Craig Bandoroff

It was only a few days ago, on April 21 to be exact, that a horse racing at Thistledown sustained a slab fracture during morning training. That didn't mean that he had to be euthanized, but it could have. With many lower-level horses, when a career-ending injury occurs, the owner is often faced with a difficult decision, to either pay for surgery or have the horse put down. But thanks to a recently launched initiative, the HISA Equine Recovery Foundation (HERF), there is another option. The owner can turn the...

In the age of social media, I realize that I'm writing this at my own peril. And I'm probably once again spitting in the wind. However, I feel like someone needs to speak up on a few things concerning our latest self-inflicted crisis regarding our lack of unity and dysfunction as an industry. To say that as an industry we continue to be "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight" is an understatement. We have been that way for the 40-plus years I've been involved in horse racing. Hence, the reason...

The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) has appointed Craig Bandoroff and Ken Freirich to its board of directors, the organization said via a Wednesday press release. Craig Bandoroff, founder of Denali Stud in Paris, Kentucky and a former jockey, is a well-respected leader in the Thoroughbred industry. "I am very pleased to be asked to serve on the board of the PDJF," said Bandoroff. "It is an organization that means a lot to me for some obvious reasons. These riders gave everything to our benefit and for horse racing." Ken...

From February 2024 to February 2025, Jockeys and Jeans raised a one-year record of $453,760 to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. The 10th annual Jockeys and Jeans fundraiser for PDJF at Gulfstream Park Jan. 11 raised $292,000, while the Jockeys and Jeans January 2024 Stallion Season Sale raised a record of $94,560, and the recently concluded Quarter Horse Season Sale, operated by committee member and Quarter Horse jockey legend, G.R. Carter, raised an additional $67,200. "The Gulfstream Park event was a total group effort and our committee worked at...

She is not the oldest living Eclipse Award winner--that honor is believed to belong to 1994 Champion Turf Female Hatoof (Irish River {Fr}), who is still going strong at Darley's Gainsborough Farm at age 36--but she's close. As the hours tick down before the newest class of champions are honored Thursday evening, it's a thrill to remember 1995 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Serena's Song (Rahy--Imagining, by Northfields), who just turned 33 at the Bandoroff family's Denali Stud near Paris, Kentucky. This year the sport celebrates the 30-year anniversary of her spectacular...

Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance elected new officers and five new directors at its meeting on Dec. 16. Beginning January 1, 2025, Walter S. Robertson, Jr. will assume the role as President of Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. Robertson, a member of the law firm Stites & Harbison, PLLC, has been involved with Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance since 2018. Robertson's legal practice focuses on equine law, commercial finance, corporate finance and securities, corporate general services, and mergers and acquisitions. In addition to his legal career, he has experience in multiple breeds of the equine industry...

Noted Kentucky horseman Craig Bandoroff will receive the Uphill Push Award and speak at the 10th annual fundraiser for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) to be held at Gulfstream Park Jan. 11th, according to a press release from the Jockeys and Jeans organization. Each year the award is given to the person who provides the most meaningful help to the 60 jockeys who suffered career-ending injuries. In December of 1974, Bandoroff was the leading apprentice jockey at Monmouth Park and Garden State Park. In a race his mount bolted...

Craig Bandoroff, proprietor of Denali Stud, D J Stables' Jon Green, L&N Racing racing manager and part-owner Michael Levinson and trainer Todd Pletcher have been added to the HISA Horsemen's Advisory Group, the organization said Monday. The new members replace the outgoing Mark Casse, Tom Drury, Jr., Linda Gaudet, Fred Hertrich III, David Ingordo and Tom Robbins. The Horsemen's Advisory Group is a group of racing industry participants formed in 2022 to provide formal feedback to HISA's executive team and Standing Committees. "I want to thank all of the members...

Hall of Fame Jockey, Edgar Prado, Chicago attorney Danny Teinowitz and Kentucky breeder Craig Bandoroff have been added to Jockeys and Jeans. Prado, who was named the committee's Hall of Fame Jockey Coordinator, replaces fellow Hall of Fame member, Sandy Hawley, who stepped down but remains an Ambassador. Teinowitz becomes Special Consultant to Interim President, Dr. Eddie Donnally. Bandoroff becomes the group's latest Ambassador. Bandoroff recently retired as president of the 800-acre Denali Stud, which has consigned over 500 stakes horses. In December 1974, he lost the use of his...

They say that life is what happens to us when we're busy making other plans. But even in a game where so much turns on chance, for better or worse, you can't just throw your hands up and leave it all to fate. After all, the countervailing dynamic to life on a horse farm is unchangingly cyclical: foaling, mating, breaking, prepping, to everything there is a season. Within those patterns, sure, we know to expect much unpredictability. But that's how horses teach us the long game, to be patient and...

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance announced a new partnership with Lexington, Kentucky-based equine feed manufacturer Hallway Feeds, the organization said in a release Friday. Family-owned and operated by the Hall Family since 1964, the company is prepared to make a major financial commitment to accredited Thoroughbred aftercare through this collaboration. Select Hallway Feeds bags will proudly feature the 'Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Proud Supporter' Seal. In addition, the partnership will include race presentations and event booths. "Hallway Feeds is proud to support the efforts of Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. As a company that...

After the venerable and influential news show 60 Minutes aired a piece on horse racing last week, people within the industry were understandably upset. The story was ugly, filled with graphic and grisly coverage of horses breaking down, and portrayed racing as a sport where drugs, corruption and horse fatalities had reached the point of being out of control. "Horse racing is an industry where extremely devoted people labor because of one common thing: we all love horses, especially thoroughbred horses," Denali Stud's Craig Bandoroff wrote to 60 Minutes. "That...