Equine Research Career Development Award Created in Memory of Elaine Klein

Richard Klein of Louisville, Ky., has announced that the Klein Family Foundation will donate for three years to Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation to fund an annual award in memory of his mother, Elaine Klein. The Elaine Klein Career Development Award will provide annual $15,000 grants to young individuals who are in an advanced stage of education and are considering a career in equine research.

“My mother was an experienced and avid horsewoman,” said Klein. “Some of her accomplishments include winning the 1980 Amateur Women’s Road Pony World Championship at the Kentucky State Fair and the 1982 the National Championship in Madison Square Garden. She also was deeply involved with breeding and racing Thoroughbreds with our family for 25 years.

“We are pleased be able to honor her in a way that is designed to help horses,” added Klein. “Whenever a researcher develops new insights, that information is there for countless veterinarians and managers of horses to use for years.”

The Klein Award and its purposes mirror those of the Storm Cat Career Development Award, which was launched by Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation in 2006. The Storm Cat Award is underwritten by foundation board member Lucy Young Hamilton, whose family bred the noted stallion Storm Cat and stood him at Overbrook Farm.

“We are very gratified to have an additional opportunity to help promising young students working with established research scientists,” said Edward L. Bowen, president of Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. “Every year we receive a number of very impressive applications, so being able to link the Klein Award with the Storm Cat Award will create additional opportunities for these bright young candidates.”

Applications for the Elaine Klein Career Development Award will be evaluated by a committee composed of Dr. Steve Reed, chairman of the foundation’s Research Advisory Committee; veterinary consultant Dr. Johnny Mac Smith; and four board members who have medical or veterinary degrees — Drs. Rick Arthur, Larry Bramlage, Gary Lavin, and Hiram Polk.

Applications for the Elaine Klein Career Development Award can be downloaded from the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation website, grayson-jockeyclub.org. The deadline is Nov. 1, and the award winner will be announced early in 2015.