Dominion Award Recipients
2006 Pete Lizarzaburu
2005 Jo Anne Normile
2004 Pam Berg
2003 Neftali Gutierrez
2002 Shirley Edwards & Jim Greene
2001 Julian "Buck" Wheat
2000 Katherine Todd Smith
1999 Danny Perlsweig
1998 Donald "Peanut Butter" Brown
1997 Nick Caras
1996 Grace Belcuore
1995 Peggy Sprinkles
1994 Howard "Gelo" Hall
1993 H. W. "Salty" Roberts
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| Our Congratulations to Phyllis Shetron, recipient of the 2007 Dominion Award |
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Phyllis Shetron is the 15th recipient of the Dogwood Dominion Award, which honors an “unsung hero” in racing. An advocate for the backstretch worker, and one of the founding members of the Finger Lakes Adoption Program, Phyllis was the guest of honor at a luncheon in Saratoga Springs, New York, on August 1. | |
Phyllis Shetron Wins Dogwood Dominion Award
She’s a strong advocate for the backstretch worker, a founding member of the Finger Lakes Thoroughbred Adoption Program, a trainer, and now Phyllis Shetron is the 2007 winner of the Dogwood Dominion Award.
Phyllis Shetron is the 15th recipient of the annual award to honor an “unsung hero” in racing. She will receive $5,000 and a bronze statue of Dominion at a luncheon at the Reading Rooms in Saratoga Springs, New York, on August 1. Phyllis was selected from over 30 nominations by judges Anne Campbell, Penny Chenery, and Jay Hovdey.
“Phyllis Shetron is the perfect definition of an unsung hero,” said Cot Campbell, President of Dogwood Stable. “Here is a lady who actually scrounged in dumpsters for mattresses for destitute grooms to sleep on at Finger Lakes Racetrack. Her kind heart certainly extends to horses and she demonstrated that when she drove into Pennsylvania to rescue 14 horses that were headed for the slaughterhouse.”
Two years ago, Phyllis learned that all the furniture in the grooms’ dormitories had been disposed of at the end of the meet. Upon their return in the spring, the grooms found bare rooms. Phyllis, knowing that the grooms did not have enough money to purchase their own mattresses, approached the local HBPA, but was told that there were no funds available. It became Phyllis’s mission to get a mattress for every groom. She worked with local store owners who had disposed of mattresses, but she had to retrieve them from the stores’ dumpsters.
She was also instrumental in rescuing over a dozen horses who had been promised a good home upon the end of their racing careers, but in reality were being consigned to a livestock auction in Pennsylvania. Phyllis and a friend went to Pennsylvania, where they tracked down the Finger Lakes horses. One had already been lost to the slaughterhouse, but over the course of three weeks and several trips to the state, all the other horses were found and re-purchased. Out of this tragedy, the Finger Lakes Thoroughbred Adoption Program was born. Both the track and the HBPA help fund the program.
Past honorees, friends and family of the 2007 winner, and various racing enthusiasts and industry leaders attended the Dogwood sponsored luncheon at Saratoga.
About the Dogwood Dominion Award
Previous Winners of the Dominion Award
Profiles of the Judges
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