Racing Officials Accreditation Program Now Accepting Pete Pedersen Award Nominations

The Racing Officials Accreditation Program (ROAP) has commenced the nominations and balloting process for the 2021 Pete Pedersen Award to be presented to stewards who have served the sport of horse racing with distinction.

Named in honor of the long-time outstanding steward and noted journalist Pete Pedersen, the Pedersen Award presentation will be held in conjunction with the annual University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program's Global Symposium on Racing in December in Tucson, Ariz.

Pedersen worked as a steward in California for 50 years before retiring at the age of 85 in 2005. The Seattle native became the second steward to receive the Eclipse Award of Merit in 2002 and he was given the Laffit Pincay Jr. Award in 2008 for serving the racing industry with integrity, dedication, determination and distinction. Pedersen worked at nearly every track on the West Coast, and his reputation of objectivity and kindness is widely known in the racing industry and beyond.

The criteria to be used in determining award recipients includes length of service as a steward, special contributions as a steward, participation in industry integrity initiatives, participation in racing public educational programs, mentoring stewards and racing officials, and participation in educational programs for stewards and racing officials.

The goal is to recognize stewards who have been outstanding in fulfilling their responsibilities in regulating racing but who also are giving back to the industry.

Anyone can nominate current or retired stewards for the award. A special selection committee of five members from ROAP affiliate organizations will determine the recipients.

Nominations are due October 15, 2021. Those wishing to make nominations for the award can do so online by going to horseracingofficials.com and clicking on the green Pete Pedersen Award Nomination Form or by contacting Alyssa Carwile, ROAP coordinator, at contactus@horseracingofficials.com.

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Letter To The Editor: Racing Officials, Investigators Need To Be Accountable For Their Mistakes

“Ganas…all we need is ganas.”

-Jaime Escalante, Stand and Deliver

Pretty simple words to say, but much harder to truly live by, and the racing industry is at the point now where it needs to truly not only say these words, but to live them.

(The Spanish word “ganas” translates in English to “desire.”)

If we look around rulings made by stewards and/or racing commissions, we often see cases that are overturned on appeal (either at the commission level of the public court level). Many times it can all be due to a technicality or a lack of proper work being done on the part of the investigators.

Sometimes rulings or decisions are made with no obvious basis in legal reasoning (as many have argued in the ongoing saga of the “Justify” positive case that is on its way to the courts). More baffling is when we see no proper investigative work being done at all. Look no further than the bizarre case out of Louisiana, where a groom was sanctioned for stealing a prohibited compounded medication from a trainers barn, yet the stewards never even decided to do a search of the trainer's barn to look for possible other illegal substances. No action was ever even taken against the trainer in the case.

(Read more about the Louisiana case here.)

We cannot blame defense attorneys for getting their clients' cases dismissed on these premises, for that is their job. You can, however, hold the investigators and stewards more accountable for not thoroughly investigating and prosecuting cases. Do the job right and the loopholes disappear. (Yes, I know this will not be true in every single case, but it will be for a vast majority of them.) No fan, new or old, will tolerate such incompetence at times when their gambling dollars are on the line.

I will admit I do not have all the answers to fix this problem, but routine requirements such as a mandatory level of training and continuing education are an easy basic start. Perhaps all those who are stewards, investigators, and commission members should be held to the “Kranz Dictum” that went out from NASA flight director Gene Kranz after the tragic Apollo 1 launchpad fire that killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee in 1967:

 “From this day forward, Flight Control will be known by two words: “Tough” and “Competent.” Tough means we are forever accountable for what we do or what we fail to do. We will never again compromise our responsibilities. Every time we walk into Mission Control we will know what we stand for. Competent means we will never take anything for granted. We will never be found short in our knowledge and in our skills. Mission Control will be perfect. When you leave this meeting today you will go to your office and the first thing you will do there is to write “Tough and Competent” on your blackboards. It will never be erased. Each day when you enter the room these words will remind you of the price paid by Grissom, White, and Chaffee. These words are the price of admission to the ranks of Mission Control.”

Simply replace some of those space related terms with racing locations, and the names of the astronauts with the names of the horses and humans who have died because of lack of giving 100%, and the dictum more than fits for racing.

It should be mandatory that all stewards, investigators, and commission members to have “Tough” and “Competent” written in places where they can always see it, shouldn't it? It probably should be mandatory for all participants in the racing industry. All it takes to make this happen is “ganas.”

–Dr. Bryan Langlois, past president of the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association, board of directors of Animal Care PA and Thorofan

If you would like to submit a letter to the editor, please write to info at paulickreport.com and include contact information where you may be reached if editorial staff have any questions.

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Tom Robbins, David Jerkens Among Veteran Racing Officials For Del Mar’s Summer Meet

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club will conduct its 81st summer racing season beginning Friday, July 10 led by a seasoned collection of veteran racing officials.

As they have for the past seven years, Tom Robbins and David Jerkens will combine to run the show as the heads of the seaside track's racing department.

Robbins, a member of one of California's great racing families, will be starting his 40th year at Del Mar as he heads up a crew of more than 80 racing department staff in his role as the track's executive vice president, racing and industry relations. Jerkens, who also hails from a great racing clan – his an east coast-based one that was headed by his late grandfather, the Hall of Fame conditioner H. Allen Jerkens — has made his mark in the west and will be heading up the track's racing office as its racing secretary for the seventh straight summer.

Others signed on for the 28-day, nine-week run through the summer will be assistant racing secretary Zachary Soto, returning for his 30th summer at Del Mar, and racing veteran Ed Reese, serving as the track's stakes coordinator for the third time. Joining them this year will be the track's new Racing Coordinator, Tora Yamaguchi, who worked in the department previously but now is coming off a stint as the jockey's agent for rider Rafael Bejarano.

Other key personnel in the unit include stable superintendent Jackie Lynn, jockey room clerk of scales Matt Nichols and his assistant, Charles McCaul, as well as clerk of the course Dawn Schmid.

In the stewards' stand will be the trio of Kim Sawyer (in her 12th season at Del Mar), Grant Baker (in his seventh) and Luis Jauregui, who has served as either a regular steward or a safety steward locally every year since 2009. Joining them as this summer's safety steward will be Ron Church, who performed the same job at Del Mar last fall.

Del Mar's placing judges will be Robert Moreno, Sue Brent and Reese doing double duty. Additionally, Heather Correa will serve as a patrol judge along with Brent, while Karen Denovel will work as both a paddock and patrol judge.

The track's veterinarian crew will consist of three CHRB “official” veterinarians: Dr. Barrie Grant, D.V.M., Dr. Nolton Pattio, D.V.M. and Dr. Tim Grande, D.V.M. Del Mar will have four additional veterinarians: Dr. Dana Stead, D.V.M.; Dr. Helmuth Von Bluecher, D.V.M.; Dr. Alina Vale, D.V.M., and Dr. Laurie Bohannon, D.V.M.

Following a safety measure the track put in place last year, two of the veterinarians again will be assigned to elevated observation stations in the mornings to oversee workouts and gallops on the racing surfaces. Should one of the veterinarians see something untoward with a horse, they have the capacity to have the animal removed from the track and examined for possible injuries or negative conditions.

Other noteworthy officials for the session – which will have racing on a Friday-through-Sunday basis each week and finish on Labor Day Monday, September 7 – include Bridget Crawford, paymaster of purses; Jennifer Paige, horse identifier; John Lies, morning line maker and officer timer, and Victor Tovar, horseshoe identifier.

Leif Dickinson is back for his 21st year as Del Mar's turf and landscape superintendent, while main track guru Dennis Moore returns for his fourth summer as director of track maintenance.

Yet another returnee for the meeting is veteran head starter Jay Slender, spending his seventh year at the shore.

First post throughout the stand will be at 2 p.m.

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