By Sue Finley
The following is part of a series in which we have posed the question above to a number of racing industry participants. The only rule is that you cannot choose your own boss.
ERIC HAMELBACK, CEO NATIONAL HBPA: John Nerud
When asked to write in the Thoroughbred Daily News the person I most admire, I was flattered before quickly realizing how hard it would be to narrow it to one person. My professional career is crammed with individuals from Louisiana to Canada whom I greatly admire and who have shaped me as a professional horseman. All that said, one person sums up everything I consider valuable within the thoroughbred racing industry: John Nerud.
Mr. Nerud is an industry icon in so many ways. For me it comes back to his work ethic, someone who rose to the top by starting from the bottom, and those he saw as the racing industry's most important stakeholders. Born in Nebraska, Mr. Nerud started as a rodeo cowboy, then as a groom and hotwalker, even a jock's agent in New England. He served his country in the Navy during World War II before returning to racing as an assistant trainer. The rest, to racing's good fortune, is history.
Mr. Nerud understood that racing drives our industry. The founding father along with John Gaines, Mr. Nerud defined the Breeders' Cup as a marketing tool for racing–nothing else. My admiration for him and what he stood for was then crystallized in a two-part interview with Steve Byk in 2008.
“You have one big day to draw attention to racing and it's a marketing tool. Without racing, breeders don't have a place to sell their horses,” Mr. Nerud told Steve. I have tried to champion that creed since, including pleading in the July 13, 2010 edition of TDN to make sure racing is in the forefront of every breeders' planning–not commercialism. Later that day, I had a phone message from Mr. Nerud that I will always keep and cherish, along with the memory of our phone conversation the next day.
In that relatively short phone call, Mr. Nerud conveyed advice and how he saw the industry that will last me a lifetime. He said we have two types of true stakeholders: givers and takers. Suffice to say he made sure I was aware the importance of the givers. Owners and our customers, he explained, drive the racing industry. In that brief conversation, he instilled the importance of standing up for owners, trainers and handicappers. In so many ways, Mr. Nerud has shaped my thoughts on the industry, as well as how I act in my position as CEO for the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. To submit your own reply to our `Admire' series, email suefinley@thetdn.com
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