Horse Board names Touch of Class Award Recipients for the First Quarter

Equestrians from Montgomery, Caroline and Cecil Counties Honored

Left to Right: Sharon Roberts, Exec Director, Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Assoc.; Tom Cooke, President, Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Assoc.; Ken Wood, Touch of Class Award recipient; Del. Steven Arentz, Md. Eastern Shore

ANNAPOLIS, MD (March 24, 2016)—The Maryland Horse Industry Board—a program within the Maryland Department of Agriculture—has named the recipients of its monthly Touch of Class Award for January, February and March. Karen Kraushaar of Darnestown (Montgomery County), Ken Wood of Denton (Caroline County) and Scott Serio of Colora (Cecil County) were recognized for their excellence in three different equestrian disciplines.

Kraushaar received the January Touch of Class award for riding her 13 year-old horse Pirata to the 2015 National Paso Fino Performance Stallion Championship at the Paso Fino Grand National Show and Expo in Lexington, KY. The horse has won more than 60 champion and reserve championship awards, mostly with Kraushaar aboard. She and her husband Kevin operate Simple Gift Farm in Montgomery County. The board presented its award to Kraushaar at a reception during Horse Industry Day in Annapolis (Feb. 23), with several state legislators and government officials in attendance.

The February award was presented to Ken Wood at the Maryland Standardbred Breeders Association annual banquet on Feb. 26—just days before he flew to Fort Lauderdale, FL to receive a national championship trophy for his 4-year-old Standardbred gelding, JL Cruze.

Wood purchased the horse with two partners for $37,000 a year ago.  Since then, the horse has set or equaled two world trotting records, increased his career earnings to $627,456 and won 17 of 24 races. Wood is also known nationally for his humanitarian efforts. His company, Lifetime Well Drilling on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, has drilled wells in Ghana and Tanzania that have provided free water to more than one million people. He has been recognized internationally for his efforts and has been featured on the “Today Show” and in numerous publications.

The March Touch of Class Award will be presented to Scott Serio April 13 at Goucher College Riding Center in Towson. Serio also received Thoroughbred racing’s Eclipse Award for his photograph of Triple Crown winner American Pharaoh working out prior to his last championship race in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup. After 20 years as a Baltimore City police officer, Serio started Eclipse Sportswire, a network of sports photographers that specializes in photographing horse events.

The Touch of Class Award is named after a Maryland-bred mare who won two gold medals in the 1984 Olympics. It is presented to Maryland equestrians and horses who have achieved national and international recognition. More than 100 Marylanders–and their horses–have been honored in 26 different equestrian disciplines since the program began nearly five years ago.

For more information about the Maryland Horse Industry Board and the Touch of Class Awards, contact Executive Director Ross Peddicord at ross.peddicord@maryland.gov or 410-841-5798.

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