Jenny Kellner
NYRA

ELMONT, N.Y. – Carl Lizza, one of the leading owners on The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit for many years, died early Friday morning at his home in Rockaway, N.J. He was 73.

Lizza, who campaigned horses under the nom de course Flying Zee Stable, was NYRA’s leading owner at the time of his death with 31 victories in 2011, including Street Game’s triumph in the Grade 3 Hill Prince on June 18. The leading owner in New York in 2004 and 2005, Flying Zee Stable was also among the top 10 owners from 2006-2010.

A horse owner for more than 30 years, Lizza campaigned dozens of stakes winners, notably Wayward Lass, who won the Grade 1 Mother Goose and Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks en route to an Eclipse Award as the nation’s top 3-year-old filly in 1981. Lizza also campaigned multiple stakes winner Cosmonaut, who won the 2006 and 2007 Arlington Handicaps, becoming the first horse since Round Table (1958-59) to take consecutive editions of the race, and Noble Nashua, who in 1981 won the Marlboro Cup, the Dwyer, Jerome, Swaps, and Whirlaway Stakes. Other stakes winners included Key Contender, Screen King, Thunder Achiever, I Lost My Choo, Golden Commander and Kevin’s Decision.

Lizza purchased his first horses in 1976 and had his first winner at Aqueduct in March that year with Bag of Beans.

“Carl was a wonderful owner who was very passionate about horse racing,” said NYRA President and CEO Charles Hayward. “He celebrated many terrific victories in New York, and his presence at the racetrack will be sorely missed.”

Lizza, owner of several construction companies in New York and South Carolina, purchased the 800-acre Highcliff Farm in Delancon, N.Y. in 1989 with his business partner, Joseph Bartone, and operated it as a commercial breeding establishment. Among the stallions standing at Highcliff are Congaree, Key Contender, Stonesider, Western Expression, and Cosmonaut.

“He will be missed,” said Suzie O’Cain, who with her husband, C. Lynwood O’Cain, managed Highcliff Farm for Lizza. “He was a delightful man to work for, and with. He had made all his plans for Saratoga and was looking forward to the meet.”

Lizza is survived by his wife, Vianne. Funeral arrangements are pending.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – First-time winner Leandro Goncalves, defending titlist Mike Maker and record-setting owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey are the recipients of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Media awards for 2009, and the champions will be honored at Churchill Downs on closing day Sunday, July 4 in the Trackside Winner’s Circle immediately following the second race at 1:16 p.m. (all times Eastern).
 
The KTM awards annually recognize the Kentucky-based owner, jockey and trainer with the most wins in the calendar year at the commonwealth’s five Thoroughbred tracks. They are given in conjunction with The Jockey Information Systems and Equineline.com, which provide the statistical data.
 
Goncalves, in his first full year on the Kentucky circuit, won 174 races, 36 more than two-time KTM winner Julien Leparoux, including taking Turfway’s 2009 fall title. His victories included capturing Churchill Downs’ River City Handicap with Rahystrada and Keeneland’s Raven Run with Satans Quick Chick.
 
Winning the KTM Owner of the Year Award for the 10th straight year are Ken and Sarah Ramsey of Nicholasville, who last year swept both Churchill Downs meet titles and captured Keeneland’s fall crown. Horses carrying the Ramseys’ familiar red-and-white silks won 75 races in Kentucky, 16 more than Louisville businessman Billy Hays.
 
With the Ramseys a major client, Maker powered to his second KTM Trainer of the Year honors with 96 victories, 36 more than second-place Kenny McPeek. His victories included the Kentucky Cup Classic with the Ramseys’ Furthest Land and the Churchill Downs Stakes with longshot Accredit. In capturing the winter/spring meet crown, Maker won a fifth straight title at Turfway.
 
Kentucky Thoroughbred Media is an organization of journalists, publicists and photographers who cover the state’s Thoroughbred racing and breeding industries. The Jockey Club Information Systems is a multimedia information and service provider incorporated in 1989 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Jockey Club. Equineline.com, also a subsidiary, offers Internet-based reports for breeding, racing and sales information for Thoroughbreds and American Quarter Horses, along with management programs for owners, breeders, trainers and farms.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Betty L. Mabee, who with her late husband, John, helped build one of the west’s great Thoroughbred breeding empires and played a key role in the blossoming of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and Del Mar racetrack, died Monday at about 7 p.m. at her home in nearby Rancho Santa Fe. She was 88.

Mrs. Mabee passed “peacefully and quietly,” according to her son, Larry, who noted that his mother had finally succumbed to an extended illness.

A warm, personable woman with an easy smile, Mrs. Mabee made a point of carving out time in her busy life to be deeply involved in numerous charitable organizations and programs during more than half a century in the San Diego area. She had a special love for projects involved with children in need and was a founding member of Voices for Children and the Angels of Aseltine Auxiliary.

Mrs. Mabee, a native of Unionville, Mo., grew up in Iowa and married John, her high school sweetheart, to start a partnership that was to last for 60 years and see them reach great heights in the world of business, as well as fame and fortune in the Thoroughbred industry.

The Mabees moved from the heartland to San Diego during World War II and opened a mom-and-pop grocery store that evolved into the 30-store Big Bear Supermarket chain. Subsequently, the Mabees started and ran Golden Eagle Insurance Co., California’s third-largest workers’ compensation carrier with more than 1,300 employees. But the couple discovered their true love in 1957 when they bought two horses for $6,000 at the Del Mar Yearling Sale.

That small investment led to the founding of Golden Eagle Farm in Ramona, California, which grew from 197 to 568 acres at its height in the early 2000s.  The farm began with a handful of horses that expanded to more than 400 racing and breeding stock — supplemented by an additional 150 head that were quartered in Kentucky — during a highly successful run that saw the Mabees become not only the leading breeders in California, but national champions and Eclipse Award winners in 1991, 1997 and 1998.

Among the Mabees many equine successes, the best of all — and Mrs. Mabee’s personal favorite — was Best Pal, a rugged California champion they bred and foaled at their farm who went on to win more than $5.6 million, including the 1991 inaugural running of Del Mar’s most prestigious race, the $1 million Pacific Classic.

Following the death of her husband in 2002, Mrs. Mabee agreed to join the board of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club as a director, a role she served in until 2008, when she took on the title of Director Emeritus.

Besides her son, Mrs. Mabee is survived by three grandchildren.

Service arrangements have not been made final.

(Keeneland Association release)

Lexington, Ky. – Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton have jointly announced changes to their November sales schedules to better accommodate horsemen attending the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita, to be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 6-7.

Because of the scheduling adjustments, Keeneland’s November Breeding Stock Sale will begin Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 10:00 a.m. and run through Sunday, Nov. 22.  Fasig-Tipton will conduct its Selected Mixed Sale on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 5:00 p.m.

“Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton stand as an example of industry cooperation,” said Breeders’ Cup Limited President & CEO Greg Avioli.  “Breeders’ Cup appreciates their willingness to take this step for the good of the industry.”

Mark Taylor, President/Chairman of the Consignors and Commercial Breeders Association, echoed Avioli’s sentiment.  “We applaud the decision of both Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton and their efforts to further enhance the sales and racing experience for our buyers.”

The 2009 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, one of racing’s most prestigious events, annually attracts the best horses from North America and Europe.  It is the richest prize-money event in sports, consisting of 14 races and purses totaling $25.5 million.

Keeneland President & CEO Nick Nicholson and Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said in a joint statement:  “We felt this was the right thing to do given the significance of the Breeders’ Cup.  By adjusting our sales schedules, we will enable horsemen attending the Breeders’ Cup to fully participate in the November sales schedule.”

Armonk, N.Y. – David Lanzman, co-owner of 2009 Kentucky Derby morning line favorite I Want Revenge, has formed a partnership with Jeff Singer in the  July 18 purchase of a 2-year-old colt, Colin Stakes winner Fearless Cowboy.  

Moved to the barn of Kiaran McLaughlin, last year’s leading trainer at Saratoga Race Course, Fearless Cowboy is a likely contender for the Aug. 20 Saratoga Special (Grade 2). By El Corredor out of the Forest Wildcat mare Fearless Wildcat, he won the Colin Stakes at Woodbine on July 18 following a second place finish in Woodbine’s Victoria Stakes on June 14.
       
Lanzman sold a 50 percent interest in the Kentucky Derby-bound I Want Revenge to IEAH Stables in March after the colt won the March 7 Gotham Stakes (Grade 3) at Aqueduct by an impressive 8½-lengths, which earned him a 113 Beyer speed figure. The colt followed the win in the Gotham with a score in the coveted Wood Memorial, but was scratched from the May 2 Kentucky Derby due to filling in his ankle that was discovered on the morning of the race.

“I am thrilled to be partnered with Dave on the ownership of this promising colt,” said Singer.  “Dave and I met this year during I Want Revenge’s campaign to the Derby and I look forward to some fun times together with him at the track.”

Singer, a well know Thoroughbred owner campaigned 2007 Southwest Stakes (Grade 3) and Woody Stephens (Grade 2) winner Teuflesberg who finished 17th in the Kentucky Derby that year.

The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) Thursday announced that the William Stamps Farish Fund has pledged $1 million to the PDJF, which supports some 60 former riders who are permanently disabled as the result of on-track catastrophic injuries. The gift will be annualized in four equal contributions beginning in 2009. 

“Advanced medical technologies, better training and improved racetrack safety measures have made horse racing much safer for riders but no sport is ever risk-free,” said Will Farish, President of the Houston, Texas-based William Stamps Farish Fund and owner of Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky. “It is my hope that members of the racing community will join me in supporting the PDJF, not only to help meet the day-to-day needs of our disabled athletes but to build an endowment that will provide a permanent funding source for their long-term care.”  

Racetracks, corporate sponsors, horse owners, jockeys, horsemen’s groups as well as industry businesses and organizations have contributed to the PDJF since its inception.  More than $2 million has been disbursed to disabled jockeys since 2006. 
“We are deeply grateful to Mr. Farish for his commitment to the PDJF and the disabled athletes it supports,” said Nancy LaSala, executive director of the PDJF. “Thanks to his generosity and leadership the PDJF can now focus more attention on building the endowment that will ensure that financial assistance for our disabled riders will always be available.”

The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund is a registered 501(c)(3) public charity. Contributions to the PDJF may be directed to: PDJF, P.O. Box 803, Elmhurst, IL 60126. All contributions are tax-deductible. For inquires contact Nancy LaSala at (630) 595-7660. For more information visit www.pdjf.org.

Lexington, Ky. — Overbrook Farm, founded and developed by the late William T. Young into one of North America’s most successful breeding establishments, announced Tuesday, June 9, that it will completely disperse its Thoroughbred yearlings, breeding stock and the majority of its horses in training, beginning at Keeneland’s September Yearling Sale.

“Over a period of more than 30 years my father developed Overbrook Farm into one of the most successful and respected breeding operations in the world,” said Bill Young Jr.  “The decision to disperse is a personal one that came after a great deal of thought. I simply don’t have the same passion for the Thoroughbred sport that my father did, despite my respect for the business.”

Overbrook Farm, which is located outside of Lexington, bred, raced and has been the home of perennially leading sire Storm Cat, who was pensioned last year.

“The retirement of Storm Cat ended a phenomenal era at Overbrook,” continued Young.  “The dispersal will give buyers a unique opportunity to purchase families that previously have not been available commercially.”

Overbrook has bred and raced a long list of champions, classic and Breeders’ Cup winners including 1996 Kentucky Derby victor Grindstone and 1999 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Cat Thief along with champions Boston Harbor, Flanders, Golden Attraction and Surfside.  Overbrook also bred and raced dual classic winner Tabasco Cat, in addition to racing champion Preakness winner Timber Country and Belmont winner Editor’s Note.

Overbrook received an Eclipse Award in 1994 as outstanding breeder.  The farm has bred 113 stakes winners including 62 group/graded stakes winners–21 group/grade 1.

Approximately 200 horses will comprise the dispersal.  It will include approximately 75 broodmares, 50 weanlings, 50 yearlings and 20 to 30 horses of racing age.  Bill Young said Overbrook will continue to campaign a small racing stable under the direction of his son, Chris.

“Our goal is to lease the farm as a Thoroughbred operation,” continued Bill Young.

The dispersal, with Eaton Sales as agent, will begin with the sale of yearlings at Keeneland’s annual September Sale, which will start September 14.  Weanlings, broodmares and horses of racing age will be sold during the November Breeding Stock Sale.  The dispersal will continue during the January Horses of All Ages Sale.

“The late W. T. Young established a tradition of excellence at Overbrook,” said Keeneland President Nick Nicholson. “ Keeneland had the privilege of selling many sons and daughters of the great Storm Cat.  Now we have the opportunity to offer our buyers horses from the outstanding Overbrook families.”

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – David J. Lanzman, who recently announced the 50 percent sale of his homebred Derby contender (I Want Revenge) to IEAH Stables, has purchased 25 percent of IEAH’s leading 3-year-old filly, Stardom Bound, it was announced Tuesday.

“I am thrilled to be a part of this great filly’s 2009 campaign,” Lanzman said.  “She’s an amazingly talented filly and we are expecting a big effort from her in next weekend’s Ashland Stakes.  We’re looking forward to the thrill of running a starter in both of the industry’s two biggest races for three year-olds at this year’s Oaks and Derby.”  

Stardom Bound, the 2-year-old Champion Filly of 2008, is a leading contender for the Kentucky Oaks and will make her next start in the $400,000 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland Race Course on April 4.

“We are thrilled to further our relationship with David soon after closing on the I Want Revenge transaction,” said IEAH’s President, Michael Iavarone.  “We look forward to continuing to further this relationship in the future.  We’re excited about the opportunity to have leading contenders in both the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks.”

The 3-year-old daughter of Tapit is now owned by IEAH, Lanzman, Paul Pompa Jr., Michael Dubb, and Golden Goose Enterprises LLC.  She has five consecutive Grade 1 victories to her credit, including her most recent score in the March 7 Santa Anita Oaks. In 2008 she won the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Her career earnings to date total $1,780,600.

John “Jack” Dreyfus, Sr., the “Lion of Wall Street” who became one of Thoroughbred racing’s more prominent owners, died Friday. Chairman of the New York Racing Association’s Board of Trustees in 1969 and 1975, Dreyfus was 95.

Born August 28, 1913, in Montgomery, Ala., the founder of the Dreyfus Funds graduated from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. He is widely publicized for being the man who “invented” the commonplace mutual fund through direct marketing to the public.

He sold the fund in the early 1970s, and then became a major advocate of phenytoin, a drug used to control depression. Drawing on his own experience, he wrote a book, A Remarkable Medicine Has Been Overlooked.

Racing fans, however, knew him as the owner of the 2,200-acre Hobeau Farm in Ocala, Fla., which he sold in February, 2005 for more than $12 million. He named the farm after he combined his once secret desire to be a hobo with the first name of his first horse, Beau Gar. 

“Jack Dreyfus was a major figure in the field of Thoroughbred racing and a prominent owner of Hobeau Farm for more than 40 years,” said NYRA President and Chief Executive Officer Charles E. Hayward. “Jack was the consummate racing enthusiast and he will be long remembered and dearly missed.”

With Hall of Famer H. Allen Jerkens as his trainer, Dreyfus campaigned such horses as Beau Purple, who defeated five-time Horse of the Year Kelso three times in the 1960s, including the ‘62 Man o’War Stakes – the last stakes race at “old” Belmont Park –  Onion, who defeated Triple Crown winner Secretariat in the 1973 Whitney at Saratoga; Prove Out, who upset Secretariat in the 1973 Woodward at Belmont Park; Handsome Boy, who defeated Buckpasser in the 1967 Brooklyn Handicap and Blessing Angelica, who won the Delaware Handicap in 1971 and 1972.

Other top Hobeau horses were Chas Conerly, Duck Dance and Kelly Kip. 

It was Hobeau Farm that helped Jerkens earn the nickname “The Giant Killer.” In 1975, Jerkens, at age 45, was the youngest trainer at the time to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.   

“Jack was just a great guy,” Jerkens said from Florida. “I met him in 1962 when Pat Lynch (the late NYRA vice-president) came up to me and said that Jack wanted to see me. Pat told me that Jack was building a new farm in Ocala and that I really should talk to him.

“I was leading trainer at the (Aqueduct) spring meet at the time we met. Three days later, he gave me six horses – including Beau Purple – -and all of them won. I trained for him exclusively for 20 years. And then, one day, he told me I had better get some more owners because he didn’t have enough good horses for me. He was just a terrific person.”  

Dreyfus married in 1939 Joan Personette, from whom he was divorced; they had one child, John (Jonny). Dreyfus’ paternal grandfather was a first cousin of Alfred Dreyfus, who was unjustly found guilty of treason in the infamous Dreyfus Affair of 1894.

Harry Aleo, a prominent Northern California horse owner who gained worldwide attention with 2005 sprint champion Lost in the Fog, died at his home in San Francisco Saturday with his longtime companion, Deannie Bartlett, at his side.  Aleo, who succumbed to cancer, was 88.

A native of San Francisco, Aleo was signed to a minor league contract by the Brooklyn Dodgers as a third baseman but saw his baseball hopes dashed when he blew out his elbow in spring training in 1940.
 
Aleo joined the Army and fought under Gen. George Patton in the Battle of the Bulge.  Aleo returned to San Francisco after serving his country and started Twin Peaks Properties, a San Francisco real estate agency he owned and operated until his passing.

Aleo became involved in horse racing in 1979 when he met trainer Greg Gilchrist, the only conditioner he would ever employ.  Aleo and Gilchrist purchased a horse at Pleasanton named Sunny Shy, who finished fifth in his debut at Bay Meadows.  Sunny Shy made his second start at Golden Gate Fields and won but was claimed out of the race by another trainer.

Harry was hooked on horse racing and spent the rest of his life in the game.  Although Lost in the Fog was the best horse he ever campaigned, Aleo also owned stakes-winners Minutes Away, Beyond Brilliant, Smokey Stover, Vicarino, Victorina, and Wild Promises, who captured the Yerba Buena Stakes at Golden Gate Fields on June 8.

In addition to Ms. Bartlett, Aleo is survived by daughters Carol, Terri, and Valerie, and three grandchildren.  Services are pending.