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Sky’s Not The Limit For Jockey Marcus Swiontek

Jockey Marcus Swiontek became interested in horse racing really by chance. He grew up in Jordan, Minn., just 14 miles down Highway 169 from Canterbury Park, yet the racetrack was never on his radar. Marcus happened to be flipping through TV channels on a Saturday afternoon in the mid-2000s and stumbled across the Kentucky Derby.

“From that moment I said 'Hey, I'm going to do that,'” he recalled during a 2017 interview.

His professional race riding career began in 2011 aboard a Thoroughbred at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Az. He gravitated more to the Quarter Horse side of the industry over the years at Remington Park, Prairie Meadows, Canterbury, and Phoenix earning a living race riding and galloping in the mornings.

Swiontek won the Gopher State Derby in Shakopee on Zoomn On Bye July 7. He suffered an ankle injury three weeks later during a race and has not ridden since.

“I got on my first horse three or four days ago,” he said, admitting that the time away left him a bit muscle sore as he strives to get back in shape galloping for trainer Sandi Gann.

All along though Marcus has had a plan: prepare for his next career and be ready without delay. That career would be as an airline pilot. He studied in Minnesota, at Flying Cloud Airport, just across the Minnesota River and up the bluff from Canterbury, earning his student pilot license in June of 2017 and his private pilot license in March of 2018 while still race riding.

Last month, he made another stride toward the goal, getting a commercial license. He will still need additional coursework and 1,500 hours of flight time before the major airlines or cargo haulers come knocking. Marcus explained that those hours for many pilots, come through flight instruction, teaching others to fly. He can begin doing that in Phoenix in short order.

The racetrack still has an allure that is hard to walk away from. But unlike many athletes, Swiontek has an exit strategy taking him seamlessly from one world to another.

“I'd love to [return to Canterbury] this summer,” he said, but time and circumstances will dictate.

For the time being however he can have one foot in both worlds, flying and instructing while also preparing for opening day at Turf Paradise January 4.

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‘A Wonderful Ride’: Looking Back On The Life Of Ken LeJeune

The racing world just lost a fan. Ken LeJeune died at home on Friday, Dec. 4 after a brief illness. In his 40-plus year career, he was a jockey, trainer, bloodstock agent, and all things in between; but always a fan.

He quietly went about his business; no advertisements, no parties, rarely a mention in the trade papers. That wasn't his thing. His involvement in horse racing reached far and wide. There are not too many people I can think of in the business who have not asked him to train, examine, fix, buy, sell, evaluate, or shelter a horse. He loved every minute of it. It was his life's blood.

We met at Delta Downs in winter 1980, He was hungry, trying to ride Thoroughbreds until the Quarter Horse meet came in spring. We lived in a tack room; we married four months later, and still didn't own a running car. No matter, we had each other, and racing. He rode a match race the day we wed.

He rode races for several years, sometimes away from home for months, other times dragging the family along – hotel to hotel.

We eventually moved lock, stock, and barrel to Ocala with $65 and a tank of gas. He started breaking Thoroughbreds for various farms, the first being for Fred Hooper, where he was a regular rider of the famed Precisionist.

When race riding ended, he dreamed of training, and buying horses. The first horse he sold went to Jack Van Berg; a horse given to him as a “thank you” for getting up at 4:30 a.m. to gallop a few horses prior to his usual job. He enjoyed helping others in the business, and that's where he spent most of any profit.

He partnered in the early 2000s on a few cheap horses, one, which he bought as a field buddy for $1,300 dollars, became my namesake Carey's Gold, who fell just short of sweeping the Florida Stallion Stakes circa 2001. Bad feet, oh my, the horse had bad feet. He worked endlessly on those bad feet.

New York trainer Gary Contessa was the first prominent trainer to see talent in Ken's horsemanship, and soon Kenneth was in business, in a big way.

In later years, we became close friends of Jim and Susan Hill, and enjoyed many racing related, and personal trips together, all the while talking horses. Always talking horses.

Over the years, he had the good fortune of finding, or developing some of the best; Peace Rules, Divine Park, Genuine Devotion, Anne's Beauty, Bay to Bay, Clearly Now, Flip Cup, and more recently, Totally Boss, Gufo, Mo Forza, and untold others I'm sure I've forgotten.

He was a true Cajun, and he never left his roots. He enjoyed fishing in the Gulf, a few cold beers at the end of the day, and a stop at the farm to check on the horses. He found total happiness in sitting on his pony, and watching his charges march like soldiers to the track. His faithful dog Sissy, always following behind, logging miles every day to keep up with him. She never wavered.

Although he was ill, even he did not know in the end that it would come so soon. He lived life by the drop and consumed every last bit. It may have seemed unfair, but it was long enough.

He adored, and was so proud of our children, John, and Piper—and I'm sure bent everyone's ear to speak of their success. They, in turn, adored him, and I am proud to say inherited a strong work ethic, humble gratitude, and a commitment of service to others.

To those who believed in him, I thank you. You allowed him to earn a living in a sport that he loved. For almost 40 years, I tagged along for the wonderful ride.

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Dr. Elizabeth James Named 31st Recipient Of John W. Galbreath Award

The University of Louisville Equine Industry Program has named Elizabeth James, Ph.D., the 31st recipient of the John W. Galbreath Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurship in the Equine Industry.

James is a lifelong equine enthusiast who turned her love of horses into a career as an educator and equine career coach. She also co-founded the Liberty Horse Association, the first organization supporting the discipline of liberty training.

“I am most proud of the role I've gotten to play in helping other people accomplish their career goals. From students in higher education to clients as a coach, nothing has meant more to me than getting the call when they landed their dream job or their dreams were becoming reality,” James said.

For a decade, James served as a lecturer and internship coordinator at the University of Kentucky (UK), where she received her Ph.D. In 2018, she founded Equine Career Coach, an equine career coaching program, and co-founded the International Liberty Horse Association, the first association dedicated to the discipline of liberty training. In liberty training, the horse performs completely free of tack and equipment, instead relying on trust and attention to verbal or other cues from the handler. James earned her bachelor of science in animal science from the University of Nebraska and her master of science in animal biology from the University of California – Davis.

“Elizabeth epitomizes the cream of the crop when it comes to being a horsewoman: She has the academic background all the way through a Ph.D., has experience in many facets of the industry, from working with ranch horses to thoroughbreds, to owning and managing a horse training facility, to being an equine entrepreneur, to starting an association and launching a career coaching business,” said Fernanda C. Camargo, D.V.M., Ph.D., associate professor and equine extension specialist at UK, in nominating her for the award.

James said she is honored to be recognized by UofL.

“I have always seen UofL as the premier program when it comes to equine business, so to be recognized by these professionals carries more weight than I can say,” James said. “On top of that, to see the caliber of people who have won this award before me – people I admire, and to think a committee selected me to be among them is very humbling.”

Recipients of the Galbreath Award demonstrate original and creative techniques or approaches to business, a willingness to take personal or career risks, forward-thinking and visionary management planning, an ability to render a business firm or organization more effective and profitable and the respect of peers as evidence of character and integrity. The recipient is selected by a committee of faculty in the Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship in the UofL College of Business.

The award is named for the late John W. Galbreath, a self-made man who distinguished himself in both business and as a horseman. Previous Galbreath Award recipients include John A. Bell III, Cothran “Cot” Campbell and Judith Forbis. The 2019 winner was B. Wayne Hughes, who re-established Spendthrift Farm as one of the largest stallion stations in the world through innovative marketing techniques such as the “Share the Upside” program.

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Apprentice Victor Flores Hospitalized, Suffered Head Trauma In Morning Training Incident At Fair Grounds

Apprentice jockey Victor Flores has been hospitalized due to “severe head trauma” after an incident during morning training hours at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La. Wednesday morning, according to former agent, Rudy Rodriguez, Jr., who set up a GoFundMe page to help offset medical expenses for the young rider.

The Blood-Horse reports that Flores was breezing a horse for trainer Matt Shirer when the horse bolted to the outside. Flores fell in the path of oncoming traffic from horses jogging near the outside rail, and was transported to a local hospital via ambulance.

The filly Flores was riding was not injured.

Flores rode at Monmouth Park this summer, then most recently took a couple mounts at Churchill Downs before traveling to New Orleans for the winter. The apprentice has compiled a total of 24 wins since earning his license in 2018.