Owners of Derby Hopefuls Pledge Research Support Through "Share the Wins" Program

Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation's longstanding Share the Wins program got off to a quick start for 2016 with John Oxley, Heaven Trees, and Speedway Stables becoming the first three owners to pledge earnings from potential graded stakes wins on the Kentucky Derby trail to equine research.

Each owner has pledged to donate 1 percent of net purses (minus entry fees and trainer and jockey fees) for graded stakes up to and including the Kentucky Derby to Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.

When Oxley, a resident of Tulsa, Okla., and a longtime board member of Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, won the Kentucky Derby with Monarchos in 2001, he had already pledged 1 percent of the colt's purse earnings to the foundation. This year, he has signed up his 3-year-old colt Airoforce.

Heaven Trees Farm, owned by Dr. Dede McGehee in Lexington, Ky., is on board with Dolphus, a half-brother to Rachel Alexandra and a candidate for this weekend's Grade II Veterans Ford Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds. The percentage donated from Dolphus' graded stakes wins is earmarked to support future projects at the University of Florida.

Speedway Stables owners Peter Fluor and K. C. Weiner of Houston, Texas, made their pledge for Collected retroactive to his victory in the Grade III Sham Stakes and have made an initial contribution to Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.

"We appreciate the generosity of these owners in agreeing to our request to make these pledges, and we hope many others will follow their lead," said Edward L. Bowen, president of Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. "It is very kind of them to share the excitement of being on the Derby Trail, and it certainly is exciting for the foundation to have this connection with the respective owners of these talented racehorses."

Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation is a leader in funding equine research and since 1983 has provided $22.6 million to fund 324 projects at 41 universities.

Additional information about the Share the Wins program is available at grayson-jockeyclub.org.