Sheffield, a junior studying equine business administration, is a seasonal event coordinator at Churchill Downs, where she plans and orchestrates corporate and personal events. This is no easy task given all the moving parts and details to manage. She also is a for the Keeneland Association, where she is learning the behind-the-scenes operations of the horse industry. To build on her experience, Sheffield plans to work with the this upcoming summer in Washington, D.C. Her passion for horses and connections in the industry is leading her to follow a career path in the field.

Versocki is from the small town of Saratoga, New York. The UofL sophomore plans to double major in equine business administration and marketing.

“The Equine Industry Program at UofL is the best in the country,” said Versocki, whose love for horses started at a young age.

Fueled by her passion for the horse industry and with the help of the UofL’s equine program, Versocki landed the Churchill Downs internship as a luxury concierge. She assists with numerous social occasions, many of which deal with high profile celebrities including horse owner Tom Pletcher who has three horses racing in this year’s Kentucky Derby.

Both College of Business students credit UofL’s Equine Industry Program for giving them opportunities to succeed in the field they love. In addition to their work at Churchill Downs, they’ve received opportunities to participate in other internships, as well. They also acknowledge the mentorship of K. Amy Lawyer, director of the Equine Industry Program.

“She’s one of my favorite people – I can turn to her for anything,” Sheffield said.

Sheffield says she plans to pick Tapit Trice to win the 2023 Kentucky Derby, and Versocki is betting on Forte. Win or lose, their Churchill Downs experience has proved to be a sure bet.

In recognition of his innovations to improve the safety of horse racing, the����has named Dickinson the 33^rd��recipient of the John W. Galbreath Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurship in the Equine Industry.

“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 Showjumper. 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,” Dickinson said.��“I am honored and flattered to receive the Galbreath Award.”

A native of Yorkshire, England, Dickinson was a champion steeplechase jockey and trainer prior to becoming a successful Thoroughbred trainer in the United Kingdom. Since coming to the U.S. in 1987, he has won more than 80 stakes races in the U.S. and Canada. In 2000, he led all New York-based trainers with a win percentage of 35% from starters. One of his greatest achievements in training was conditioning 1996 Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Da Hoss to a repeat win in that race’s 1998 renewal at Churchill Downs after a two-year layoff.

Dickinson 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 in one day – 12.

In 1996, Dickinson began building his own Thoroughbred training facility, , in Maryland, employing the most innovative technology in equine care and horse husbandry. Unsatisfied with available track footings, he began developing , now recognized as a safe, consistent all-weather synthetic surface for racing and training Thoroughbred horses.

“The focus on safety for its equine and human athletes is paramount in horse racing today,” said Michele Fischer, president of horse racing and gaming consulting firm Darting Star LLC in his nomination. “Michael has demonstrated a willingness to take personal and career risks in the development of a new racing surface. In the beginning, he was met with great reluctance by an industry resistant to change. He has continued to refine the science and today the Tapeta surface has been installed at racetracks and training centers across the world.”

Tapeta 10, the latest version of Tapeta Footings, has substantially reduced equine fatalities and outperformed conventional dirt and turf surfaces. Tapeta surface 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.

“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,” said K. Amy Lawyer, assistant professor and chair of UofL’s Department of Equine Administration. “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.”

Recipients of the��Galbreath Award��are selected by a committee of faculty in the in the UofL College of Business.

The award is named for the late John W. Galbreath, a self-made man who distinguished himself in both business and as a horseman. The 32^nd Galbreath Award recipient was Tom Aronson,��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 became billion-dollar wagering companies. A list of all Galbreath Award laureates and nomination information is available at the website.

For information on the award presentation dinner to honor Dickinson to be held March 30, contact Kimberly Spear at kimberly.spear@louisville.edu or 502-852-7727. A video of the presentation of the Galbreath Award will be available on the�� after the event.

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.��

“Tom Aronson is a true ‘horse enterprise architect,’ as defined by the criteria governing this award,” said Ted Nicholson, senior vice president of Kentucky Downs, in nominating him. “He turned a youthful fascination with horses and horse racing into what has been a remarkable career highlighted by repeated innovation, business building and cutting-edge thinking for the industry.”

TVG is the pioneering national television network and groundbreaking account wagering platform.��As the company’s chief business development officer in the 1990s, Aronson secured the live racing content from America’s most prominent racetracks needed to fuel the network. He also devised a national revenue-sharing scheme to properly compensate all of racing’s stakeholders as the new company moved horse racing into legal home wagering coupled with daily national broadcasting.��

More recently, Aronson helped launch Exacta Systems into the world of Historic Horse Racing (HHR), the electronic entertainment that has fueled the rapid growth of racetrack revenues and prize monies (purses) over the past decade.��Since 2015, Exacta has generated over $14 billion in bets on races and more than $1.2 billion in revenue for racing, including allocations to purses paid to horse owners and breeders that helped revitalize the sport in Kentucky, Wyoming and Virginia.

“Horseracing in Kentucky is only as strong as the health of the game. Many of Tom’s initiatives have been significant in building the industry and helping it become more mainstream and available to people,” said Karl Schmitt, president and CEO of the Louisville Sports Commission. “He is passionate about horseracing. He also is very analytical – he understands how to analyze an issue from a theoretical perspective, and he has practical experience, so that is the best of both worlds.”

Upon graduating from Harvard in 1977, Aronson chose a career with horses as his personal and professional path, serving first as an executive assistant at Harness Tracks of America and then as director of legislative affairs for the American Horse Council in Washington, DC. In 1989, Aronson started his own marketing, development and analytics company, ., from which he stepped periodically to build other companies.��The first of these was AXCIS Information Network, subsequently AXCIS TrackMaster, now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Jockey Club.

Aronson also served as corporate vice president of programming and product development at Churchill Downs, Inc., and as a faculty member at UofL in the Equine Industry Program, where he instructed students in entrepreneurship, networking, business capitalization and enterprise building.

“I am privileged to have had the opportunity to help build two of the horse industry’s greatest start-ups from the ground up,” Aronson said of his TVG and Exacta experiences. “Helping to make horse sports more economically viable in a challenging world has been an exciting and rewarding career for me, and the honor accorded to me here by the University of Louisville is truly gratifying.��The list of previous winners is breathtaking, and I am deeply appreciative of the inclusion and recognition.”

The award is named for the late John W. Galbreath, a self-made man 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.

“Horses and horse sports are not naturally inclined toward change,” Aronson said.��“Horses in America have survived and prospered despite momentous changes around them over the past 125 years.��They have earned and deserve the tireless efforts of all of us to keep their many uses viable, safe, proactively recognized and participated in by the public.��My career has been all about doing that, and the acknowledgment the John Galbreath Award represents is a genuinely great reward.”

Recipients of the ��are selected by a committee of faculty in the Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship in the UofL College of Business.

NOTE: The presentation of the Galbreath Award to Tom Aronson will be streamed live on the on Wednesday, April 20, from 7:30-8:15 p.m.

“We have a lot of kids, college kids who ride in our barn; they lost all their tack, grooming supplies, helmets, boots … anything you think you would want for your horse,”�� Debbie Snyder of River View Stables, which leased the barn, told .

The team has received some online support from the . “Our hearts go out to the Equestrian Team at the for their devastating loss,” they wrote.

Anyone who would like to help can donate at this page. To read more about the equestrian team, visit its .

For more information about the team and UofL’s Equine Industry Program in the College of Business, visit this page.

James is a lifelong equine enthusiast who turned her love of horses into a career as an educator and equine career coach. She also co-founded the Liberty Horse Association, the first organization supporting the discipline of liberty training.

“I am most proud of the role I’ve gotten to play in helping other people accomplish their career goals.��From students in higher education to clients as a coach, nothing has meant more to me than getting the call when they landed their dream job or their dreams were becoming reality,” James said.

See the award presentation , released March 23, 2021.

For a decade, James served as a lecturer and internship coordinator at the University of Kentucky, where she received her Ph.D. In 2018, she founded Equine Career Coach, an equine career coaching program, and co-founded the International Liberty Horse Association, the first association dedicated to the discipline of liberty training. In liberty training, the horse performs completely free of tack and equipment, instead relying on trust and attention to verbal or other cues from the handler. James earned her bachelor of science in animal science from the University of Nebraska and her master of science in animal biology from the University of California – Davis.

“Elizabeth epitomizes the cream of the crop when it comes to being a horsewoman: She has the academic background all the way through a Ph.D., has experience in many facets of the industry, from working with ranch horses to thoroughbreds, to owning and managing a horse training facility, to being an equine entrepreneur, to starting an association and launching a career coaching business,” said Fernanda C. Camargo, associate professor and equine extension specialist at UK, in nominating her for the award.

James said she is honored to be recognized by UofL.

“I have always seen UofL as the premier program when it comes to equine business, so to be recognized by these professionals carries more weight than I can say,” James said. “On top of that, to see the caliber of people who have won this award before me – people I admire, and to think a committee selected me to be among them is very humbling.”

Recipients of the 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 .

The award is named for the late John W. Galbreath, a self-made man who distinguished himself in both business and as a horseman. Previous Galbreath Award recipients include John A. Bell III, Cothran “Cot” Campbell and Judith Forbis. The 2019 winner was B. Wayne Hughes, who re-established Spendthrift Farm as one of the largest stallion stations in the world through innovative marketing techniques such as the “Share the Upside” program.

Nominations for the 31^st annual award, presented by the UofL Equine Industry Program, are being accepted through Oct. 30.

The award is named for the late John W. Galbreath, the first person ever to breed and race Kentucky Derby winners (Chateaugay and Proud Clarion) and an English (Epsom) Derby winner (Roberto). He received Eclipse Awards as racing’s “Man of the Year” in 1972 and as the country’s outstanding breeder in 1974. Galbreath was heavily involved in importing top Thoroughbred stallions from overseas, including Ribot and Sea-Bird II.

Galbreath built a small local firm into an international real estate/project development company. His interests included the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team and Darby Dan Farm, a Thoroughbred breeding and racing enterprise that won stakes races on three continents. He also served for many years as chairman of Churchill Downs.

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.

Previous awardees include John A. Bell III, Cothran “Cot” Campbell and Judith Forbis. The 2019 winner was B. Wayne Hughes, who re-established Spendthrift Farm as one of the largest stallion stations in the world through innovative marketing techniques such as the “Share the Upside” program.

The 2020 awardee will be announced in late fall and honored at a dinner in Louisville. More information is available online.

Always looking for ways to inspire new interest in the equine business, Hughes has created popular programs to encourage horse ownership and breeding. He is co-founder of the international self-storage company, Public Storage.

“B. Wayne Hughes helped shift the breeding industry paradigm significantly in the last decade,” said Sean Beirne, director of the equine program. “He has not been afraid to rethink and experiment to lead the industry in a new direction.”

The Galbreath Award has been given annually since 1990 to honor entrepreneurial leadership that has had a significant and positive impact on the equine industry. Galbreath was the visionary owner of Darby Dan Farm in Lexington and a former Churchill Downs chairman who distinguished himself as both a businessman and a horseman.

“Thoroughbred horse racing has been a tremendous passion of mine ever since my father took me to the races as a young boy. It’s something he and I got to share together, and I’ve been fortunate to be able to make it a large part of my life and share it with so many that are dear to me,” Hughes said. “There are few thrills greater than what horse racing can provide, and it is our responsibility to do a better job of improving this great sport so that future generations can enjoy it as much as John Galbreath did and as much as I have.”

This award is named for the late John W. Galbreath, a self-made man who distinguished himself in both business and also as a horseman. Born in Derby, Ohio, he built a small local firm into an international real-estate project-development company. His interests included the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team and Darby Dan Farm, a thoroughbred breeding and racing enterprise that won stakes races on three continents. He also served for many years as chairman of Churchill Downs.

Galbreath was the first ever to breed and race Kentucky Derby winners (Chateaugay and Proud Clarion) and an English (Epsom) Derby winner (Roberto). He received Eclipse Awards as racing’s “Man of the Year” in 1972 and as the country’s outstanding breeder in 1974. Galbreath was heavily involved in importing top Thoroughbred stallions from overseas, and among his selections were Ribot and Sea- Bird II.

A dinner and award presentation are scheduled for March 2 at the PNC Club in UofL’s Cardinal Stadium. For further information, email equine@louisville.edu.

The editors found themselves with dozens of boxes of bound BloodHorse magazines dating back to 1940 and no place to put them. They were a duplicate set, and some of them were even bound in a green cloth valuable to collectors.

“These magazines contain a wealth of historical information, and the last thing we wanted to do was throw them into a dumpster,” said Eric Mitchell, bloodstock editor at BloodHorse. “One of our first calls was to Sean (Beirne) at the UofL Equine Industry Program, which BloodHorse has supported for years by offering internships to students, providing guest lecturers, and hiring graduates of the program.”

That’s why, one cold day in March, Beirne and equine administrative assistant Liz Young found themselves driving to Lexington in a rented truck. What they came back with is unique to UofL.

BloodHorse Magazine’s donation to the University of Louisville Equine Industry Program marks the first time the program has been the recipient of a book collection. While the equine program is a part of the College of Business, the donated volumes will be kept in Ekstrom Library on Belknap Campus.

The collection consists of a continuous run of BloodHorse Magazine from 1940 to 2018 bound in 332 volumes. It contains more than 4,100 issues, many bound in green cloth. Also donated were a selection of Goodwin’s Turf Guides that date back to the mid- to late-1800s.

“This donation gives researchers an enormous amount of thoroughbred racing history and breeding in one place,” said Beirne, director of the Equine Industry Program. “On behalf of our students, faculty members and researchers, I thank BloodHorse for trusting UofL with this invaluable collection.”

UofL’s Equine Industry Program offers an accredited business degree with an equine focus. Graduates can be found in all aspects of the industry, from training to broadcasting.��

BloodHorse offers comprehensive and broad-ranging coverage of thoroughbred racing and breeding. The company’s website, , offers daily news, analysis, race entries and results.

“We were thrilled that UofL wanted the books and recognized their value,” Mitchell said. ��“It really does offer peace of mind that they have a home where they are appreciated and used.”

Blowen is the founder of Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement sanctuary based in Georgetown, Kentucky. A retired Boston Globe movie critic and arts journalist, he established Old Friends in 2003 and, ironically, the first big name Thoroughbred entrusted to his care was Sunshine Forever, who had been owned and beloved by the award’s namesake, Galbreath.

The Galbreath Award has been given annually since 1990 to honor entrepreneurial leadership that has had a significant and positive impact on the equine industry. Galbreath was the visionary owner of Darby Dan Farm in Lexington and a former Churchill Downs chairman who distinguished himself as both a businessman and a horseman.

A facility like Old Friends devoted solely to retired Thoroughbreds without bells and whistles to interest tourists “was an unproven idea … and skeptics predicted it wouldn’t work,” said attorney Milton C. Toby in his nomination letter for Blowen. “They were wrong.”

“I am flabbergasted,” Blowen said, “especially when I think that John Galbreath’s own Sunshine Forever helped me build a foundation for success. I had a simple idea and I was always surprised someone else hadn’t done it before me. This award reinforces our belief at Old Friends that aftercare is an important part of racing.”

Today, Old Friends has a main facility in Georgetown, Kentucky, and two satellite farms. It is unusual in that it accepts retired stallions. The organization has grown from a leased paddock and one horse to a 236-acre farm, a herd of over 200 rescued and retired horses, and the two satellite facilities: Old Friends at Cabin Creek just outside of Saratoga, New York, and Old Friends at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Kentucky.

“Michael Blowen represents everything the Galbreath Award celebrates,” said Sean Beirne, director of the equine program. “He saw an opportunity to showcase Thoroughbreds in their twilight years and let them continue to thrill their fans in a unique way. UofL is proud to acknowledge his achievements.”

A dinner in Blowen’s honor is scheduled for Jan. 16, 2019 at the University Club.