Community leader Betty A. Leon is being appointed to the board of directors of the New York Racing Association (NYRA). Leon was nominated by Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-South Queens), who represents the district where Aqueduct Racetrack is located. Final approval and official appointment comes from Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.
This specific appointment plays a critical role in ensuring that the community of South Queens, along with the hundreds of residents who work at the racetrack not only have a voice, but a fierce advocate and a seat at the table, a press release from the office of Pheffer Amato stated.
“This is victory not only for the state, but for our community in South Queens. The board will be greatly improved by the contributions Betty will make through her vast experience and wealth of knowledge,” said Pheffer Amato. “Her decades of leadership in the community make her the perfect person to ensure that our community, and the individuals and families who work in the racing and wagering field, are properly represented and cared for on a state level.”.
“I am proud to appoint Betty Leon to the NYRA board of directors because I am confident that she will be a valuable asset to the board, and that she will add much-needed diversity to the board.” said Heastie. “Her deep roots in the Rockaway community ensure that she will protect the interests of all the stakeholders, including the hardworking New Yorkers whose livelihoods depend on the continued success of New York's horse racing industry. I would also like to thank Assemblymember Pheffer Amato for her recommendation.”
“I am extremely humbled and excited to be appointed to the board of directors of the New York Racing Association,” said Leon. “I have been on many boards and an advocate for my South East Queens Community in the Rockaways for decades. I do this not for the recognition, but to ensure that our community is in the forefront and has a seat and voice at the table.”
Leon is a resident of Far Rockaway and is a registered nurse and attorney. She has been involved in Community Board 14, sitting on the board of directors as first vice chair at the Addabbo Health Center, serving as chair of Peninsula Preparatory Academy Charter School and work throughout Queens County.
California Retirement Management Account (CARMA) executive director Lucinda Lovitt remembers a time when a career in the Thoroughbred racing industry was the furthest thing from her mind.
An Arizona native who grew up riding competitively on the show circuit, what she remembers from her early work with horses was her passion for the animals, and her passing disdain for a sport with an often-maligned public reputation.
“I think like most young girls who end up riding horses, I became fascinated with them at a very young age,” said Lovitt. “I was seven when I started taking riding lessons, having nagged my parents enough into a summer camp package. That led to more serious riding, and I did that competitively from the time I was seven until I finished college competing primarily in Arizona and all over the southwest.”
The University of Arizona was the only college choice for Lovitt, whose family now boasts four generations of graduates. As an animal lover, her plan from the jump had been to take the pre-veterinary track, but it was soon clear that path wasn't exactly what she wanted.
“I was sure that I wanted to be a horse vet,” said Lovitt. “Then I looked at the first semester course load for pre-vet, and I thought, 'Maybe this is not for me.'
“I was actually introduced to racing through my connections in riding because I rode at the same barn of Wendy Davis, the former director of the Racetrack Industry Program. I didn't know what to do for my major and it was at a horse show that Wendy said, 'You should take my intro to racing class that I teach.' I kind of scoffed at the time and said, 'Oh, horse racing is horrible Wendy, you know that, and we all know they're mean to their horses.' But she was firm, and she said, 'Just take my class and tell me what you think.' I had no major, no idea what I wanted to do, so I took her class, and I was fascinated by it. So, I took another class and another and another …”
Four and a half years from that first class, Lovitt was set to graduate from the RTIP. The only missing component was her internship, a critical piece of the program that she had yet to complete. At the time, Lovitt was still convinced that her future career would lead her away from racing, despite her continued interest in the sport.
“I was still riding and competing, but I hadn't done and internship with the RTIP which is a big component of the program,” said Lovitt. “Finally, Wendy said, 'I'll set you up, but you need to do an internship. You can go to Turf Paradise, go up there for the last three months of their meet, and hop through all the departments.' So that's what happened. But while I was up there, a job posting came into the office for Thoroughbred Owners of California which was looking for an owner's liaison. Wendy called me and said, 'I have the perfect job for you in racing.'
“I was still thinking that I wasn't going to work in racing, that I was going to go back to Tucson to work for my dad. But Wendy told me that a woman from TOC was coming to town, and she wanted me to interview with her. I said yes, but I didn't take it at all seriously. I didn't have my resume so while I was at Turf Paradise, I had to recreate it from memory and fax it off to them. Then I was late to the interview because I couldn't find parking and my parking permit had expired … it was a comedy of errors, but I got the job. They flew me to California, I met with John Van de Kamp, the president of TOC. I was 22 and it was the scariest thing I'd eve done in my life. I took the job, left the internship halfway through, packed up my stuff and I moved to California. That's how I got into horse racing – completely unintentionally.”
Lovitt spent 14 years with TOC moving up the ranks from assistant liaison to taking on more and more responsibility in the organization. The skills that she had been taught at the RTIP — the same skills that had once seemed so abstract — were indispensable in helping her build relationships with colleagues and horseman in her adopted state of California.
“The longer I was at TOC, I went from assisting owners to licensing and other basic tasks, to managing programs and committees working with the board, negotiating race meet agreements between horsemen and racetracks, and providing support to board members working with conditions or house rules, etc.,” said Lovitt. “If I hadn't had classes that made us create a fictitious two-week condition book, I wouldn't have been able to work through that effectively.
Lovitt in one of her favorite seats — the saddle
“Those classes helped me feel like I had the basic knowledge of the racing industry, in particular on the business side. For someone who isn't a gambler and who is not someone who comes from a history of racing, those business classes were critical. For my job, I needed to understand what simulcasting was, what takeout was, what a condition book was and how to build one. Until you get into a job and are working it in real time, things you learn in the classroom are theoretical. What you learn in the job is so much more than what you learn in the classroom, but the RTIP is a well-rounded introduction into what racing really is. It's a niche business and this program fits that. You have the opportunity in the RTIP to dive in as deep as you want to dive.”
While Lovitt's passion for the industry of racing grew, she never forgot her first love: the horse.
In 2007, after a conversation with Thoroughbred owner and advocate Madeline Auerbach, Lovitt helped found CARMA, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization which raises money for retired racehorses.
“The nomenclature we use now to talk about aftercare did not exist before Madeline and I and the board members at TOC started talking about what to do with horses once they're finished racing,” said Lovitt. “It really started as a conversation with Madeline saying, 'I have a stakes-winning gelding, Lennyfrommalibu, who is retired and I'm not sure what to do with him. He earned me a lot of money and he gave us so much. I want to do right by him, but do we have anything in place for him?' We realized if Madeline didn't know what to do, then none of us knew.
“She found him a home, but she knew she was in a position where she had more resources than others and it was still hard to find somewhere he would be safe and cared for. She knew that there were a lot of people who could not afford to do that. From that point we started working to fix that problem, and aftercare really grew into its own industry organically.”
As the system for aftercare expanded, Lovitt eventually left TOC in 2011 to work for CARMA full-time. While she loved her time with the TOC, Lovitt says she's incredibly proud of her work with the non-profit and their efforts to make aftercare a more prevalent part of the racing conversation — a gift she would never have found if she hadn't found racing.
“I'm really grateful that I was in on the ground floor of the movement and of it becoming the important piece of the conversation that it is today,” said Lovitt. “It's valued by the industry and I'm grateful to have been a part of that revolution and to watch that evolution. We have a long way to go, but from where we started, we have made so much progress.
“I stumbled into this. I didn't have a passion for it, my parents weren't really fans, and I didn't know anyone in the industry. It just happened that I knew someone who was teaching classes at the RTIP, and it ended up working out fabulously. I've been blessed to work with so many amazing individuals in my career and I think that is the great thing about racing. It puts up in contact with people we otherwise wouldn't get to interact with, and that is invaluable.”
Award-winning producer Lindsay Schanzer has been named senior producer of NBC Sports' Kentucky Derby coverage and will oversee all horse racing production, it was announced Thursday by Sam Flood, Executive Producer & President, NBC Sports Production. NBC Sports will present the 148th Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 7 at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
“Lindsay has excelled in every role she has worked at NBC Sports, and we are excited to have her lead the presentation of the Kentucky Derby and our full roster of horse racing events,” Flood said. “With increased responsibility over the last decade on our horse racing team, Lindsay's leadership, creativity, and innovative spirit have helped raise our production. We look forward to returning to Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May.”
Schanzer, who has worked on NBC Sports' horse racing team for 10 years, has served as the lead producer of NBC Sports' Preakness Stakes, Breeders' Cup and Royal Ascot production since 2020, and produced last year's Belmont Stakes.
A five-time Sports Emmy winner, Schanzer joined NBC Sports in 2011 and has also worked on Sunday Night Football, Football Night in America, Notre Dame Football, Wimbledon, Roland Garros, and Premier League. In addition, she was part of production teams for seven Olympic Games and one Super Bowl.
NBC Sports' Lead Kentucky Derby Producers
Lead Producer
Years
Lindsay Schanzer
2022
Rob Hyland
2012-21
Fred Gaudelli
2011
Sam Flood
2006-10
David Michaels
2001-05
NBC SPORTS AND HORSE RACING: NBC Sports is the exclusive home to the most important and prestigious events in horse racing, including the Triple Crown, the Breeders' Cup World Championships, Royal Ascot, and Pegasus World Cup Invitational Series. NBC has been the exclusive home of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes since 2001, and the Belmont Stakes since 2011, when NBC Sports Group reassembled the Triple Crown.
Ronnie Allen, Jr., has that familiar feeling in his stomach again.
After being sidelined since Oct. 19 following a freaky accident at Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania, Allen is named to ride two horses Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs for trainer Maria Bowersock.
“I'm excited, and I'm nervous,” said Allen, who received a release from his doctor Monday to return to competition, about a month after he began working horses for Bowersock and trainer Tim Hamm. “My doctor tested my strength and range of motion and he said they're a lot better than they were before, and that if I feel OK I should go ahead.”
After working four horses Wednesday morning for trainer Tim Hamm, Allen felt strong and fit and brimming with confidence that he is ready to compete. He plans to start with a few horses a day at the outset of his comeback, building back to a level where he can soon regain his standing among the leading riders at Presque Isle and, hopefully, next season at Tampa Bay Downs.
The current Oldsmar meet runs through May 7, Kentucky Derby Day.
Allen is named to ride Lady in Heels, a 3-year-old filly, in Saturday's sixth race, a $25,000 claiming contest at a distance of 6 ½ furlongs on the main track. In the ninth race, a 1-mile maiden claiming race on the turf for 3-year-old fillies, he is named on Bowersock's filly Libertalia; the race drew an overflow field of 13, and Libertalia and Allen would need another filly to be scratched to draw into the race off the also-eligible list.
One, or two, will do for now for Allen, who turns 58 on Sunday. He began galloping horses in March, 5 months after breaking five ribs, suffering a collapsed lung, dislocating his clavicle joint and tearing ligaments in his left shoulder in a post-race spill at Presque Isle that took place when his mount fell unexpectedly while galloping out after finishing third in the second race.
Doctors originally said he could return to race-riding in 6-to-8 weeks, but ongoing issues with his clavicle joint restricted the range of motion in his left arm, making it next-to-impossible to breeze horses, let alone compete in a race.
After undergoing steroid injections and five weeks of physical therapy, the four-time Tampa Bay Downs riding champion considered surgery. But as his pain gradually subsided during his return to morning workouts, he elected to postpone that option indefinitely, with the approval of his doctor.
“He said (riding races) shouldn't create any more damage,” Allen said. “Surgery would put me out of action for at least another 3-to-5 months, but he said I don't need it for now.
“I'd like to start riding again and let everybody know that I'm back, and hopefully it goes well enough that I can ride through the summer (at Presque Isle, where Bowersock, his fiancée, trains). I've just got to take things one day at a time.”
Allen, who has ridden 3,888 career winners, has long been one of the Oldsmar oval's most popular jockeys. He won Tampa Bay Downs meet titles in 1984-1985, 1986-1987, 1987-1988 and 2010-2011. He is one of five jockeys to win the Grade 2 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby and the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes in the same year, accomplishing the feat in 1993 with Marco Bay (neither stakes was graded then).
Allen tied for fifth place in last year's Oldsmar standings with 42 victories and was eagerly anticipating a spirited return when he was injured.
“This is home. I started my career at Detroit (in 1983), but my dad (retired trainer Ronnie Allen, Sr.) and I came here every winter. I was leading bugboy (apprentice jockey) here and just kept on coming back,” he said.
Support from other jockeys and horsemen heartened Allen in his bid to return to the saddle.
“Everybody wants me to come back. I can't tell you how many people have come up to me and said 'Hey, when are you going to start riding?' or 'I've got some horses for you to ride.' ”
Now they have the answer everybody was hoping for, and time will tell if Allen has a storybook comeback to deliver.
“It's in my blood. What happened is just life in this business, and I have to deal with it,” Allen said.
