NYRA Employees Strike Against Autism

NYRA employees, friends and family turned out in force to Bowl for Autism Saturday evening (1/24/09) at Sheridan Lanes in Mineola. NYRA co-sponsored the Nassau County bowl-a-thon to support the work of Autism United, a not-for-profit group whose mission is to advocate for children and their families dealing with Autism, and raise awareness about this growing epidemic. In addition to NYRA’s sponsorship, individual team members raised over $500 to help fight autism on Long Island.

For more information, please visit the Autism United website: http://www.autismunited.org/index.php

New York Jockey Flexes Her Muscles for MDA Muscle Team Buddies

GRIDIRON GREATS FLANK ROOKIE RIDER--New York, NY---New York Jets kicker Jay Feely (left) and New York Giants Pro Bowl defensive end Justin Tuck (right) loom large over 19-year-old jockey Maylan Studart, at Tuesday night’s MDA Muscle Team 2009, an annual fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association held last night (1/6/09) at Chelsea Piers in New York.

Studart, a native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, began riding in New York last fall and is currently a jockey at the New York Racing Association's Aqueduct Racetrack.

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Tuesday night marked the third straight year that a New York jockey has joined New York Jets, Giants, Islanders, Red Bulls and other top athletes at the annual “MDA Muscle Team,” a gala event at New York’s Chelsea Piers that raised nearly $1 million in support of the work of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Jockey Maylan Studart, a 19-year-old apprentice rider from Brazil, represented the New York jockey colony, posing with some of the top names in New York sports and appearing on stage with her Muscle Team Buddies -- local children living with Muscular Dystrophy.

Jockeys Edgar Prado, John Velazquez, Norberto Arroyo Jr., Javier Castellano and retired jockey Angel Cordero Jr. have all participated in past MDA Muscle Team events.

The MDA Muscle Team is a high profile sports dinner where professional athletes join together to put their muscle behind the search to find treatments and cures for neuromuscular diseases. MDA combats neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive medical and community services, and far-reaching professional and public health education. With national headquarters in Tucson, MDA has more than 200 offices across the country, sponsors 230 hospital-affiliated clinics and supports nearly 400 research projects around the world.

Russ Salzberg, a racing fan who anchors the WWOR-TV sportscasts, was the event’s emcee.

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Jet Meets Jock---New York, NY---Kris Jenkins, who will represent the New York Jets at the upcoming Pro Bowl, towers over another professional athlete on the New York scene, jockey Maylan Studart, at the MDA Muscle Team 2009, an annual fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association held last night (1/6/09) at Chelsea Piers in New York. Studart, a 19-year-old from Brazil, is currently riding at the New York Racing Association's Aqueduct Racetrack.

Racing Celebrating the Sport of Kings...in Queens

Community Board #10 Chair Betty Braton, State Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer, and State Senator Serphin Maltese assembled in the Aqueduct Racetrack winner's circle on Saturday to present the trophy for the 103rd running of the Queens County Handicap to Mike Luzzi and Jeff Runco, jockey and trainer of winning horse Researcher, while friends and family look on.

The jockey attributed the win to the "perfect trip" Researcher had around the Aqueduct oval, but the trainer's trip was anything but perfect trip. “This is my first graded stakes win and it means even more getting it in New York. But I almost didn’t get to New York. My flight got delayed into JFK and I only got here a half hour before the race,” Runco said.

Racing to Support Jamaica Hospital

After Saturday’s second race at Aqueduct, New York Racing Association officials presented a $4,000 check to representatives of Jamaica Hospital, the community beneficiary of the proceeds of last weekend’s “Stocking Stuffer” promotion. “We are pleased to help support such a fine community asset and all the good work it does,” said NYRA Community Relations Manager Joanne Adams.
From left to right: Roberta Goro, the hospital’s Director of Development; Dr. Antonietta Morisco of the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center Board of Trustees; NYRA Community Relations Manager Joanne Adams; jockey Sebastian Morales, winner of the second race; and NYRA President & CEO Charles Hayward.

Manhassat Food Drive and Holiday Show

NYRA was pleased to donate its promotional giveaway items to the Annual Manhasset Food Drive and Holiday Show. NYRA joined the Mets, Yankees, NBA, WNBA, Giants, Islanders, Jets, Rangers, and the Knicks in providing sports items for this event.

Joanne Adams, NYRA’s Community Relations Manager, is presenting one of numerous giveaway items to John Minogue, an organizer and founder of the Annual Holiday Show. The Bayview Civic Association organized the first show in 1995 for all of the children in Manhasset. Food donations benefit Island Harvest.

Toys for Tots

The United States Marine Corps’s annual “Toys for Tots” program was a big winner at Aqueduct Racetrack over the weekend.

Trainer Gary Contessa pledged 10 percent of his earnings on Saturday to the cause, and that total was matched by the New York Racing Association. The minimum to Toys for Tots was $2,000.
Meanwhile, Big A fans and employees contributed four giant boxes of new toys. Cash contributions were still being calculated on Sunday.

USMC Major Chuck Kilbride and Gunnery Sergeant Alexander Mesa represented The Marines, and NYRA President and Chief Executive Officer Charles E. Hayward made the presentation of the donations.

The weekend also helped Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, as fans donated $1 to the center and received a NYRA free giveaway item.

NYRA Honors Great Horse and Great Cause

New York Racing Association COO Hal Handel (right) presents NYRA’s check for $5,000 to Exceller Fund board members photographer Barbara Livingston and writer Steve Haskin while Exceller Fund founding member Joel Einhorn and his wife Jeannie look on, before the running of yesterday’s fourth race, named for Exceller, a horse best known for his victory over two Triple Crown winners, Seattle Slew and Affirmed, in the 1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Nineteen years after than landmark victory Exceller died tragically in an overseas slaughterhouse. In his memory, the Exceller Fund was created to “provide a future beyond the finishline” for thoroughbred racehorses. For more information on the Exceller Fund, log-on to excellerfund.org