Eclipse Award: Cash is King Stable, Special Award

Cash is King Stable not only owned a racehorse that attracted the interest of the general public last year, but it actively contributed to a charity that garnered funds through the horse's success on the track.

That special combination earned Cash is King Stable the 2005 Special Eclipse Award.

Cash is King is comprised of managing partner Chuck Zacney of Phoenixville, Pa.; Bob Brittingham of Collegeville, Pa.; Joe Judge of Surf City, N.J.; Joe Lerro of Langhorne, Pa.; and Jennifer Reeves of Philadelphia. The partners own Afleet Alex, who last year won the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) and Belmont Stakes (gr. I) en route to an Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male.

Afleet Alex was named for the son of Zacney, as well as the daughters of Lerro and Brittingham. In late September 2004, after Afleet Alex had registered his fourth win from as many starts as a 2-year-old, Zacney read about Alex's Lemonade Stand, a foundation that evolved from a young cancer patient's front yard lemonade stand to a nationwide fund-raising movement for childhood cancer.

Alexandra Scott, an 8-year-old Connecticut girl, died Aug. 1, 2004. When the Cash is King partners learned the charity planned to continue its efforts, they decided their colt could contribute to the cause.

Cash is King Stable pledged a portion of Afleet Alex's future earnings to Alex's Lemonade Stand, and along with their trainer, Tim Ritchey, donated time and visited children's cancer wings of hospitals in Louisville, Baltimore, and New York before Afleet Alex's Triple Crown races. By the end of 2005, Alex's Lemonade Stand had raised more than $3.5 million during the preceding 12 months -- its best year by far.

Cash is King Stable partners said jockey Jeremy Rose, and publicists J.J. Graci and Anita "Samm" Saint Clair, also contributed their time and energy to the fund-raising effort.