The Gerry Dilger Equine Scholarship Foundation is pleased to announce its inaugural golf tournament and auction on October 10 at Houston Oaks Golf Course in Paris, Kentucky.
In a short period of time the foundation, in the name of the late Gerry Dilger, a breeder, consignor, and Dromoland Farm owner, has awarded scholarships to eight very deserving young people from North America and Europe.
None of this would be possible without the very generous support and collaboration of KEMI, Irish National Stud, Springhouse Farm, Lane's End, University of Limerick, University College Dublin, and the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.
“The foundation has received tremendous financial support from the bloodstock community, whose contributions have changed the lives of these young people, preparing them for a career with horses and giving them a 'leg up' in the spirit of Gerry,” said Dilger's widow, Erin Dilger.
Dilger, who co-bred 2017 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Always Dreaming and consigned 2016 Kentucky Derby winner in Nyquist, died in 2020 at the age of 61.
The inaugural golf tournament has sponsorship and donation opportunities available and is also seeking items for an auction which will follow the golf.
For further information, please contact the foundation by email at info@gerrydilgerequine.com or by phone: Pat Costello 859-621-7764 or Padraig Campion 859-338-5042.
Woodbine Entertainment announced today that its Board of Directors has appointed long-time executive in the horse racing industry Hugh Mitchell as Chair, effective immediately. Mitchell was appointed to the position during Woodbine Entertainment's Annual General Meeting earlier Friday.
As Chair of the Board of Directors, Mitchell will provide leadership, guidance and governance as Woodbine Entertainment fulfills its mandate to sustain and grow horse racing in Ontario. This includes further strengthening the racing product at Woodbine and Woodbine Mohawk Park. Mitchell will also play a critical role in advancing Woodbine Entertainment's community plan to develop the surrounding lands at Woodbine Racetrack to be world-class entertainment destinations while creating new revenue streams that will support the horse racing industry and the 25,000 jobs it directly and indirectly supports throughout the province.
“As we continue to emerge from the global pandemic, our Board, organization, and the horse racing industry will substantially benefit from Hugh's knowledge, relationships and experience,” said Jim Lawson, CEO, Woodbine Entertainment. “We have a tremendous opportunity to grow the sport of horse racing in Ontario in the coming years with exciting and transformative initiatives and we look forward to leveraging Hugh's business and horse racing experience to help realize and maximize those opportunities.”
Mitchell, who has been on Woodbine Entertainment's Board of Directors since 2018, was most recently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Western Fair District in London, Ontario, a position he held from 2009 to 2018. He has also served as Chair of Woodbine Entertainment's Standardbred Racing Committee since 2020.
Throughout his successful career, Mitchell has led the horse racing industry in various prominent roles including as the Chairman of the Board of Harness Tracks of America (HTA) and as a member and Chair of the Ontario Racing Board of Directors.
In addition to his role as a current member of the Board of Governors at Fanshawe College where he was a past Vice-Chair, Mr. Mitchell is also a past President of Tourism London, as well as Director of both the London Chamber of Commerce and Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions. Earlier in his career, Mr. Mitchell worked for Woodbine Entertainment as the company's Senior Vice President of Racing from 1998 to 2005.
“I have been extremely fortunate to work in the horse racing industry for many years which makes this appointment very special and motivating for me personally,” said Mitchell. “The industry in Ontario is full of hardworking people who are extremely passionate about our sport and equine athletes. I very much look forward to working with the Board and Mr. Lawson on growing our sport and industry to the benefit of the thousands of families who earn a living in horse racing.”
Mitchell replaces Christine Magee who was the Chair of Woodbine Entertainment's Board of Directors since 2020 and a Director since 2015. Magee was appointed Chair at a critical time as the organization and industry were managing through a global pandemic and ensuing government restrictions which significantly impacted the organization, its employees and the Ontario horse racing industry and the tens of thousands of jobs it supports throughout the province.
“Having Christine's steady hand, leadership and stewardship was instrumental in managing and navigating the impacts of the pandemic,” said Lawson. “Her guidance also helped lead us to a position of stability during unstable times to ensure we were well-positioned for growth and transformation as our organization and industry emerge from the first two years of the pandemic.
“On behalf of our organization, and the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Christine for her many contributions to Woodbine Entertainment and the horse racing industry over the last seven years.”
“My time on the Board, both as Chair and previously a Director, has been an absolute honour,” said Magee. “Woodbine Entertainment is so much more than just an organization – it's the economic engine of an industry that provides a way of life for tens of thousands of people and an institution that leads the great responsibility of managing a beloved sport that has been a part of Canadian culture and society for hundreds of years.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow Board members and the leadership team for their support and exceptional efforts. I would also like to congratulate Hugh Mitchell on his appointment to Chair and acknowledge that Woodbine Entertainment and the industry will be well-served as he steps into this role.”
Long-serving member Ben Hutzel is also retiring from the Board of Directors, effective today.
“On behalf of our Board, I would like to thank Ben for his countless contributions and lengthy service to our organization and industry as a Director, horse owner, and breeder,” mentioned Lawson.
An Ontario corporation without share capital, Woodbine Entertainment operates a multi-dimensional entertainment business with a core mandate of sustaining and growing the horse racing industry in Ontario.
Retired trainer Peter Howe, one of just four people to train an American champion over jumps and on the flat, and the father of Colonial Downs vice president of racing Jill Byrne, died Thursday night in Charlottesville, Va. He was 83.
Howe was born in Hartford, Conn., and became an accomplished rider of show horses – competing at Madison Square Garden, the Washington International Horse Show and other top venues – before transitioning to racehorses. There, he made a mark.
Training mainly for Marion du Pont Scott's Montpelier Stable – based at Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course or private training facilities in Virginia and Camden, S.C. depending on the season – Howe conditioned a small but quality stable of flat and steeplechase horses.
Soothsayer won an Eclipse Award as champion steeplechaser in 1972. Bred in Virginia by Scott, the son of Mystic II won twice over hurdles as a 3-year-old in 1970 and added major scores in the Broad Hollow and New York Turf Writers Cup in 1971 before finishing second (beaten a neck by Inkslinger) in the Colonial Cup. In 1972, Soothsayer started late in the season but dominated the Temple Gwathmey at Rolling Rock in October and won the Colonial Cup (over Inkslinger). Beaten a nose in the 1973 Colonial Cup, Soothsayer ran in England the next two seasons – winning the 1974 Catchart Cup at Cheltenham and finishing second in the 1975 Cheltenham Gold Cup for trainer Fred Winter – before returning to the United States and Howe. Soothsayer won the 1975 Noel Laing and finished third in another Colonial Cup. He finished with 13 wins and 13 seconds in 36 lifetime starts.
In 1976, Howe sent out Montpelier's Proud Delta to victories in the Affectionately, Rare Treat, Top Flight-G1, Shuvee, Hempstead-G2 and Beldame-G1 en route to the older filly/mare divisional championship. The daughter of Delta Judge won six of 14 starts that season, earning $270,127. Proud Delta went on to leave a mark as a broodmare. The daughter of Delta Judge produced Lyphard's Delta, a Group 2 winner whose daughter Delta Princes won six stakes and produced Hall of Famer and champion Royal Delta among others.
Soothsayer and Proud Delta put Howe in rare company – with Jonathan Sheppard, Sidney Watters Jr. and Jim Ryan – as the only trainers to prepare American champions on the flat and over jumps.
In addition to his champions, Howe trained international jumping star Tingle Creek during his American career. Bred in Virginia by Helen Whittaker, the flashy chestnut made his debut with a second over hurdles at Belmont Park as a 3-year-old in June 1969. A week later, Tingle Creek won – leading at every call and scoring by 6 lengths – but he began a path to stardom in 1970. The 10-start campaign included a 141-1 upset in Delaware Park's Tom Roby Stakes, a win in Delaware's Indian River and the Broad Hollow at Belmont Park. Fifth in the 1971 Colonial Cup behind champions Inkslinger, Soothsayer, Top Bid and Shadow Brook, Tingle Creek went to England and became something a legend. He won 23 races over fences in England, specializing in 2-mile chases and a front-running style. Tingle Creek won the Sandown Pattern Chase three times (in six tries) and the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup – now called the Tingle Creek in his honor – in 1973. He raced through age 12, winning his final start at Sandown in 1978 to massive applause from the crowd.
Howe also won graded stakes with Alias Smith and Piling, and retired as a trainer in 1993. He shared the 1971 National Steeplechase Association training championship with Sidney Watters Jr. when each won 22 races. Howe led the NSA earnings list in 1972. He was inducted into the Virginia Steeplechase Hall of Fame this year.
Howe, whose father Walter was an American diplomat and the U.S. Ambassador to Chile under President Dwight Eisenhower, lived at Red Horse Farm near the Montpelier property in Barboursville, Va. Survivors include Byrne (whose previous racing jobs included positions with the Breeders' Cup, Churchill Downs and others), son Jeffrey Howe and his wife Christy, daughter Debby Howe and grandchildren Devon Byrne, William Vanderlinde and Emma and Owen Howe.
You never forget the name of your first lesson horse – that horse who taught you what you need to know to work with every one that follows.
In this series, participants throughout the Thoroughbred industry share the names and stories of the horses that have taught them the most about life, revealing the limitless ways that horses can impact the people around them. Some came early on in their careers and helped them set a course for the rest of their lives, while others brought valuable lessons to veterans of the business.
Question: Which horse has taught you the most about life?
Jim Lawson, CEO of Woodbine Entertainment: “My family's always been in horse racing, and in 1984, we had a horse named Let's Go Blue. I'd graduated from university, and I was spending a lot of time at the racetrack. Of my siblings, I was the one that was closest to horse racing – I never thought I'd end up working here, by the way.
“Let's Go Blue won the Queen's Plate Trial Stakes by five lengths, and won it galloping. He came into the Queen's Plate as the favorite, went off at 3-5, and he was bumped…I remember it like it was yesterday…There was an entry that really squeezed him the whole way around, and then another pushed him back. Then, he came on again and a horse squeezed him into the rail, and basically bodychecked him into the rail.
“It was 1984, so we didn't have the head-on replays to show to the public. I went to the stewards and I did see the tape, and it was egregious what happened – really, a calculated risk by the jockey to move over and bump him.
“As I think of that, I think of two things: First, I think of something my dad said afterward. I was a young, budding lawyer at the time, and I said to my dad, 'You've got to appeal.' He looked at me and said, 'I've been in sports my entire life, as have you, and sometimes, you have to learn and respect the referee's call. That's what you do, and you get on with life.' He said, 'I don't want to hear it again. We're not appealing.'
“I always reflected on that, and to this day, it kind of haunts me, especially now, being in the role that I'm in. But, I think whether it was the horse or the whole situation, it was character-building. I think we can all learn a lot from racing, and the lows and highs of racing. We all know there are way more lows than highs, and those lows teach you to be appreciative of what you've got. We were fortunate enough to have a horse in the Queen's Plate, and you move on, and it's character-building. You're going to take your lumps, but don't let it get you down.”
The field rounds the first turn in the 2019 Queen's Plate at Woodbine
About Let's Go Blue
Dk. h. or br. h., 1981, Bob's Dusty x Brunswick Dawn, by Amber Morn
Let's Go Blue raced as a homebred for Mel Lawson's Jim Dandy Stable, and he was trained by Janet Bedford.
He won his first two starts, both at Woodbine, including the Swynford Stakes, before finishing second in the G3 Grey Stakes in his graded stakes debut. Including the Grey Stakes, five of his eight starts following his Swynford victory would be runner-up efforts in stakes races.
Let's Go Blue then won his division of the Plate Trial Stakes at Woodbine, and he left the gate in the 1984 Queen's Plate as the 0.85-to-1 favorite. He finished second by a half-length behind Key to the Moon in the Queen's Plate, following a troubled trip. Following the Queen's Plate, Let's Go Blue headed west to win the Canadian Derby at Northlands Park and the G3 B. C. Derby at Exhibition Park.
The horse got better as he got older, and he arguably did his best work during his 4-year-old season in 1986, when he earned the Sovereign Award as Canada's champion older male on the strength of a campaign that included victories in the Fair Play Stakes at Woodbine, and the Speed to Spare Championship Stakes at Northlands Park.
Let's Go Blue retired with 13 wins in 42 career starts for earnings of $757,597.
At stud, Let's Go Blue sired 43 winners over 14 crops, with combined progeny earnings of more than $2.3 million. His top runners included Cailoto, who was a stakes winner at Pimlico Race Course, Blue and Red, who was a multiple stakes winner at Woodbine, and Grade 3-placed Crafty Boy.
