(Edited press release)
Chick Lang, known as the father of the modern day Preakness Stakes (gr. I), has been named senior racing advisor at Kentucky Downs, the track's president Corey Johnsen announced Aug. 15.
Lang will promote the upcoming live racing season of the western Kentucky track, which runs from Sept. 15 -25.
When it comes to lineage in American horse racing, the Lang family's roots run deep. Chick Lang's father, Chick Lang, Sr., was the winning jockey in the 1928 Kentucky Derby, and his grandfather, J.P. Mayberry, was the winning trainer at the 1903 event.
"I wasn't brought or lead into horse racing, I was born into it," said Lang.
Other than being a jockey like his father, Lang said he has worked in every job imaginable at a race track, from stable boy to general manager.
Lang's grandson, Bart, is now a fifth generation horseman as the racing office manager at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas.
While running Pimlico in the 1960's, Chick Lang took a leading role in the Preakness and helped catapult the popularity of the event into one of the most high-profile horse races in the world.
Lang also served as Lone Star Park's senior racing advisor and co-founded and organized the All-Star Jockey Championship.
Working at Kentucky Downs is not Lang's first association with the Franklin race track, as he was a consultant at the facility when it was opened in 1990 as a steeplechase race course called the Dueling Grounds. In 1997, the facility was sold and became Kentucky Downs.
Led by Johnsen, a new ownership group purchased the track this spring.
"Chick Lang has been a trusted advisor and mentor to me for many years," said Corey Johnsen. "His love of the game and knowledge of Thoroughbred racing is second to none. I am proud to have him on our team."
