The New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) is sponsoring a stall at the New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program's Lexington facility named in honor of the late Rick Violette, Jr. An accomplished trainer and former president of NYTHA, Violette was a steadfast supporter of New York's horsemen and backstretch workers. He also believed passionately in aftercare for retiring Thoroughbred racehorses, creating the TAKE2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program and NYTHA's TAKE THE LEAD Thoroughbred Retirement Program, and serving as founding Board member of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA).
“We are deeply thankful to NYTHA for naming a stall at our Mereworth Farm location in honor of Rick,” said Anna Ford, New Vocations Thoroughbred Program Director. “Rick was an avid supporter of Thoroughbred aftercare and he became a wonderful friend as well as advocate for our program; he was always excited to hear how we were growing and expanding. I know he would be extremely pleased with this generous tribute from NYTHA–hundreds of retiring racehorses will be housed in this stall over the coming years as they begin transitional training for second careers. I know in my heart he would be profoundly happy to know the impact of his legacy.”
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