Stakes-winning jockey Anthony "Tony" Dlugopolski, who rode for 25 years before suffering injuries in a 2001 spill at Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort that left him a quadriplegic, died at age 60 Nov. 9 at his home in New Manchester, W.Va.
Dlugopolski's mounts earned more than $10.5 million in purses in his career from 1976-2001. Some of Dlugopolski's top mounts included stakes winners Hello Babe and L. M.'s Rullah Due. He won 3,453 races from 25,428 starts at tracks in Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Dlugopolski is survived by children Chad Dlugopolski and wife Nina of New Cumberland, W.Va., and Nichole Cooper, also of New Cumberland, and a niece that he raised as his own, Adri Martinez of North Carolina.
Friends are invited to visit with family at the Arner Funeral Chapel in Chester, W.Va., Nov. 13, when they will be present from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. Father Jeeson Stephan will preside for Catholic Funeral Rites at the funeral home at noon Nov. 14.
