joined HISA's Horsemen's Advisory Group, the body of racing industry participants formed by HISA last year to provide formal feedback to HISA's executive team and Standing Committees on the implementation and evolution of its Racetrack Safety and Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) regulations. They will replace outgoing Horsemen's Advisory Group members Rick Gold, Rick Schosberg, Donnie Von Hemel, and the late Frank Jones.

More information about each of the new members is below:

Dale Romans is an Eclipse award-winning trainer from Louisville, Ky. operating Romans Racing. Romans races in Kentucky, New York, and Florida. He is a member of the Board of Directors, as well as the Vice President, of the Kentucky Horseman's Benevolent Protection Agency. Romans also serves as a member of the Churchill Downs Racing Committee and the Gulfstream Park Racing Committee.

John Sadler is a California-based trainer and former show jumper. Sadler has been training since 1978. In addition to training multiple Eclipse Champions, Sadler was previously President of the California Thoroughbred Trainers and a member of the boards of the Edwin Gregson Foundation and the Thoroughbred Owners of California.

Shug McGaughey is a New York-based Hall of Fame trainer and a native of Lexington, Ky. Historically the private trainer for the laureled Phipps Stable, McGaughey brings over 30 years of experience as a top horseman to the Horsemen's Advisory Group. Five of McGaughey's trainees have been inducted into the National Racing Hall of Fame.

Gavin Murphy is an industry member originally from Queensland, Australia. Murphy is the head of SF Bloodstock, an internationally recognized bloodstock investment fund, with breeding and racing operations in the US, Australia, and Europe. A long-time industry stakeholder, Gavin was previously employed at Soros Fund Management, has served on the Board of Directors at Breeders' Cup and has a significant involvement with top Australian stud farm, Newgate.

The full list of the Horsemen's Advisory Group members can be found here.

The Group has 19 members with a wide variety of viewpoints from across racing. Its membership includes trainers, owners, veterinarians, backstretch employees and representatives of racing offices and aftercare initiatives.

“I am grateful to Rick Gold, Rick Schosberg, Donnie Von Hemel, and the late Frank Jones for their dedication to improving HISA's Racetrack Safety and ADMC programs,” said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus. “Their feedback has been integral to HISA's evolution as we work to create a fair and safe playing field for the sport. We look forward to collaborating with the new horsemen joining our group and benefitting from their years of hands-on experience in the Thoroughbred industry.”

About the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority

When the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act was signed into federal law, it charged the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) with drafting and enforcing uniform safety and integrity rules in Thoroughbred racing in the U.S. Overseen by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), HISA is implementing, for the first time, a national, uniform set of rules applicable to every Thoroughbred racing participant and racetrack facility. HISA is comprised of two programs: the Racetrack Safety Program, which went into effect on July 1, 2022, and the Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Program, which went into effect on May 22, 2023.

The Racetrack Safety Program includes operational safety rules and national racetrack accreditation standards that seek to enhance equine welfare and minimize equine and jockey injury. The Program expands veterinary oversight, imposes surface maintenance and testing requirements, enhances jockey safety, regulates riding crop use and implements voided claim rules, among other important measures.

The ADMC Program includes a centralized testing and results management process and applies uniform penalties for violations efficiently and consistently across the United States. These rules and enforcement mechanisms are administered by an independent agency, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), established by Drug Free Sport International (DFS). HIWU oversees testing, educates stakeholders on the Program, accredits laboratories, investigates potential ADMC violations and prosecutes any such violations.

The post Dale Romans, John Sadler Among Four New Members Of HISA Horsemen’s Advisory Group appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Esteemed writers Dick Jerardi, Paul Moran, and John L. Hervey have been selected to the National Museum of Racing's Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor.

Jerardi grew up in Baltimore and graduated from the University of Maryland with a journalism degree and a minor in history. He attended his first Preakness in 1973 and played a role in Pimlico Race Course officials erecting a fence to keep infield fans from getting too close to the inside rail after dozens did just that to get a glimpse of Secretariat. Jerardi became immersed in the game by attending the races and frequenting the betting windows at Pimlico, Bowie, Laurel, and Timonium almost daily from 1977 to early 1985. He began authoring freelance articles about horse racing for the Baltimore News American and was the racing writer for Sports First, a Baltimore paper dedicated exclusively to sports that lasted just a year beginning in 1983.

In February 1985, Jerardi was hired as the horse racing writer for the Philadelphia Daily News and became a fixture on the national scene. He covered every Triple Crown race from 1987 through 2017 and nearly every Breeders' Cup during the same period while writing more than 7,000 stories for the paper during 33 years there — mostly about horse racing — with time covering other sports. Along with racing, Jerardi wrote about college basketball, with some football and baseball coverage mixed in, as well as the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He covered 25 Final Fours for the Daily News and has also been the radio analyst for Penn State basketball for the past 20 years (2005 to present).

Jerardi's favorite experiences in racing were from 2004 through 2006, when three horses with Philadelphia connections — Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex, and Barbaro — won five of seven Triple Crown races, with a second and a third.

In 2006, Jerardi won the Eclipse Award for his series on Barbaro. He has won the Red Smith Award for Kentucky Derby coverage five times and is a three-time winner of the Joe Hirsch Award for best Breeders' Cup story. He was honored for the best Preakness story in 2004. In 2007, Jerardi was chosen by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters as the winner of the Walter Haight Award for career excellence in turf writing.

Jerardi is co-host of Let's Go Racing, a 30-minute weekly horse racing television show that has been on the air in the Philadelphia market for more than 30 years (1992 to present). He has also provided live analysis for a Pennsylvania Derby television show annually since 2011. Additionally, he has served as a co-host for the Maryland Million on HRTV (2009 through 2014) and makes appearances throughout the country on radio shows prior to Triple Crown races in the spring and Breeders' Cup in the fall (2005 to present). Jerardi has been a panelist on ESPN for the network's Kentucky Derby preview coverage (2005 to 2007), Preakness (2006) and Breeders' Cup shows (2005 to 2006). He also wrote a weekly column for Daily Racing Form for 20 years and was a charter member of the Beyer Speed Figure team which was first assembled in the mid-1980s and continues to this day with the Beyers appearing in the Form for the past three decades.

Moran (1947 ̶ 2013) was born in Buffalo, N.Y., and graduated from the University at Buffalo. He served in Vietnam and the Middle East as a sergeant in the Air Force before beginning a distinguished career in sports journalism, primarily known for his prowess as a racing writer.

Following his military service, Moran wrote about a variety of sports for the Tonawanda News near his hometown. He covered his first Triple Crown races in 1973 during Secretariat's historic run and continued to cover the series without interruption for the next 35 years. Moran worked for the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel from 1975 to 1985 then joined the staff at Newsday on Long Island, N.Y., where he worked until 2008.

Moran won two Eclipse Awards while at Newsday. His 1985 Eclipse was for a profile on Daily Racing Form columnist Joe Hirsch. Five years later, Moran was honored with his second Eclipse for his piece about the tragic breakdown of Hall of Fame filly Go for Wand. He also won the Red Smith Award for his Kentucky Derby coverage, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors Award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors in 1990 and the Distinguished Sports Writing Award from the New York Newspaper Publishers Association in 1992. Moran served on the board of directors of the National Turf Writers Association from 1987 to 1990 and was president of the New York Turf Writers Association from 1990 to 1992.

Moran semi-retired to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in 2008, but he continued to write for various outlets, including ESPN.com, and worked six Saratoga meetings for The Associated Press. Moran was a contributor to the book Crown of Jewels of Thoroughbred Racing and his work was regularly featured in a variety of magazines.

Along with writing about racing, Moran was a participant in the sport as an owner of several New York-bred horses trained by James Bond. After a three-year battle with cancer, Moran died in November 2013. The following summer, a group of Moran's friends and colleagues scattered his ashes in the Saratoga Race Course infield near the grave of Go for Wand, per Moran's wishes.

The New York Times said Moran was “the last true turf writer, whose written words and outsize personality belonged on the same page and in the same press box with Ring Lardner and Damon Runyon, Joe Palmer and Red Smith.” ESPN.com added that he “brought a deep understanding of the sport and its history. With such a perspective, he could peer through a fog of pretense and publicity to see the real story. He had a mordant wit and could unleash a sardonic cleverness; he could be profoundly entertaining and entertainingly profound, but he always respected the sport and its competitors.”

Hervey (1870 ̶ 1947), a native of Jefferson, Ohio, was described by The Thoroughbred of California as “the dean of American turf journalists.” He began writing about Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing around the age of 16. Raised in a horseman's family, Hervey developed a considerable knowledge of the art and science of horse breeding. While still a teenager, Hervey put that knowledge to good use when he was hired by William Fasig to work in his sales organization — the Tipton Company of Cleveland, later becoming the famous Fasig-Tipton Company — and soon he was writing articles for a variety of turf journals.

Through his connection with Fasig, Hervey became editor of The Trotting Horse in 1892. He also provided racing coverage for the Chicago Tribune in the 1890s and became one of Daily Racing Form's first contributors. He remained an occasional correspondent for the Form until his death. In 1912, Hervey became editor for The Thoroughbred Record. It was during this period that Hervey, who used the pen name “Salvator” in honor of the Hall of Fame racehorse, became widely regarded as one of America's foremost authorities on all aspects of racing and breeding. Other publications Hervey wrote for included The Blood-Horse, Breeder and Sportsman, The Harness Horse, Hoof Beats, and The Thoroughbred of California, among others.

The Jockey Club hired Hervey to research and document American racing's history in a multi-edition work, Racing in America. Hervey wrote three volumes in the series, the periods 1665 to 1865 (split into two books) and 1922 to 1936. Hervey's exhaustively researched Racing in America books are considered by many to be his important works. He was also commissioned to write several volumes of the annual book American Race Horses, which was originally sponsored by Alfred G. Vanderbilt.

In 1947, Hervey was contracted by the Trotting Horse Club of America, Inc., to author the book The American Trotter, which has been revered as “the most comprehensive history of the standardbred ever published,” according to The California Thoroughbred. Hervey, who died in December 1947, was so well thought of in harness racing that he was posthumously inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1962. The John Hervey Awards for excellence in harness racing journalism are named in his honor.

Previous selections to the Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor are Steven Crist (2010), Charles Hatton (2010), Bill Nack (2010), Red Smith (2010), Dr. Russ Harris (2011), Joe Palmer (2011), Jay Hovdey (2012), Whitney Tower (2012), Andrew Beyer (2013), Kent Hollingsworth (2013), George F. T. Ryall (2013), Jim Murray (2014), Jennie Rees (2014), Raleigh Burroughs (2015), Steve Haskin (2015), Jim McKay (2016), Maryjean Wall (2016), Barney Nagler (2017), Michael Veitch (2017), Jack Whitaker (2017), Joe Burnham (2018), Tom Hammond (2018), Charlsie Cantey (2019), Billy Reed (2019), Pierre “Peb” Bellocq (2020), William Leggett (2020), Walter Haight (2021), Jack Mann (2021), Jay Privman (2021), Heywood Hale Broun (2022), Bert Morgan (2022), and Damon Runyon (2022).

The National Museum of Racing's Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor was established in 2010 to recognize individuals whose careers have been dedicated to, or substantially involved in, writing about Thoroughbred racing (non-fiction), and who distinguished themselves as journalists. The criteria has since been expanded to allow the consideration of other forms of media.

Often referred to as the dean of Thoroughbred racing writers, Hirsch won both the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Writing and the Lord Derby Award in London from the Horserace Writers and Reporters Association of Great Britain. He also received the Eclipse Award of Merit (1993), the Big Sport of Turfdom Award (1983), The Jockey Club Medal (1989), and was designated as the honored guest at the 1994 Thoroughbred Club of America's testimonial dinner. The annual Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont Park is named in his honor. Hirsch, who died in 2009, was also a former chair of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Nominating Committee and the founder of the National Turf Writers Association.

The Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor Committee is comprised of Edward L. Bowen (chairman), author of more than 20 books on Thoroughbred racing; Bob Curran, retired Jockey Club vice president of corporate communications; Ken Grayson, National Museum of Racing trustee; Jane Goldstein, retired turf publicist; Steve Haskin, Secretariat.com and longtime BloodHorse columnist; G. D. Hieronymus, retired Keeneland director of broadcast services; Jay Hovdey, five-time Eclipse Award-winning writer; and Dan Smith, retired senior media coordinator of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

The post Dick Jerardi, Paul Moran, John Hervey Selected To National Museum Of Racing’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll Of Honor appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

With the close of racing for the 2023 season at Horseshoe Indianapolis comes a new venture for one individual. Tom Congalosi was the winner of the $30,000 ownership option of an Indiana yearling through Road to Louisville, a contest sponsored by Horseshoe Indianapolis and Indiana Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (ITOBA). Tom is now the owner of a new filly named Highspeed Justice, now in training for the 2024 racing season in Indiana.

“Never have I ever dreamed of owning a Thoroughbred horse,” said Tom. “Yet today we own Highspeed Justice, purchased at the yearling auction at Horseshoe Indy in October. Pictures after the auction show an owner with the biggest smile possible. You have to wonder about life and the many little coincidences that occur throughout. What a wonderful opportunity. Thank you, Eric (Halstrom), Pat (McGhee), Tim (Eggleston), and the entire Horseshoe Indy team for making this possible.”

Tom and his wife, Pat, reside in Georgetown, Ky. The retired supply chain manager has followed horse racing for decades and has had friends that have dabbled in ownership, but this is the first time he had crossed over into the sport as a participant.

Tom is the second winner of a horse from the Road to Louisville contest, which spanned 16 weeks from mid-January to the Kentucky Derby the first Saturday in May. Each week, horseplayers were tasked to select horses in a mock $2 Win-Place-Show format with points accumulating toward the final. Jeffrey Hampton was the overall winner of the $1,000 grand prize but did not opt in for the $30,000 horse option. Therefore, Tom, who finished second, was the recipient of $500 as prize money along with the option to purchase an Indiana yearling at the ITOBA Fall Sale in October. That's where Tom took the plunge into horse ownership when Highspeed Justice, a daughter of Harry's Holiday, was sold to him for $6,700. The remaining balance of the option will go into an account to pay for expenses for the filly, who sold as the fifth horse in the sales ring.

Prior to the sale, Tom chose Tim Eggleston to train his new acquisition. Highspeed Justice is currently at Eggleston's farm in southern Indiana and began her training regime at the beginning of December.

“We started with our Quarter Horse yearlings first and got them broke and then started in on our Thoroughbred yearlings the first of December,” explained Eggleston. “So far, we really like the filly Tom (Congalosi) bought at the sale. She seems very sensible and is getting settled in. I think he got a nice value for the price, and we are excited to see what she can do next summer.”

As far as venturing into unknown territory, Tom is adjusting to his new role in racing. The longtime horseplayer has a deep passion for the sport that appears to be expanding with the addition of Highspeed Justice.

“Tom (Congalosi) has been great so far,” added Eggleston. “He's really trying to educate himself on being an owner and trying to understand all the things that go on behind the scenes with the filly. He and his wife, Pat, plan to come up to the farm to see her over the winter, so we are excited to have him as part of our team.”

Tom and Pat are currently taking care of small details, from licensing to designing their silks, in preparation for the racing season at Horseshoe Indianapolis in 2024.

“We are excited to be part of ITOBA and joining the many members that have built careers around the horse breeding and racing industry. You're never too old to learn. We look forward to the Spring meet and watching High Speed Justice win her way to, wait a minute, I'm getting ahead of myself,” Tom laughed.

The Road to Louisville contest, with the horse option began in 2022 with Tony Bradshaw of Louisville, Ky. earning the $30,000 option toward the purchase of an Indiana yearling. He was able to get Jailhouse Justice from the ITOBA Sale, his top choice of the horses he looked at, for $8,000. Jailhouse Justice raced three times this season. At the conclusion of the meet, the contract ended, and Bradshaw opted to stay in as a partial owner with trainer Tony Granitz. Jailhouse Justice, who turned in an impressive start over the turf near the end of the meet, is slated to run at Tampa Bay this winter before returning to Indiana next spring.

The 22nd season of live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing begins with a special Monday, April 8 racing program at 12 p.m. for the Total Solar Eclipse Day in the area. Racing extends through Thursday, Nov. 14. For more information on live racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis, visit www.caesars.com/horseshoe-indianapolis.

The post Handicapping Contest Winner Tom Congalosi Prepares For New Venture In Horse Ownership At Horseshoe Indianapolis appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post