Dominion Award Recipients 

Our Congratulations to Phyllis Shetron, recipient of the 2007 Dominion Award 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

Each year the Dogwood Dominion Award honors a man or woman who is truly an unsung hero of the Thoroughbred racing industry.

The Award was inspired by the multiple stakes winner Dominion, who was campaigned by Dogwood Stable in the 1970s and the went on to become five-time Champion Sire in England. Upon Dominion's death in 1993, Dogwood President Cot Campbell created the award to recognize the industry's unsung heroes - the behind-the-scenes men and women who work to create a positive influence in their work environment. 

"We've awarded $70,000 over the years, and our idea has spawned several other similar awards," explained Campbell. "Our winners have come from Massachusetts and Florida, Michigan and California, and points in-between. These men and women come from every walk of life, and all have been do-gooders in the best sense of the word. The Dogwood Dominion Award allows them to go from being an unsung hero to being in the spotlight."

More about the horse.... Dominion was purchased by Dogwood Stable in 1975 in England and was brought here early in 1976. He was a stakes performer in France, Germany, England and all over the United States.

As Cot Campbell once said of Dominion: "While not the best, the best had better not make a mistake in his presence, He was a muscular bay horse, with an earnest, aloof, but terribly engaging personality. Prior to a race, he exhibited the animation of a milk cow. Afterwards, when he had invariably given everything he had, he would return to be unsaddled with bloodshot eyes blazing and every vein in his body distended. . .He was game, generous, workmanlike, dependable, intelligent, courageous and absolutely unforgettable."

Dominion was sold back to England for the 1979 breeding season and became five time champion sire, producing the same type of competitors. Dominion died on February 19, 1993, at the age of 21.

Previous Winners of the Dominion Award

		Pete Lizarzaburu, 2006 Pete Lizarzaburu is the Social Program Coordinator for the Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. Pete's knowledge of immigration issues is especially helpful - and the fact that he is bilingual has made him invaluable to the backstretch workers.
		Jo Anne Normile, 2005 Jo Anne Normile is the founder of the innovative Michigan-base horse rescue operation CANTER (Communication Alliance to Network Thoroughbred Racehorses) which saves low-level claimers from slaughter.
		Pam Berg, 2004 Pam Berg has given 28 Thoroughbreds a new home away from the track, many times rescuing them from a certain death. At her small ranch in Northern California, Pam cleans stalls, feeds, repairs fences--all while working full time as a racing steward.
		Neftali Gutierrez, 2003 Described as a tireless, self-appointed "community leader of the Belmont Park backstretch," Neftali Gutierrez not only worked full-time on the New York Racing Association's daytime cleaning crew, but found time to promote backstretch English classes and was the chief assistant in the recreation department. Neftali passed away in the summer of 2006 - after a long struggle with cancer.
		Shirley Edwards and Jim Greene, 2002 Shirley Edwards and Jim Greene are founders of "The Eighth Pole." Based in New England at Suffolk Downs and Rockingham Park, The Eighth Pole is a non-profit organization that serves the health and substance abuse needs of backstretch workers.
		Julian "Buck" Wheat, 2001 Julian "Buck" Wheat is the unofficial "Mayor" of Churchill Downs. "Mayor" is an apt nickname for the director of horsemen’s relations at the Kentucky track. It was not because of his job that Buck Wheat won the award, however, but because of his little known extracurricular activities on the backstretch that have spanned half a century.
		Katherine Todd Smith, 2000 "There’s no neat or precise definition of Katherine’s qualifications for this award, said Cot Campbell when introducing Katherine at the 2000 luncheon. "However, half of the citizenry and animals within Ocala’s equine community have benefited from her numerous acts of kindness."
		Danny Perlsweig, 1999 Danny Perlsweig has spent more than 50 years in racing (as a jockey and a trainer) and has always appreciated backstretch workers. His training career reached its zenith in 1980, when Lord Avie won the Eclipse Award. More recently, Danny is perhaps best known for his development of the annual Backstretch Appreciation Days at Gulfstream and Monmouth.
		Donald "Peanut Butter" Brown, 1998 Donald Brown is a track photographer at Calder and Gulfstream Park in Florida. When he arrived at the race track 30 years ago he immediately began to help his fellow backstretch workers. If a man or woman was injured, broke, drunk, homeless or simply in trouble, Peanut Butter became the person they turned to in the time of need.
		Nick Caras, 1997 Nick Caras is the Recreation Director for the New York Racing Association, a job title that barely covers all the work he does. He organizes field trips of all kinds for backstretch employees, from whitewater rafting to Bronx Zoo outings to Broadway plays. He also initiated an English-speaking program and started a backstretch fitness center.
		Grace Belcuore, 1996 Grace Belcuore won this award for her dedicated work with ex-racehorses. Grace is the founder and president of the California Equine Retirement Foundation. This non-profit organization provides a permanent home to geldings and an adoption service to rehabilitated, retired racehorses.
		Peggy Sprinkles, 1995 Peggy Sprinkles was our first (but not the last!) winner from Ocala, Florida. Cot Campbell said at the ceremony, "You cannot sum up the qualifications of this candidate in a neatly defined phrase. I will say that she is like the Rock of Gibraltar, with a huge beacon on top, beckoning to every hard luck story on the race track!"
		Howard "Gelo" Hall, 1994 Howard "Gelo" Hall currently works in the Racing Secretary's Office at Pimlico and Laurel, but in his diverse career he has been an exercise rider, groom, trainer and jockey's agent. Cot Campbell summed up Gelo like this: "For over 50 years, at practically every major race track east of the Mississippi River, Gelo Hall has spread sheer, unadulterated goodness."
		Salty Roberts, 1993 Salty Roberts was our very first Dogwood Dominion Award winner. Salty is the founder of the Race Track Chaplaincy program and a veteran race tracker and was a parking lot attendent (at Monmouth and Gulfstream Park) for many years.

Profiles of the Judges

JAY HOVDEY: Hovdey is the executive columnist for the Daily Racing Form, and has been covering the Thoroughbred sport since the 1970s. His work has appeared in such publications as Reader’s Digest, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Blood-Horse, Thoroughbred Record, and the Horsemen’s Journal. He is the author of three books on horse racing, including biographies of Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham and two-time Horse of the Year Cigar. He has been honored with four Eclipse Awards, a Sovereign Award, the Joe Hirsch Breeders’ Cup Award, the David F. Woods Award for coverage of the Preakness, and the Walter Haight Award for career excellence from the National Turf Writers Association. Hovdey serves on the board of directors of Tranquility Farm, a Thoroughbred retirement and rehabilitation facility in California, and as vice-president of the National Turf Writers Association. He lives near Del Mar with his wife, Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone, and their daughter Lorelei.

PENNY CHENERY: Owner of the legendary Secretariat and an important force within the Thoroughbred industry, Penny Chenery replaces Mack Miller, who retired this year as a Dogwood Dominion Award judge. Although perhaps best known for her role as the popular owner of Secretariat, Chenery has worn many hats within the industry. She was elected president of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association in 1976, becoming the first woman to head a major national racing organization. In 1983 she was elected as one of the first woman members of The Jockey Club.

ANNE CAMPBELL: The former Anne Dodd of LaGrange, Georgia, met Cot Campbell on a blind date during her senior year at Agnes Scott College. Six months later she was married to the young, determined advertising executive from Atlanta. She has been an integral part of the Dogwood Stable picture since its inception and adds a sincere charm that balances Cot Campbell's intensity. The mother of two daughters, Cary and Lila, Anne is also the past president of Atlanta's Junior League and sat on the board of Atlanta's United Way. She has taught a Bible study group for 20 years. Anne readily admits that she had absolutely no interest in horses before she met Cot. She adores them now, but is quite wary of them -- except when she's in the winner's circle!

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