TIEA Awards

Congratulations to Robert Cole, one of three finalists in the Newcomer Award category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. Cole, an intern/co-op program student at Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association (FTBOA), retired after 20 years in the U.S. Coast Guard and went back to an early love for Thoroughbreds as he was considering his next career, saying he wanted to be immersed "in anything that was Thoroughbred racing." Cole was pursuing an equine exercise and physiology degree at the College of Central Florida when he...

Congratulations to Patrick 'Shawn' Autry, one of three finalists in the Dedication to Racing Award category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. Currently the assistant stable manager for McPeek Racing and Kenny McPeek's Magdalena Farm, Autry got his first pony, named Fireball, when he was just five before moving on to breaking and exercise riding at a young age. He took out his trainer's license in 1981 at the age of 19. A 1994 accident while working a horse left him paralyzed, but he still dabbled...

Congratulations to Marcelo Arenas, one of three finalists in the Dedication to Racing Award category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. Currently the assistant trainer at Leah Gyarmati Stables, Arenas is originally from Chile, where both his father and his grandfather were trainers. He moved to the U.S. two decades ago and worked his way through the ranks of walking hots, grooming, and being a foreman before finally becoming an assistant trainer. He spent 15 years with Gary Contessa before moving to Gyarmati's barn five years...

Congratulations to Gregory Smothers, one of three finalists in the Dedication to Racing Award category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. Smothers is the head rider at Niall Brennan Stables and has been a part of the operation for more than 30 years. Upon leaving the military, he started on a farm doing maintenance, then learned how to ride on a pony. Brennan was leaving his position at Kinsman Farm as head trainer at the time and going out on his own, and Smothers went with...

Congratulations to Roy Smith, one of three finalists in the Leadership Award in Racing category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. The track superintendent at Indiana Grand Racing and Casino, Smith has been "a track man [his] whole life." He says he was born and raised at Indiana Grand, as his father was a trainer. He grew up walking hots, became a groom, ponied, became an assistant track superintendent, and did just about everything on the backside other than become a trainer, a route he knew...

Congratulations to Cindy Hutter, one of three finalists in the Leadership Award in Racing category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. Currently assistant trainer at George Weaver Racing, whose principal also happens to be her husband, Hutter grew up in Pennsylvania and knew from about the time she was 15 that she wanted a life with horses. One of her earliest employers was Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, whom she stayed with for eight years until leaving with Todd Pletcher to become his assistant trainer...

Congratulations to Carmen McShane, one of three finalists in the Leadership Award in Racing category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. McShane has been in the racing industry for more than three decades and currently serves as assistant trainer at D/M Racing, which is headed by her husband, Dave McShane. She has also been a jockey, exercise rider, outrider, and farm worker. "She is the first one to the barn and the last one to leave," said her daughter, Michelle McShane. "If there were more hours...

Congratulations to Helen Otero, one of three finalists in the Dedication to Breeding Award category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. The Ireland native started with Coolmore in 1993 working in the barns and became a veterinary nurse before moving to the office. She has truly shined in the role of stallion administrator in one of the busiest breeding sheds in America. "When the breeding season starts," said Coolmore America's manager, Dermot Ryan, "we basically hand the keys and the driver's seat to Helen and she...

Congratulations to David Kyle, one of three finalists in the Dedication to Breeding Award category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. Kyle was just out of high school when he moved to Lexington and began working for Fasig-Tipton in 1987. Now the plant manager at the Newtown Pike location, Kyle has 33 years under his belt overseeing the facility, preparing the grounds for the sales, and helping to make the sales process run smoothly for both consigners and horses. "No day is too long, no task...

Congratulations to Steve Avery, one of three finalists in the Dedication to Breeding Award category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. The Wisconsin native has been in the horse industry for over four decades and has been part of Taylor Made for the last 20 years. Among the champions he's raised or managed are Havre de Grace, Princess Rooney, Songbird, and Speightstown. "His responsibility, his reliability, his work ethic: it's just phenomenal," said Taylor Made's Logan Payne. "Even on vacation, he walks his dog, Henry, up...

Congratulations to Matt Lyons, a finalist in the Leadership Award in Breeding category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. A native of East Galway, Ireland, Lyons graduated from the Equine Science and Business program at the University of Limerick. He began his stateside employment with the late Gerry Dilger at his Dromoland Farm over two decades ago. After stints at Taylor Made Farm, ClassicStar Farm, and Woodford Thoroughbreds, Lyons has been a part of Candy Meadows, an arm of Everett Dobson's Cheyenne Stables, as its senior...

Congratulations to Christy Holden, a finalist in the Leadership Award in Breeding category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. Holden has been the general manager of Maryland's Country Life Farm, including its Merryland division, since 2015 after first working at Country Life 30 years prior as a teenager. She eventually returned to Country Life in 2004, beginning in the office and working her way up to broodmare manager and finally general manager. Holden, who has also served on the board of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association...