FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2019 RANDY ROMERO, CLASSY LATEST IN STRONACH SAGA: BELINDA FILES $15M DEFAMATION SUIT AGAINST FRANK CAJUN WITH DEFT TOUCH, By T.D. Thornton The bitter power struggle over the Stronach family empire STRONG SPIRIT, DIES AT 61 now includes a $15 million (CDN) defamation lawsuit filed by Belinda Stronach against her father, Frank Stronach, based on allegations he Ahas falsely and egregiously accused his daughter of having >stole[n]= and >manipulated= ownership and control@ of The Stronach Group (TSG), whose portfolio includes six United States racetracks. This latest piece of litigation comes after the 86-year-old family patriarch made a months-long series of comments at public events and in media interviews that his 53-year-old daughter, the chairman and president of TSG, is categorizing in court documents as Amalicious@ attacks on her reputation that are Afueled by his desire for publicity and notoriety.@ Cont. p7 IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Randy Romero | Coady AUSTRALIAN BLOODSTOCK SCOUTING PROTECTIONISTS The Australian Bloodstock team were By T.D. Thornton inspecting first-crop yearlings by their Melbourne Cup winner Randy Romero, the strong-willed Louisiana jockey who Protectionist on Thursday ahead of the BBAG yearling sale. parlayed ARagin= Cajun@ fearlessness as a bush-track phenom Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. into a Hall of Fame career highlighted by a gentlemanly demeanor and dramatic victories aboard championship distaffers, died peacefully just after midnight Aug. 29 at his home in Louisiana. He was 61 years old. The Jockeys= Guild confirmed his death. Romero=s deft, sure-handed horse-backing skills were eclipsed only by his reputation for having rock-solid spiritual faith in the face of numerous on- and off-track adversities. For decades he courageously battled liver and kidney troubles. In mid-June of 2019, Romero disclosed that he was receiving hospice care after doctors deemed him too weak to undergo further surgeries. Eddie Donnally, a retired jockey who is now an ordained minister, told TDN via email that he visited Romero last week, and that fellow Cajun jockeys Mark Guidry and Eddie Delahoussaye had also been at Romero=s home to be with him in his final days. He added that Romero=s older brother, Edward, became Randy=s caretaker after he began hospice care, and that Romero was surrounded by family members when he died. Cont. p3 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Friday, August 30, 2019 Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN News and Features Editor Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Amie Morosco Advertising Assistant/Dir. Of Distribution Rachel McCaffrey Photographer/Photo Editor Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] Social Media Strategist Preservationist (Arch) walks with Aaron Pahal Thursday morning after blowing out 3 Justina Severni furlongs in :36.66 over the Oklahoma training track ahead of Saturday's GI Woodward S. | Sarah Andrew Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes [email protected] FOLLOW THE BRICK ROAD TO BC CLASSIC 9 Marketing Manager Chris McGrath makes an argument for sending MGISW Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen turfer Bricks and Mortar to the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, Director of Information Technology following in the legendary hoofprints of his sire Giant’s Causeway. Ray Villa [email protected] Bookkeeper TDN MARE VISITS: STONESTREET STABLES Terry May 11 [email protected] Associate Editor Christie DeBernardis tours Stonestreet Stables, where she checks in with some of the farm’s WORLDWIDE INFORMATION top mares and their 2019 foals. International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 14 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • AUGUST 30, 2019 Romero Obituary cont. from p1 AHe fought so hard and so long and it took him a long time to find peace,@ said Edward Romero. ABut in the end he died in peace and had a peaceful look on his face. We=re all sad, but we didn=t want to see him suffer any longer and we know he is in a better place.@ With a reputation for being a hard-driven but fair competitor, Romero rode 4,294 winners while earning $75 million in purses in a career that spanned 26 years. He was best known for getting the most out of top-notch fillies and mares. Romero piloted Sacahuista (Raja Baba) to win the 1987 GI Breeders= Cup Distaff, then came back the next year to capture that same race in thrilling, come-from-behind fashion aboard Personal Ensign (Private Account), crowning her undefeated 13-for-13 career with style and panache. Personal Ensign (outside) & Romero besting Winning Colors in the BC Distaff | Horsephotos But while that famous Personal Ensign--Winning Colors (Caro {Ire}) stretch battle in the 1988 Distaff remains one of the most exciting photo finishes in the history of the sport, two years later Romero would have a more somber role in one of the game=s most tragic race endings. Romero had been the regular rider for the 1989 2-year-old filly champion Go for Wand (Deputy Minister). In the 1990 Distaff, she was locked in a tenacious stretch duel with Bayakoa (Arg) (Consultant=s Bid) that had the makings of another high-drama finish. But at the Belmont Park sixteenth pole, Go for Wand took a bad step and crashed to the ground with a cannon bone fracture. A dazed Romero, lifted off the track on a backboard while Go for Wand was euthanized, didn=t even know he had broken eight ribs in the spill and he insisted on honoring his call in the final race of the day, the GI Breeders= Cup Classic. Cont. p4 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 14 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • AUGUST 30, 2019 Romero Obituary cont. said he and his brothers suffered verbal and physical abuse at The way Romero bounced back from that devastating accident the hands of his father, and that he used horses and the on national TV--he would ride for nearly another decade, ending racetrack as a means of escape (father and son would later with 21 separate riding titles at tracks all across the country-- reconcile before the elder Romero died in 2015). underscored a lifelong resiliency As soon as he was legally old that became his most enduring enough, at 16 in 1973, Romero and admirable characteristic. rode his first pari-mutuel race at Randy Paul Romero was born Evangeline Downs. He quickly Dec. 22, 1957, in Erath, Louisiana. rose through the ranks on the His late father, Lloyd J. Romero, Louisiana circuit. was a stern, demanding state By 1983, Romero was in trooper who trained Quarter demand for out-of-town stakes Horses and Thoroughbreds. The mounts. One such trip took him middle of five brothers, young to Oaklawn Park. In an attempt to Randy began riding in races at reduce weight, he entered a age nine, tacking 69 pounds in box-style sauna after being unsanctioned bush-track rubbed down with isopropyl matches. The 1978 horse movie alcohol. A heat bulb burst and ACasey=s Shadow@ was loosely Romero aboard Go For Wand | Horsephotos Romero was consumed by based on his family=s racetrack flames. He suffered burns over adventures. 60% of his body and, while receiving blood transfusions to aid But decades later, Romero would disclose in the book ARandy with skin grafting, Romero said he accidentally was given donor Romero=s Remarkable Ride,@ by Bill Heller, that his childhood blood tainted with hepatitis C, which badly damaged his liver. was far different than what was depicted in the film. Romero Cont. p5 New Stakes Winner for Classic Winner Palace Malice CRYSTALLE, A $220,00 OBS APRIL SALES GRADUATE, BREAKS HER MAIDEN AT THE SPA, WITH A GRITTY PERFORMANCE IN THE $100,000 P. G. JOHNSON STAKES. WINNER #9 Congratulations to Owners Tobey L. Morton & Chuck Hovitz Breeder Glendalough LLC Trainer John C. Kimmel LGB, LLC 2019 / Photos: Adam Coglianese Inquiries to Tom Hamm and Rebecca Nicholson 859.873.7053 • www.threechimneys.com @ three_chimneys TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 14 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • AUGUST 30, 2019 Romero Obituary cont. In various published interviews over the years, Romero said he eventually lost count of all the injuries he sustained on horseback. He once put the number of serious accidents at around 35 and the number of surgeries needed to correct them north of 25. Ill health effects from a lifetime of having to purge weight followed him into retirement. Up until his death, Romero had been outspoken about the need for the industry to raise minimum weight requirements for jockeys. Romero was elected to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. It took him eight years of ballot eligibility, but in 2010 he was finally voted into the National Museum of Racing=s Hall of Fame. AI know it took a long time, but maybe things taste better when they take a long time,@ an emotional Romero said upon Randy Romero | Horsephotos learning of his induction. It took seven months for Romero to recover. When he In 2011, an HRTV-produced documentary about the ups and resumed riding, he established a Fair Grounds record for the downs of his life, AInside Information: Randy Romero,@ won the meet with 181 wins.