Friends, Associates Pay Tribute to Sam Huff at Memorial Service

“Sam Huff saved the Thoroughbred breeding and racing industry in West Virginia.”

That declaration was made by Ken Lowe, the chairman of the West Virginia Racing Commission, as approximately 150 friends and business acquaintances gathered Monday afternoon at the Middleburg Community Center in Middleburg, Va. to pay tribute to Robert Lee “Sam” Huff. The Pro Football Hall of Fame football player and Thoroughbred owner and breeder died Nov. 13 from complications of dementia in Winchester, Va.

Lowe was one of several speakers at the service, which was held just a few furlongs from the farm where Huff lived on with his longtime partner Carol Holden.

Among them was J.W. Marriott, Jr., the 89-year-old executive chairman of Marriott International, who fondly recalled Huff's long association

with the company as the vice president for special markets. He told the story about Huff's persistent request for one of the parking spots at Marriott headquarters that were reserved for Marriott board members. Shortly after Mr. Marriott granted Huff's wish, several other vice presidents complained. So, Mr. Marriott told those who complained that those spots were reserved “for board members and anyone else in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”

Leonard Shapiro, a former sports writer and editor at The Washington Post, who co-authored Huff's autobiography “Tough Stuff,” talked about Huff's upbringing in a coal mining camp near Farmington, WV.

Frank Herzog, one of Huff's longtime radio broadcast partners covering the Washington Redskins, shared tales of their time together in press boxes across the country. (Huff spent more than 30 years as a broadcaster for the team.)

The 35th edition of the West Virginia Breeders Classics, co-founded by Holden and Huff in 1987, was held Oct. 9. The event has now generated more than $29 million in purses for the breeders and horsemen of West Virginia. In recent years, Huff served as the chairman emeritus; Holden still serves as president.

Lowe read an official resolution honoring Huff from the West Virginia Racing Commission that read in part:

“Sam Huff's efforts grew the West Virginia Breeders Classics into a premier event, bringing local and national television coverage to showcase the State of West Virginia, Jefferson County, Charles Town and the hard working people of the racing and breeding industries of West Virginia…The West Virginia Racing Commission would like to issue this resolution in honor of Sam Huff for his support, contributions and unwavering dedication to the Thoroughbred racing industry, the West Virginia Racing Commission and the State of West Virginia.”

Also in attendance was trainer Graham Motion, who trained Huff's stakes-winning filly Bursting Forth.

The service concluded with some personal remarks from Huff's namesake and grandson Robert Lee Huff III and music provided by the Mount Pisgah Baptist Church's gospel chorus.

Contributions in Huff's name may be made to Aftercare Charles Town, PO Box 136, Ranson, WV 25438. The 501(c)(3) organization is responsible for rehoming Thoroughbred racehorses that have raced at Charles Town.

The post Friends, Associates Pay Tribute to Sam Huff at Memorial Service appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Sam Huff, 87, Passes: NFL Legend Played Big Role In West Virginia’s Thoroughbred Industry

Sam Huff and his partner Carol Holden were driving back to their West Virginia home after attending the inaugural Maryland Million races at Laurel Park in 1986 when Huff came up with the idea of having a similar day for state-breds.

“We're going to do that in West Virginia,” Huff said, according to a 2011 Bloodhorse.com article by Tom LaMarra.

Sure enough, they did.  The first West Virginia Breeders' Classic was held at Charles Town Races less than a year later, thanks to Huff's tireless advocacy for horses bred in West Virginia and fueled by a fiercely competitive personality that earlier in life made him among the most feared players in the National Football League.

Huff and Holden sold sponsorships for the event and found additional revenue from uncashed pari-mutuel tickets. The initial running, which included Charles Town's first-ever $100,000 race, was a success, and it's steadily grown over the years, becoming second only to Charles Town Classic day.

The couple also bred and raced horses in West Virginia and hosted a radio show, Trackside, that ran for 28 years, ending in 2016, when Huff began suffering from dementia. His condition led to a court fight later that year between Holden and Huff's daughter over his custody and care.

Huff died on Saturday in Winchester, Va., at the age of 87.

Born Robert Lee Huff on Oct. 4, 1934, in Edna Gas., W.Va., Huff was called Sam at early age and never learned why, according to a 1988 autobiography. Growing up in Coal Camp No. 9, he was from a family of coal miners but escaped that occupation when he accepted a football scholarship to West Virginia University, where he played both offensive and defensive line positions and was named an All-American before being drafted by the New York Giants in the third round of the 1956 NFL draft.

During his years in the National Football League, Huff was known for an aggressive defensive style that led CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite to narrate a documentary, “The Violent World of Sam Huff,” that aired as part of the network's “Twentieth Century” series. As the leader of the New York Giants defense, he helped the team reach the NFL title game six times in eight years before being traded to the team then known as the Washington Redskins, where he finished out his career and worked as a commentator on the team's radio broadcasts for 38 years, retiring in 2013.

Huff was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982.

 

The post Sam Huff, 87, Passes: NFL Legend Played Big Role In West Virginia’s Thoroughbred Industry appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Jockey Bocachico’s Eight Wins Sets Charles Town Record, Trainer Runco Scores Seven

At Charles Town Races Saturday night, the West Virginia Breeders' Classics card featured nine races for horses bred in the Mountain State, with $1 million in purses on the line. The evening was not only a showcase for state breds, but also for two regulars at the Charles Town, W. Va., track. Jockey Arnaldo Bocachico set a single-card record with eight wins from his nine mounts and the track's leading trainer Jeff Runco scored seven victories from his 16 starters.

Bocachico, a native of Puerto Rico, has called Charles Town his home track since he started riding in 2006. He logged his first career graded stakes win there in 2016, winning the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks on Covey Trace, and scored his 2000th career victory in March. Saturday, he started the evening with a win in the West Virginia Vincent Moscarelli Memorial Breeders' Classics Stakes on Run to Daylight, the favorite. The streak continued with wins in all but Race 3, where Bocachico finished fourth. Seven of his winners were favorites.

Bocachico's eight victories from nine mounts best the record of seven on a Charles Town card set by jockey Travis Dunkelberger in 2000. In addition to Run to Daylight, Bocachico's winners included The Sky Is Falling (Race 2), Social Chic (Race 4), Door Buster (Race 5), Penguin Power (Race 6), Star of Night (Race 7), Muad'dib (Race 8), and Stowe Angel (Race 9). All but Door Buster were horses trained by Jeff Runco.

Runco, a regular on the West Virginia circuit and currently Charles Town's leading trainer with 101 wins, stands at number 12 on the list of winningest North American trainers, behind such names as Steve Asmussen, Todd Pletcher, Bill Mott, and D. Wayne Lukas. After a short career as a jockey, Runco started training in 1984, and, according to Equibase statistics, has 4,494 wins from 20,992 starters.

Owner David Raim also had five winners from his five starters the West Virginia Breeders' Classics card, all trained by Runco and ridden by Bocachico.

The post Jockey Bocachico’s Eight Wins Sets Charles Town Record, Trainer Runco Scores Seven appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Charles Town Approved For 174 Live Racing Days In 2021

​With less than two months remaining in its 2020 racing season, Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races has finalized the dates for its 2021 meet following approval for its live racing calendar received at the West Virginia Racing Commission's November meeting held earlier Tuesday morning.

The track's 2021 calendar calls for a total of 174 live days running from Jan. 6 through Dec. 18 with live racing conducted on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the first four months of the year as well as the last three months with live programs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday's the remainder of 2020. Post time for each card is currently slated for 7:00 P.M. EST.

Charles Town intends on submitting its 2021 stakes schedule, which will include the Charles Town Classic (G2), Charles Town Oaks (G3) and West Virginia Breeders' Classics for approval in the coming weeks.

The post Charles Town Approved For 174 Live Racing Days In 2021 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights