Marty Wygod

It almost feels like he's on the other end of some celestial phoneline, listening in and smiling. Because somehow Marty Wygod seems to have arranged things so that family and friends, since mourning his loss in April, could be consoled by an afterglow of the same vitality that had sustained his 84 years. First a colt gifted to his daughter Emily Bushnell and longtime racing adviser Ric Waldman took them to the GI Kentucky Derby; and now another graduate of his program has assisted its transition with a $2.4 million...

His contentious prohibition from Churchill penalizes many others besides Bob Baffert and his loyal patrons. A shot at the GI Kentucky Derby, once-in-a-lifetime for most, is also being denied to everyone else with a stake in his horses' development, from those on duty at the foaling shed to the pre-trainer to the feed company. And, of course, there's nothing like a Derby winner to market a stallion. As things have turned out, a setback means that Nyquist would have lost the services of Nysos even had he moved to another...

After a long lifetime marked by notable wins on the racetrack and in the business world, prominent owner-breeder, entrepreneur and philanthropist Marty Wygod has passed away aged 84. "I have so many good memories of Marty Wygod. I was telling Emily [Bushnell, Wygod's daughter] this morning, one of my favorite things about Marty was he had a great sense of humor," said trainer John Shirreffs, who conditioned some of Wygod's heaviest hitters on the track. Wygod, said Shirreffs, was also something of a prankster. "The first time I met him...

Emily Bushnell and Ric Waldman's Resilience (c, 3, Into Mischief--Meadowsweet, by Smart Strike) punched his ticket to the GI Kentucky Derby for Hall of Famer Bill Mott in an eventful renewal of Saturday's GII Wood Memorial S. at Aqueduct. Last out Aqueduct maiden winner Society Man (Good Magic), off at boxcar odds of 106-1, was second. Another longshot Protective (Medaglia d'Oro), a maiden of two starts, was third at 38-1. The race was marred by a spill in the stretch when the Uriah St Lewis owned/trained-longshot Deposition (Constitution) appeared to...