Page 95 - January 2019

photo courtesy Didericksen Family
Duayne Didericksen’s
CAREER
ACHIEVEMENTS
• Drafted the original legislation and regulatory rules for simulcast wagering in the state of Idaho
• Together with United Tote, launched the first automated buy/sell pari-mutuel system in the United States
• Inducted into the Idaho Quarter Horse Hall of Fame (2002)
• Received the Gordon Crone Special Achievement Award recognizing achievement in American Quarter Horse racing (2004)
• Involved in all aspects of the pari- mutuel industry in Idaho since its inception in 1964
• Member of the Association of Racing Commissions International Model Rules Committee
• Original and regular attendee of Symposium of Racing at the University of Arizona
a Member and past chairman, American Quarter Horse Association Racing Committee
• Member and past chairman, American Quarter Horse Association Racing Council
• Member, Racing Officials Accreditation
Program (ROAP) Board of Directors
• Member, Hialeah Park Advisory
Committee
• Member, Idaho Quarter Horse Association
• National Director for Idaho to
American Quarter Horse Association
a Past member of the Quarter Horse
Breeders’ Trust Selection Committee
• Past member of the Idaho Centennial
Commission
• Past committee member for the Idaho
Special Olympics
• Lifetime Honor Roll member for
donations to American Quarter Horse Foundation (2015)
Duayne (center) with his sons Rocky (left), who still participates in cutting events, and Kip, who is a 5-time AQHA World Champion Jockey.
A FAMILY MAN
During their 53-year marriage, Duayne and Lee raised two boys: Rocky, who’s married to Tammy and has two sons, Tyson and R.J; and Kip, who has two daughters and a son, Annie, Wyatt and Quincy, with his wife, Stephanie.
Rocky owns a roofing business. As a youngster, he roped calves and cut cows in high school rodeo and is still involved in cutting near home in Eagle, Idaho, as are his sons.
Kip is a five-time AQHA World Champion Jockey who led in money earned. He’s been retired for 20 years and lives near Duayne and Rocky in Star, Idaho. In their spare time, Duayne and his sons also buy and resell foreclosure houses.
“I’d say that marrying the wife I did was my biggest and greatest accomplishment,” Duayne says of Lee, who passed away in 2014. “She was the one who made the family.
“Her dad owned the Blackfoot [Idaho] sale yard and Flying U rodeo outfit,” Duayne adds. “She was a rodeo queen and won the all-around in high school rodeo all three years. She also won the state all three years that she was in the cow cutting. When she graduated, we got married and then went off to the rodeo. She was involved in cutting horses and in barrel racing, and she was involved in everything we did horse-wise here. She had a better eye than me for a horse, I think. I never did tell her that, but I think she knew it,” he says fondly.
“She was so good-hearted. We used to have Christmas parties every Christmas Eve with
40–70 people and I remember one of the last times, both of the boys said, ‘Who’s that talking to Mom?’ and I said, ‘I have no idea.’ She was an excellent host and her door was always open.”
“I admire how close Duayne is to his family,” says Mark Brown, who breeds Quarter Horse runners along with his wife, Peggy, in American Falls, Idaho. “He’s gotten them involved in the horse industry as well.”
PERSONAL CHARACTER
Mark also admires Duayne’s integrity. “He’s a straight shooter and he’s very honest,” Mark says. “And he looks outside the box at what’s going to be the best for whatever endeavor he’s involved in — not just for himself, but for everybody involved.”
“You can count on Duayne,” adds Debbie. “If he says he’ll help you, he will. He’s very ethical in that he wants things to be done right. He’s very well respected within the industry. And besides that, he’s a lot of fun! He knows everybody, and he likes everybody, and everybody likes him.”
“Your word and your handshake have to bind you,” Duayne explains. “I did a lot of business by telephone with people I didn’t know on the East Coast, just on my word. I had their trust and still do to this day, I think. And likewise, I respected people I did business with because of the way they treated me.
“I’ve been pretty lucky that I’ve been around some great horses as well as some great people and I’ve had some great owners as well as great partners,” Duayne says.
SPEEDHORSE, January 2019 91
photo courtesy Didericksen Family