Page 78 - January 2022

202 Y E A R i n 1 REVIEW
To all the horse men and women we lost in 2021 - your memories live on forever in our hearts...
ROBERTO DOMINGUEZ ROBERTO DOMINGUEZ
(May 8) - Trainer Roberto Dominguez, 68, passed away following a battle with cancer. Dominguez has saddled the earners of over $2.2 million, including top earner Renewed and Grade 3 winner Materialist. Perhaps his most memorable night of racing came in 2016 when he saddled Favorite Aquaholic to win the California Breeders’ Freshman Stakes
and Scholarly to win the California Breeders’ Freshman Fillies Stakes. The night before he passed, Dominguez saddled the Thoroughbred Elemental to a wire-to-wire New Track Record victory at Los Alamitos on May 7.
JOHN WHIPP
(May 17) - Wyoming horseman John Whipp, 79, passed away. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Whipp attended the University of Kentucky and received an agricultural degree, and then was accepted into their College of Medicine. In the 70’s, Whipp interned at Camp Pendleton Naval hospital and became a Lieutenant Commander of the U.S. Navy medical corps. He completed his orthopedic residency
at UCLA Medical Center and moved to Wyoming to be a ski doctor. He married Marie Weyer in 1978 and they raised five children on their Wyoming ranch. Together they raised/ raced over $750,000 in Quarter Horses earners since the 80’s. They have raised many futurity and derby winners and received numerous breeder of the year awards in the state. Whipp was a longtime member of the AQHA.
JUNE
DENMAN GLENN WIGHT
(June 6) - Longtime Idaho horseman Denman “Denny” Wight, 88, passed away. Born in 1933, Wight excelled in athletics and was a cowboy from his early years. He spent years serving with the National Guard. Wight married his wife Sandra in 1970, and together with daughter Larke built a ranch south of
ROBERT BORK JAMES H. CORDELL DEAN LESTER
Jerome called DSW Ranch. They raised Quarter Horses and raced them in Idaho,
with earners of more than $860,000. Among their top horses are: unbeaten from seven starts Illtacmanhattan, who won the Bitterroot Futurity-G3, Beehive Futurity and Sandy Downs Juvenile Challenge; Snazzy Special Lead, winner of the Bitterroot Futurity-G2 and Northwest Juvenile Challenge-G3; and Northwest Juvenile Challenge-G3 and Pot O’ Gold Futurity winner Princess Of Zoom.
ROBERT BORK
(June 11) - Robert Bork, 83, passed away in Houston, Texas. Bork had been involved in
the horse racing industry for over four decades. He graduated from La Salle University in Philadelphia and then worked as an agent for the Internal Revenue Service. He was hired by the Rooney Family in 1969 to serve as a controller of Philadelphia Park, later becoming vice president and general manager. He was general manager of Garden State Park in New Jersey, then vice president, general manager and chief operating officer of Arlington International in Chicago. In 1995, he was hired as senior vice president and general manager of Sam Houston Race Park and was promoted to president in 2002. Bork served as director and secretary of the Thoroughbred Racing Association and chaired its 2020 Technology Committee.
TERRY ALBRACHT
(June 13) - Longtime horseman Terrance Wayne “Terry” Albracht, 71, passed away at his home in Springtown, Texas. Terry began his career in the insurance business in the early 1970’s. As the owner of Albracht Insurance Agency LLP, Terry moved to equine and farm and ranch insurance in 1985 and insured many leading runners. He owned horses himself and competed with roping and cutting horses, and he was also the owner of several racehorses, mares, foals and stallion shares.
JOSEPH THOMAS
(June 17) - Trainer Joseph “Joe” Thomas, 81, of Ponca City, Oklahoma, passed away. Thomas was the trainer of over $5 million in money earners with 1,107 wins from 5,207 starts. Perhaps his top horse was Remington Park Oklahoma-Bred Futurity-G3 winner Im A Fancy PYC, who won five of six starts and was also a finalist in the Heritage Place Futurity-G1 with $454,765 in earnings. Thomas was also the trainer of Dash For Cash Derby, Flinthills Derby, Garfield Downs Poor Boy Futurity and Garfield Downs Laddie Futurity winner The Shogun, a 23-time winner and multiple Graded stakes finalist with $374,052 banked.
JAMES H. CORDELL
(June 19) - Former AQHA Committee member James H. Cordell, 88, passed away at his home in Crockett, Texas. Cordell
was born in Houston and graduated from Jeff Davis High School with Caralyn McKittrick, whom he married in 1951.
He attended the University of Houston
and, with his father, started Andy Cordell Brick in 1955. He and son Howard began JaHo Incorporated, an underground utility contracting company, in the early 1970’s. Using waste from the brick company, he stabilized land near his brick plant and commercially developed the property under Jamcar Partners, where James remained
an active participant until his death. He
was a Director of Port City Bank and Channelview Bank, was a member of the Houston Contractor’s Association, served on the Board of Shriners Hospital for Children, and was a member of the Harris County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse. He loved horses as a child and he and his wife’s first Quarter Horse purchase won the prestigious Graham Farms Futurity. Cordell was a member of the AQHA and TQHA, where he served on the Racing Committee.
76 SPEEDHORSE January 2022
Los Alamitos
Coady Photography
Coady Photography
Susan Bachelor, Speedhorse