FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 14, 2016
CONTACT
Mary Forney
(626) 574-6617
mforney@toconline.com
Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr., shown with his Thoroughbred Racing Walk of Champions bronze plaque. Pincay is among nearly 70 outstanding horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and other key figures who have been honored.
ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA – The Arcadia Historical Society’s Thoroughbred Racing Walk of Champions will celebrate the induction of honorees for 2015 and 2016 at a gala on Tuesday evening, May 24.
The event will be held from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. at the historic core of the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, site of Lucky Baldwin’s landmark Queen Anne Cottage and matching Carriage Barn and birthplace of racing in Southern California. The theme will be “Salute in Red and Black,” honoring Baldwin’s racing colors.
Equine inductees are champions Zenyatta and Lava Man. Champion jockey Chris McCarron, training stars Gary Jones, Ron McAnally, Mike Mitchell, and Mel Stute, and breeder/owner Buddy Johnston’s Old English Rancho also will be honored. Victor Espinoza, the only active jockey to have won racing’s Triple Crown, and who just piloted California Chrome’s comeback win at Santa Anita Saturday, will receive special recognition for his achievements in the sport and community service.
Proceeds from the celebration will fund the placement of 24” by 24” engraved informational bronze plaques in the sidewalks of downtown Arcadia. With the opening of the new Arcadia station of the Metro System Gold Line in March 2016, more attention than ever will be drawn to the business district adjacent to Santa Anita Park.
In addition to the Walk of Champions, several other Thoroughbred racing charities will be beneficiaries of the gala, including California Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Foundation (which serves the backstretch community with health services), Winners Foundation (providing confidential assistance for troubled members of the community), and California Thoroughbred Foundation (dedicated to the advancement of equine research and education).
The Steering Committee for the Walk of Champions includes Beth Costanza, Gail Marshall, and Sandy Snider, all with long ties to the city of Arcadia, who supervised its dedication in the historic downtown of the City of Arcadia on Sept. 27, 2014, as a permanent acknowledgement of the significant role horse racing has played in not only the city’s storied past, but also its promising future. Santa Anita Park is the Founding Sponsor of the Walk of Champions.