Page 82 - April 2016

SPEEDHORSE Recognizes Quarter Horse Racing Industry Publication Colleague
TRACK Magazine’s Ben Hudson Inducted Into 2016 AQHA Hall of Fame
At the March 11-14 American Quarter Horse Association Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, fellow publisher Ben Hudson, owner of TRACK Magazine, was inducted into the 2016 AQHA Hall of Fame. SPEEDHORSE is proud to personally recognize the accomplishments of Mr. Hudson over the past four decades.
Ben Hudson and TRACK Magazine have served the Quarter Horse racing industry for 42 years and counting. Ben Hudson and TRACK Magazine are synonymous - they are one and the same. When you hear the name Ben Hudson, you think of TRACK Magazine, and when you hear the name TRACK Magazine, you automatically think of Ben Hudson.
Hudson began attending races in
Texas while in high school and purchased his first Quarter Horse as a teen in the 1950’s. He majored in journalism at
Texas Christian University, where he first began writing about horse racing – a passion that would put him on the path
of his life. After college and a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, he began working
for a racing publication. Then in 1975, Hudson founded TRACK Magazine (with
by John Bachelor
Jerry McAdams) and has been the owner, publisher and editor of the renowned publication ever since.
To summarize his many accomplishments, and as mentioned on page 69 of this issue recognizing all of the 2016 AQHA Hall of Fame inductees, Hudson was instrumental in getting pari-mutuel racing in Texas and was
a founding partner in Lone Star Park. He
is a former president of the Texas Quarter Horse Association (TQHA). He is a lifetime member of the AQHA and has served as an AQHA director for nearly 30 years, including on the Racing Council, Foundation Council, Racing Committee, Marketing Committee, Stud Book and Registration Committee, Hall of Fame Selection Committee, chaired the Nominations and Credentials Committee and was elevated to director-at-large in 2007. Hudson received the AQHA Gordon Crone Award in 2002, was elected to the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2004, received a Ruidoso Downs Racehorse Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012, and received an AQHA Special Achievement Award in 2013. In addition to his position as an AQHA director, he also currently serves as a director at the TQHA, and as the out-of-
state director of the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association, and is deeply involved in the Race Track Chaplaincy of America.
Hudson is well known for his knowledge of the Quarter Horse racing industry,
and has received awards for writing, advertising, and photography, including a National Addy Award from the American Advertising Federation in 1983 and an AQHA Sprint Award in 1996.
Hudson and wife Christine live on
their ranch in Morgan Mill, Texas, where they breed and race top runners across
the country. Hudson enjoys the sport of racing through and through. He admits that he enjoys spending time on the backside with chaplains, owners, trainers, jockeys, grooms, etc., as much as he enjoys spending time watching the races.
In a 2014 interview with Chris Kotulak, Hudson noted many of his favorite memories of racing, including seeing Fols Gold win the first million-dollar race in Oklahoma. But, as many know Hudson to be a real people-person, he said his favorite moments are, “enjoying it with all the people. Those are the best memories.”
Congratulations, Ben.
80 SPEEDHORSE, April 2016