Media Advisory: Triple Crown Winning Jockey, Owner to Present MDA’s Touch of Class Award During 40th Anniversary Celebration of Secretariat’s Triple Crown

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Secretariat’s Triple Crown winning jockey Ron Turcotte and Owner Penny Chenery will join Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance to present the Maryland Horse Industry Board’s Touch of Class Award to three deserving recipients during the Maryland Jockey Club’s 40th Anniversary Celebration of Secretariat’s Triple Crown accomplishment at the AFI Silver Theater, Tuesday, May 14..

The agenda for the celebration event includes:

• 6:30 p.m.: A live taping of ESPN.com’s “In the Gate” podcast, which will offer an in-depth conversation about Secretariat and the now-settled controversy of his record-breaking time in the Preakness.

• 7:30 p.m.: Screening of the documentary, “Secretariat’s Jockey Ron Turcotte,” which traces Mr. Turcotte’s remarkable rise to fame in 1973, the fall that left him a paraplegic in 1978, and his emotional journey back to the people and places that marked his life.

• 9:00 p.m.: Private VIP Reception for ticketed guests and Touch of Class Presentation.

The three Touch of Class recipients to be honored are:

• Trainer Graham Motion who recently won the $10 million Dubai Gold Cup, the world’s richest horse race. Mr. Motion is based at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton. This will be his second Touch of Class Award. (He received the first after winning the Kentucky Derby with Animal Kingdom, the same horse which won the Dubai Cup.)

• Jockey Mario Pino, Maryland’s all-time leading jockey and 10th on racing’s all time win list with nearly 6,500 wins. Mr. Pino is also the 2013 winner of the George Woolf Award, a national lifetime achievement award for jockeys presented annually in California. His daughter will accept the award on his behalf.

• Author Patrick Smithwick Jr., who wrote Flying Change, A Year of Racing and Family and Steeplechasing. The book received the prestigious 2013 Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award, which recognizes the best book written nationally about horse racing. This will be the first time the Touch of Class Award will be presented to honor equine literature.

The Touch of Class Award was established in 2011 to honor Maryland horses, individuals, teams, organizations or events that demonstrate the highest standards of excellence in Maryland’s horse industry. For a list of all previous recipients.

WHAT: The Maryland Horse Industry Board Presents in May Touch of Class Award in partnership with the Maryland Jockey Club and American Film Institute’s 40th Anniversary Celebration of Secretariat’s Triple Crown.

WHEN: Tuesday, May 14, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: American Film Institute, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. (http://www.afi.com/silver/about/directions.aspx)

WHO: Ron Turcotte, Secretariat’s jockey; Penny Chenery, Secretariat’s owner; Buddy Hance, Agriculture Secretary; Jim Steele, Maryland Horse Industry Board Chair; Tom Chuckas, President of the Maryland Jockey Club and Karin DeFrancis, Maryland Jockey Club & Maryland Horse Industry Board; and Touch of Class recipients.

Note: The event will benefit in part the Secretariat Foundation, which supports charities and organizations that meet the Thoroughbred racing community’s needs including: veterinary research into lameness; Thoroughbred retirement and rehabilitation facilities; and therapeutic equestrian programs. All events, including the reception (which requires a purchased ticket), are open to the public. For ticket information.

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