Tag: People

Uniting with racetracks across the country to support the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) Day, riders competing at Saratoga Race Course will participate in a host of activities on Saturday, July 30 to raise awareness and funding for the PDJF.

This year, PDJF Day was selected to coincide with this week's National Disability Independence Day, which marks the 32nd anniversary of the passage of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, the ADA banned discrimination based on disability in all parts of public life while improving the quality of life immeasurably for millions of people with disabilities.

Highlighting the day's events will be a special meet and greet and autograph session with riders from the Saratoga jockey colony, who will sign autographs on the Jockey Silks Room Porch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fans who make a donation to the PDJF will receive a commemorative poster.

“We thank the many jockeys from Saratoga and around the country for supporting this effort to heighten awareness of the Americans with Disabilities Act and assist in raising funds for the PDJF,” said Terry Meyocks, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Jockeys' Guild and a member of the Board of Directors of the PDJF. “We also are immensely grateful to everyone who contributes financially to the PDJF.”

In conjunction with PDJF Day, the Permanently Disabled Jockeys' Fund will be featured at the Community Outreach Booth on Saturday. The PDJF provides financial assistance to former jockeys who have suffered catastrophic on-track injuries. Since its founding in 2006, the fund has disbursed nearly $11 million dollars to permanently disabled jockeys.

The 2022 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course will continue through Labor Day, Monday, September 5. Racing at Saratoga Race Course is held five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays, with the exception of closing week, which will run Wednesday, August 31 through Labor Day.

For more information about Saratoga Race Course, visit NYRA.com.

About the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund

The Permanently Disabled Jockeys' Fund (PDJF) is a 501(c)(3) charity that currently provides financial assistance to approximately 60 former jockeys who have suffered catastrophic on-track injuries. Founded in 2006 by leaders in the Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse industries, the PDJF has disbursed over $12 million to permanently disabled jockeys, most of whom have sustained paralysis or traumatic brain injuries. For more information and to donate, go to www.pdjf.org.

The post Jockey Autograph Session Scheduled For PDJF Day At Saratoga appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Jerome “Jed” Doro has been promoted to Director of Racing at Delaware Park effective on Sunday, Aug. 1. He will assume most of the duties of long-time Executive Director of Racing John Mooney, who recently announced his retirement.

Doro, 43, was the Racing Secretary at Delaware Park from 2014 through 2018. The native Bemidji, Minn., briefly left to take a position at Oaklawn Park in 2019, but returned to Delaware Park in 2020 as the assistant Racing Secretary before being elevated to Racing Secretary again in 2021. He was also the assistant Racing Secretary at Delaware Park from 2008 through 2013.

“I am very pleased and excited to announce that Jed Doro has been promoted to Director of Racing,” said Kevin DeLucia the Chief Financial Officer at Delaware Park. “We believe the continuity of the program built by John is important to the future success of racing at Delaware Park and we believe there is no better person to accomplish that goal. He brings a level of knowledge and experience of not only racing but racing in the Mid-Atlantic region and Delaware Park that is indispensable.”

Doro has also worked in various capacities at the Maryland Jockey Club, Colonial Downs and Timonium Racecourse.

The post Jed Doro Promoted To Director Of Racing At Delaware Park appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Flavien Prat had a very good day at Monmouth Park Saturday winning four graded stakes in a row including the Grade 1 United Nations. Earlier in the week, Prat also won a stakes race at Saratoga. The achievement earned Jockey of the Week honors. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, honors jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.

Riding at Saratoga on Thursday, Prat rode Practice Squad for the first time for trainer Joe Sharp. Practice Squad raced near the rear of the compact field of five saving ground then taking command at the furlong marker to hold off rivals Stop the Spread and Coinage to win by a head in 1:44.69 for the 1-1/16 mile race on the inner turf.

On Saturday, Prat traveled to Monmouth Park for TVG.com Haskell Day, the track's biggest day of the meet. For the first of Prat's four straight graded stakes wins, he was aboard Highly Motivated for trainer Chad Brown in the G3 Monmouth Cup Stakes. Highly Motivated rated off the pace before making his move leaving the backstretch to win by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:46.53, establishing a new Monmouth Park track record for 1 1/8 miles.

Riding again for Chad Brown, Prat's next graded stakes score was the G3 WinStar Matchmaker aboard Lemistra. Off as the fourth betting choice in the field of eight fillies and mares, Lemistra took the lead heading for home and held off stablemate Fluffy Socks to win in 1:47.07 for the 1 1/8-mile turf test.

Continuing his graded stakes win streak for Chad Brown, Prat was in the irons on Search Results in the G3 Molly Pitcher. Dominating the field of eight as the favorite, Search Results posted a three-length victory in 1:40.47 for a mile and one-sixteenth on the main track.

The dynamic pair of Chad Brown and Flavien Prat completed their string of graded stakes wins with Adhamo in the G1 United Nations. Off as the favorite in the 10-horse field, Adhamo came from off the pace to overtake stablemate Tribhuvan in the final eighth to win by 1 1/2 lengths in 2:12.68 for 11 furlongs.

Since leaving southern California last April where he dominated the standings for three years, Prat has made a smooth transition to the east coast and New York's stellar jockey colony riding for Chad Brown and other leading horsemen including Todd Pletcher. Nationally, Prat is in second place in purse earnings with more than $15 million and in the top 10 in wins.

Other contenders for Jockey of the Week were Florent Geroux who won the G1 Haskell, Juan J, Hernandez who won two stakes races opening weekend at Del Mar, Irad Ortiz, Jr. with two graded stakes, and Umberto Rispoli also with two stakes win at Del Mar.

The post Jockey Of The Week: Flavien Prat Won Four Graded Stakes In A Row At Monmouth appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Ray Amato Sr., a 2020 inductee to the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame, died on Monday in Florida. Daily Racing Form reported cancer as the cause of death for Amato, who was 88 years old.

Amato apprenticed under his father, Salvatore, who learned horseshoeing in his native Italy and immigrated to the United States in the 1920s. Ray Amato began working at Aqueduct in 1949 and counted Hall of Fame trainer Hirsch Jacobs among his clients early in his career. That led Amato to other trainers, including Hall of Famers Laz Barrera, Scotty Schulhofer, Robert Frankel and Frank (Pancho) Martin.

More recently, Amato was closely associated with Todd Pletcher, working with the future Hall of Famer when he launched his training career in 1995. Among the horses he shod for Pletcher were Kentucky Derby winners Super Saver and Always Dreaming and Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches.

“Aside from being a terrific blacksmith, he was just a super person,” Pletcher told Daily Racing Form's David Grening.

“One thing you can learn from Ray is one of the greatest joys in life is doing something you're passionate about,” Pletcher told Tom Pedulla in a 2018 feature in Paulick Report. “He loves shoeing horses, he loves being a blacksmith, and he's passed that on to other family members.”

Just as his father trained him and two of his brothers, Ray Amato trained his son, Ray Amato Jr., and worked alongside a nephew, Chris Amato, in a family business.

Ray Amato Jr. died from pancreatic cancer in 2021 at the age of 62.

The post Renowned Blacksmith Ray Amato Sr. Passes; Shod Two Kentucky Derby Winners appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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