cancer

After a years-long long battle with cancer, Southern California-based trainer Ben Cecil has passed at the age of 56. He leaves behind his wife Kirsty, and two children, Francesca and Hugo. A near 30-year training career yielded 325 victories and nearly $25 million in prize money. He conditioned several Golden State heavy weights including multiple Grade I winners Golden Apples and Squeak, along with top-flight winners Donna Viola and Passinetti. As nephew to legendary British trainer Henry, Cecil's lineage suggested no other career path than the one taken. His father...

Melanie Giddings had originally planned on a no-stress summer when she decided to move her fledgling stable from its home base at Palm Meadows up to New York for the Saratoga meet. "I had said, 'Why don't we just go up to Saratoga and enjoy ourselves?'" Giddings recalled with her signature easy smile. "No pressure, no nothing. Just take the horses there and see what we can do." Those expectations went out the window pretty quickly when a filly named Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) landed in her barn. The...

Kentucky Derby contender Cyberknife (Gun Runner) will be greeted Thursday morning by three Cancer survivors from the Brown Cancer Center in Louisville, Kentucky. The colt is owned by Al Gold, who named the colt after the machine that was instrumental in his prostate cancer treatment. The survivors--Stacy McCaslin, Vivian Wilson and Bennie Jones--will watch the horse train, meet Gold, trainer Brad Cox and jockey Florent Geroux. Also in attendance Thursday morning, Dr. Neal Dunlap, who is the chair of Radiation Oncology at UofL Health and the Brown Cancer Center. Dr....

Joe Trawitzki is a trainer's dream. As an owner, he takes the bad news with the good, he always puts the horse first and of course, he shows up at the barn with two dozen doughnuts in tow. But while Joe is eagerly anticipating the debut of his 2-year-old filly this year, he's not sure if he will have the opportunity to see her reach the starting gate. [Elite_video_player id="2" html5videos_hd="https://player.vimeo.com/external/551543400.sd.mp4?s=7dcd0b0f22836a9d40ef92966eb07b4c40909afe&profile_id=165" html5videos_videoThumbnails_jpg="" html5videos_title="Mayo Miracle" prerolls="https://player.vimeo.com/external/519962879.sd.mp4?s=9d576079a6a7a3ddcffa7f2eba1a769c2ca70def&profile_id=165"] On May 21, 2020, the Wisconsin native went to the hospital for what he thought...

Indiana Grand Racing & Casino recently donated $5,000 to the Cancer Association of Shelby County, which provides assistance to patients currently fighting cancer. The Cancer Association of Shelby County was unable to hold its major fundraiser this year due to COVID-19 restrictions. The donation, part of Indiana Grand's year-end initiative to give back to the local community, was made during a special presentation at the track. "We have many team members that have battled cancer in the past or are currently dealing with the disease," said Elena Lisle, Indiana Grand's...

Pat Smullen, Irish Champion Jockey nine times throughout his career, passed away on the evening of Sept.15 at St Vincent's Hopsital in Dublin, Ireland. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March of 2018, he was 43. Smullen began riding out as an apprentice for Tom Lacy, and made an immediate impact, being named champion apprentice both in 1995 and 1996. He also rode for Joanna Morgan and after serving his apprenticeship, Smullen rode for various other trainers, including John Oxx, and Tommy Stack before joining forces as first call rider for...