The Jockey Club announced Wednesday that Samantha Randazzo has been named The Jockey Club steward at Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack upon the resignation of Don Combs. Randazzo will start at Finger Lakes on August 3.
The appointment was announced by Stuart S. Janney III, the chairman of The Jockey Club.
“Samantha brings a diverse background to her new position as The Jockey Club's steward at Finger Lakes,” said Janney. “Her time as an assistant trainer, state steward, and safety steward, combined with a law degree, make her well-equipped to uphold the integrity of horse racing in this role.”
Previously, Randazzo had experience as a state steward in Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, and New Jersey. She was a safety steward for the National Steeplechase Association, and, while in Florida, she spent time as a veterinary technician. Randazzo worked for Linda Rice for 27 years, with 17 of those years spent as an assistant trainer overseeing divisions in Saratoga, New Jersey, and Florida.
Randazzo is an accredited steward through the Racing Officials Accreditation Program for both Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing. She graduated from Albright College with a Bachelor of Arts degree and received her law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law.
Lone Star Park is pleased to announce Tony Patterson will join the Lone Star Park Team as the new Racing Secretary for both the Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse meets.
Patterson will assume his new role on August 3, at the tail-end of the Thoroughbred meet which wraps up on August 12. Lone Star Park's Fall Quarter Horse meet begins September 4.
“I am excited to welcome Tony Patterson as the new Lone Star Park Racing Secretary,” said Lone Star Park's Vice President of Operations, Kent Slabotsky. “His experience, knowledge and enthusiasm make him a perfect addition to our Management team.”
Patterson brings with him 36 years of experience in the horse racing industry. He began his career at Remington Park in 1988 as the Assistant Racing Secretary/Stakes Coordinator eventually becoming Director of Racing/Racing Secretary at the Oklahoma City track. He has held positions at Sam Houston Race Park, Harrah's Louisiana Downs and most recently as the Executive Director of the Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders Association.
“I am looking forward to taking on the role of racing secretary at Lone Star Park and thank Kent Slabotsky, Matt Vance and Tim Williams for entrusting me with this position,” said Patterson. “There are some incredible horsemen that support racing in Texas. I feel certain that we will present a very exciting Quarter Horse meet in the months to come.”
This Saturday, 1st August, will mark the anniversary of Khadijah Mellah's win in the Magnolia Cup, which made her the first British Muslim to win a race in the United Kingdom. The victory in the charity race was celebrated just three months after Mellah's first time sitting on a racehorse and against competitors including Olympian Victoria Pendleton.
Viewers in Britain will have the chance to relive the entire story when the documentary, Riding A Dream is shown again at 12.50pm on ITV this Saturday.
The film was last week announced as the Best British Short Film at the prestigious British Documentary Film Festival.
“Winning the Magnolia Cup at the Qatar Goodwood Festival was a whirlwind experience and something that has changed my life immensely,” said Mellah. “The fact that the documentary of my story, Riding A Dream, has gone on to win Best British Short Film is totally surreal.”
She told Great British Racing she is determined to use her experience to inspire other young people.
She said, “At the time, I was looking up to role models to help inspire me and get me through the grueling training. So it was incredible to then receive messages from young women and girls in particular, saying that I had inspired them to do something out of their comfort zone.”
“It is so important to me to encourage people to be determined and pursue a sport to a higher level despite what other people may think. My hope is that my experiences will encourage more people to get involved in racing.”
Mellah's victory made history and changed the perceptions of young women in her community.
“I know for sure that I have broken some perceptions of a young Muslim woman and it is something that I am proud of and will continue to do,” said Mellah. “Me being Muslim isn't just it. It is important that people realise that being a certain religion or from a certain background doesn't determine your interests and the person you are, and it certainly doesn't determine how good you are.
“For me it is so important to be able to spread the message that you can be successful despite your background.”
She hopes that her story and positive experience within the sport will see a shift in horse racing.
“When I was younger, I didn't think that getting into racing would be an option for me or someone of my background,” Mellah said. “There was no one that looked like me. I hope now that I have joined the racing industry and I have been a success story that young people like me will also see there is an opportunity for them to join that racing community.”
Jockey Florent Geroux was getting on horses at Churchill Downs Tuesday morning for the first time since a positive test for COVID-19 put him on the sideline for two weeks until he tested negative. Geroux resumes riding races Friday at Ellis Park.
“I never had any symptoms, I'm thankful for that,” he said. “I was not sick. You can see in our country and the rest of the world, some of them, it's not very pretty. I was just thankful to not be sick. I missed a couple of weeks of racing, but that's the way it is, and I had to stay home in quarantine.”
Several of Geroux's scheduled mounts won in his absence at Ellis Park.
“It's never a good time, but it's better last week and two weeks ago than happening Kentucky Derby Week,” he said. “And I have some good mounts coming up now.”