NOR CAL HORSE VAN OPERATOR HIATT HONORED WITH WHITE HORSE AWARD
The Race Track Chaplaincy of America (RTCA) has awarded Steve Hiatt, a horse van operator in Northern California, with the seventh annual White Horse Award.
The White Horse Award recognizes racing-related heroic acts on behalf of humans or horses. Hiatt, a resident of San Pablo, often answers distress calls to transport critically ill or injured horses to the University of California-Davis veterinary hospital.
Hiatt, day or night, also assists horsemen who experience mechanical break downs with a van or trailer full of horses. He performs most of these services for free.
Hiatt will be honored at the White Horse Hero's Luncheon at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia on Thursday. The luncheon is co-sponsored by the Daily Racing Form, Harris Farms, and Taylor Made Stallions.
Carolyn Conley of Horse Racing Television’s morning show "Race Day America" and Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day will serve as co-hosts of the luncheon, which will include a silent auction to benefit the RTCA.
Items in the auction include signed memorabilia from Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay Jr., autographed drawings by world-renown racing cartoonist Peb, and leather halters worn by Rachael Alexandra and several leading Breeders' Cup contenders, including Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.
Tickets for the luncheon are still available by contacting the RTCA National Office at 310-419-1640.
The RTCA is an inter-denominational ministry dedicated to providing for the spiritual, emotional, physical, social, and educational needs of the horse racing industry workforce.
The RTCA is in its 37th consecutive year of service.
JOCKEY SUSTAINS CONCUSSION -- Jockey Deborah Hoonan-Trujillo sustained a concussion when she fell off her mount, King Congo, after her saddle slipped during the stretch run of the fifth race at Golden Gate Fields Saturday.
Hoonan-Trujillo, who came off King Congo just inside the sixteenth pole, was taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland for a CT-scan.