Prominent horse owner, breeder, and racetrack owner Richard Duchossois will be honored as the Thoroughbred Club of America’s Honored Guest at the annual Testimonial Dinner on Jan. 9, 2011. The event will take place at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington.
Tickets for the dinner and more information can be obtained from the TCA at 859-254-4282 or via e-mail to executive director Betty Flynn at BSFlynn@aol.com.The Honored Guest award is bestowed each year to honor a “person selected by the club for rendering outstanding service to or contributing toward the betterment of Thoroughbred racing and/or breeding.”
A long-time director of Churchill Downs, Inc. and a member of The Jockey Club, Duchossois was honored with an Eclipse Award of Merit in 2004 for his contributions to racing.
A prominent horse owner and breeder, Duchossois is best known for his management of Arlington Park, which is now owned by Churchill Downs Inc. In that role, Duchossois established the Arlington Million and oversaw the rebuilding of the track in 1985 after the grandstand was destroyed by fire. That year’s Million was run only 25 days after the fire and was dubbed the “Miracle Million,” earning the track the first of three Eclipse Awards it has received.
The track’s second Eclipse Award was earned in 1987 for the production of 10 television shows featuring Arlington Park’s major Thoroughbred stakes races. In 1989 the track earned its third Eclipse Award for the complete reconstruction of the racetrack.
In 2002, Duchossois was named a co-winner of the National Thoroughbred Writer’s Association Joe Palmer Award for “meritorious service to racing” and Duchossois personally received the 2004 Eclipse Award of Merit, in recognition of his lifetime achievements in Thoroughbred racing.
On the international front, Duchossois has received the Gold Medal from The Jockey Club. Duchossois is also founder and chairman of The Duchossois Group, a family-owned company based in Elmhurst, Ill., that is also involved with rail car and defense product manufacturing.