NEWS RELEASE The Bill Hartack Charitable Foundation to Award Kentucky Derby Winning Jockey John Velazquez 4th Annual Bill Hartack Memorial Award For Immediate Release June 13, 2011 MEDIA CONTACT: The Estopinal Group Denise Estopinal Ph: 504-269-9233 C: 504-495-2564 [email protected] NEW ORLEANS - June 13, 2011 -This past weekend at Belmont Park in New York, the final Triple Crown Race took place. The names of the champion Thoroughbred horses and winning jockeys are in the record books. Today, officials of the Bill Hartack Charitable Foundation announced that later this year, the organization will award the Bill Hartack Memorial Award to Jockey John Velazquez, who rode and was the winning jockey in the first prestigious race of the Triple Crown series. Velazquez was aboard 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom. Hartack Foundation Board Member Mike Stidham praised Velazquez for his skill as a jockey and gracious competitor in the sport of throughbred racing. "John Velazquez has always been a class act on and off the race track. His victory in the Kentucky Derby once again justifies his status as one of the top jockeys in the country," said Stidham. Unable to make the starting gate for the third straight year, Velazquez's luck began to change when an injury to Animal Kingdom's regular rider, Robby Albarado, cleared the way for him to pick up the mount on the 20-1 longshot. Once he took the reigns, he rode his good luck all the way to the winner's circle. Velazquez, a native of Puerto Rico, will receive the Bill Hartack Memorial Award before a crowd of family, friends and industry colleagues. The award is annually bestowed upon the jockey who rides the Kentucky Derby winner each year. The Foundation honors the memory and lifetime achievement of Bill Hartack, one of only two jockeys to win the Kentucky Derby five times. John Velazquez Born in 1971, John R. Velazques began horse racing on his home island of Puerto Rico. Velazques honed his skills at New York's Saratoga Racetrack, Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack. John Velazquez has succeeded at winning races on the track while providing industry leadership off the track. As the top earning jockey in both 2004 and 2005, Velazquez has won over 4,200 career races, including six Breeders' Cup races, the Dubai World Cup, the Belmont Stakes and the Kentucky Oaks. Past Bill Hartack Award Recipents Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, champion of the 2008 Jockey John Velazquez Kentucky Derby with winning horse Big Brown, received the first rode Animal Kingdom Bill Hartack Memorial Award. Desormeaux, a Louisiana native, for the win at the was honored for his achievements and victories in Thoroughbred 2011 Kentucky Derby. racing for over two decades. Calvin Borel, three-time Kentucky Derby winner and Louisiana native, won the Kentucky Derby aboard Street Sense in 2007, Mine That Bird in 2009 and Super Saver in 2010. The 2009 win was an especially momentous occasion in Thoroughbred racing as Borel rode Mine That Bird to victory despite 50-1 odds, the second-longest shot to win in Kentucky Derby history. ________________________________________________________________________________________ THE BILL HARTACK CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: The Bill Hartack Charitable Foundation was established by the Friends of Bill Hartack to honor the memory and lifetime achievements of the five-time Kentucky Derby winner. The Foundation, through its philanthropic arm, annually contributes to Thoroughbred racing industry charities and recognizes the jockey who rides the Kentucky Derby winner each year with the Bill Hartack Memorial Award. Bill Hartack held the title of United States' leading jockey four times throughout his career in Thoroughbred horse racing. He is one of only two jockeys to ever win the Kentucky Derby five times and was the first rider to have purse earnings of $3 million in a season. Hartack was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1959 at the early age of 27 where he was recognized as one of the most competitive and successful riders in Thoroughbred racing history. .