Liam Benson Joins Old Colony Insurance

Liam Benson has joined Old Colony Insurance as part of its team of farm and equine agents.

Benson, who grew up doing everything from foaling mares to training horses of racing age on his family's Ocala farm, attended the Equine Industry Program at the University of Louisville. He joined the stallion nominations team at Taylor Made Farm in 2017, while also managing his family's boarding operation in Lexington.

“I'm looking forward to joining the team at Old Colony in a way that I can continue to be around horses, while not having to focus in on a single facet of the industry at all times. It's great to be joining a team with such broad ranging experience,” Benson said.

“I've known Liam since he was at U of L and am thrilled to have him on the team,” said John David Christman, director of Old Colony's Farm & Equine division. “His background on the family farm, the racetrack and at Taylor Made, position him for a successful career in the bloodstock insurance business. He understands and embraces the Old Colony standards of unparalleled customer service and 24/7 accessibility.”

The post Liam Benson Joins Old Colony Insurance appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Dickinson Honored With Galbreath Award

The University of Louisville Equine Industry Program has named Michael Dickinson the 33rd recipient of the John W. Galbreath Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurship in the Equine Industry. In addition to training, Dickinson is also known for developing Tapeta Footings, the synthetic surface widely utilized for both racing and training.

Tapeta has been installed at Turfway Park in Kentucky and at Gulfstream Park in Florida, Golden Gate Fields in California and Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania, as well as facilities in Canada, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

“I am honored and flattered to receive the Galbreath Award,” Dickinson said. “The safety of the horse has always been a long-term goal of mine ever since I was a child when on small ponies I had to keep up with my mother, who was on a Grade A international show jumper. We used to jump post and rail fences, some with ditches and drops, and stone walls. Since then, I've always felt very grateful and indebted to all the horses I rode.”

A native of Yorkshire, England, Dickinson is perhaps best known as the conditioner of 1996 and 1998 GI Breeders' Cup Mile winner Da Hoss (Gone West). He was a champion steeplechase jockey before becoming a trainer, is a member of the Steeplechasing Hall of Fame and has four listings in the Guinness Book of World Records, including the record for the most racing wins [12] in one day. Dickinson owns and operates Tapeta Farm training center in Maryland.

“We are excited to present the 2022 Galbreath Award to Michael Dickinson for his contribution to the sport of racing through the creation of Tapeta and synthetic track surfaces,” K. Amy Lawyer, assistant professor and chair of UofL's Department of Equine Administration, said. “The nature of the Galbreath Award is to recognize innovation and business efforts that move the equine industry forward. Mr. Dickinson's business achievements added a new element to a sport that had been largely unchanged for centuries.”

The Galbreath Award is named for the late John W. Galbreath, a self-made man who distinguished himself in both business and as a horseman. The Darby Dan Farm founder was honored with the 1972 Big Sport of Turfdom Award and in 1974 he won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2018 as one of its esteemed Pillars of the Turf.

For information on the award presentation dinner to honor Dickinson to be held Mar. 30, contact Kimberly Spear at kimberly.spear@louisville.edu or 502-852-7727.

The post Dickinson Honored With Galbreath Award appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

John W. Galbreath Award Winner Announced

The University of Louisville Equine Industry Program has named Tom Aronson the 32nd recipient of the John W. Galbreath Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurship in the Equine Industry. Aronson is an original business architect of two of the most successful companies the history of horse racing, the Television Games Network (TVG) and Exacta Systems, both of which have become billion-dollar wagering companies since their creation. The award is named for the late John W. Galbreath, a self-made person who distinguished himself in both business and as a horseman. Previous Galbreath Award recipients include John A. Bell III, Cothran “Cot” Campbell, Tom Meeker and B. Wayne Hughes. Last year, the award was presented to Elizabeth James, Ph.D., an educator and equine career coach and co-founder of the Liberty Horse Association, the first organization supporting the discipline of liberty training. 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 post John W. Galbreath Award Winner Announced appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Commitment To Learning Paying Off For Upstart Trainer Lindsay Schultz

Connecticut native Lindsay Schultz wasn't exactly sure what her future held when she arrived in Louisville, Ky., as a college student. Enrolled in the Equine Industry Program at the University of Louisville, Schultz knew only that she liked horses. Aside from that, she was willing to be open to where the experience would take her.

On Jan. 8, 2022, just over three months after taking out her training license and just over a decade after her graduation from UofL, Schultz found herself exactly where she wanted to be: the winner's circle at Oaklawn Park.

“It was a pretty neat experience,” said Schultz, who saddled her first winner, an 8-year-old Scat Daddy gelding named Capture the Glory, to victory in a one-mile claiming race at the Arkansas track. “He went to the lead and beat the rest of the horses easily. It was great to see. It's nice when horses show you in the afternoon what they show you in the morning.”

Schultz's road to the training ranks has been an indirect, if educational one that began its realization back in Louisville, when she found herself gravitating towards the study and the business of racing. A lifelong horsewoman who had grown up competing hunter/jumpers and eventers, the breadth of opportunities available to young professionals looking to make a start in the industry appealed to Schultz off the bat.

“When I was at Louisville and we went to the Breeders' Cup that first year, I saw that this was an industry where I could have a career,” Schultz said. “I started prepping yearlings at Lane's End, and then I walked for Nick Zito in Saratoga. After I'd worked for Nick I had already been on the backside and I was more comfortable, so I began working before classes while I was still in school helping out his stable.”

Determined to expand her industry experience after graduation, Schultz took her business degree and her passion for racing to the barn of Tom Proctor. She would work for the Breeders' Cup winner only a handful of months in Saratoga before she was selected for the prestigious Darley Flying Start management training program.

For two years Schultz traveled the world with Darley. But when all roads led back home, Schultz returned to Proctor when he called and offered her a job.

“Tom called me when I was finishing and offered me a job. I came and worked for him as an office manager, foreman, and traveling assistant,” said Schultz. “I got my assistant trainer's license quickly so I got to go with some of the stakes horses and saddle them in their races, so that was fun. After a couple of years I had my own string at Arlington, then I was at Fair Hill Training Center for a couple years. It was about that time that Tom and I started talking about me going out on my own.”

But despite her serious mind to start her own string, the industry had other plans. Glen Hill Farm's Craig Bernick, a client of Proctor's, approached Schultz and asked her to move to Ocala, Fla. to manage his farm.

“That wasn't something I had had on my radar, but it was a relationship that I wanted to keep,” said Schultz. “It was a really good job and opportunity so I went. I was down there for about three years.

“It was a lot of breaking and pre-training as well as managing a 250-acre farm. We also set up the sales consignment while I was there, which was neat. We sold some really nice mares that way. But I wanted to get back to the track.”

Schultz's timing proved to be opportune. In the fall of 2020, trainer Shug McGaughey was looking for a new assistant, and Schultz fit the bill. She would spend almost a year with the Hall of Famer before the opportunity to start training on her own finally came back around.

That opportunity came in the form of Ten Strike Racing founding partner, Marshall Gramm. It was a contact Schultz had made and fostered through her former UofL roommate and good friend, Liz Crow.

In addition to being a partner in both the BSW/Crow Bloodstock and ELiTE Sales—both top-tier operations in the Thoroughbred industry—Crow also serves as the racing manager for Ten Strike Racing.

“When Liz went out on her own, Marshall Gramm was someone who really helped her do that, and Liz had introduced me to him maybe 6 years ago when I was at Fair Hill,” said Schultz. “At the time, Tom Proctor told me, 'If you want to train one or two horses by yourself while you're still working for me, feel free.' And Marshall had a horse he wanted to send to me.

“After leaving Tom I kept in touch with Marshall. He was nice enough to let me know that when I wanted to go out on my own that he had horses he wanted to send to me and that he wanted to help me get my start. That was my push to start.”

[Story Continues Below]

In addition to Ten Strike, who remains Schultz's primary owner, the budding trainer also runs horses for Allen Schubert and Scott Galloway, clients she met by way of her connection to Proctor.

With Oaklawn Park her base for the duration of the meet, Schultz now has eight horses in her barn including Capture the Glory, who races in the Ten Strike Racing colors.

“Capture the Glory was pretty neat, because the trainer I claimed him from, Will Gallagher, has been a friend since I claimed the horse,” said Schultz. “He's been great and he's helped me out at Churchill Downs and he called me after the horse won to congratulate me, which was so nice. The horse is so sound and he loves to train. He's 8-year-old by Scat Daddy, so it's neat to just have one of those in the barn.”

With her barn still in flux and plenty of time left in the year to make decisions, Schultz is happy to call Oaklawn home for the moment. Her forward-looking plans lie ahead with the 2-year-old sales, where she hopes to source new talent and new clients, building her stable and her business with equal conviction.

“Scott, Allen, and I tried in November to buy a couple horses of racing age and got outbid,” said Schultz. “I also tried this past January to get another one as well, but I was also outbid. So I will go to the 2-year-old sales to shop for them. Liz and I did put together a little syndicate to buy a Midnight Storm yearling in September and Liz picked her out so she will be my first official 2-year-old. That is something that's really fun to look forward to.

“I'll have to see where the best opportunities are for racing this summer. I love being in Kentucky, but I've also been on the East Coast as an assistant so I will see how it goes and then decide.”

As the latest leg of her journey builds on its opening success, Schultz credits much of her success to her friends and colleagues, who act as both support structure and cheerleading squad. But she finds her greatest lesson to be the one she brought with her to the equine industry program at UofL; remain open to the experience and to the people who can teach you all the lessons you need to know.

“I didn't grow up in this industry so I really did try to immerse myself in every aspect of this as much as I could,” said Schultz. “I think a lot of it is learning to pay attention to what the people around you are doing, and how the people you respect especially do things. You have to try and learn from everyone that you think is doing a good job. A lot of it is common sense and keeping it simple, but you have to learn from everyone around you, all the time.”

Capture the Glory winning at Oaklawn for trainer Lindsay Schultz

The post Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Commitment To Learning Paying Off For Upstart Trainer Lindsay Schultz appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights