Rick Violette, trainer of Whitney Stakes winner Diversify, dies at 65

Leading New York trainer Rick Violette, who won this year's Grade 1 Whitney Stakes with Diversify, died at his home in Del Ray Beach, Florida, on Sunday from complications relating to cancer. The 65-year-old had been treated for lung cancer for the past several years.

A tireless advocate for New York's horsemen and backstretch workers, Violette began training thoroughbreds in 1977.

An accomplished show rider, Violette took out his trainer's licence shortly after graduating from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in 1975 with a degree in political science, saddling his first winner in 1978 at Rockingham Park.

He worked at Woodbine for three years and as an assistant to trainer David Whiteley and won his first Graded race, the Lexington Stakes, in 1989 with Coosaragga.

Among the most high-profile trainers on the New York circuit, Violette trained Read The Footnotes to wins in the 2003 Nashua Stakes, Remsen Stakes, and 2004 Fountain of Youth Stakes en route to a seventh-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.

Another recent standout was Samraat, winner of the 2014 Withers and Gotham Stakes and runner-up in that year's Wood Memorial. Owned by long-time client Leonard Riggio's My Meadowview Stable, Samraat finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby.

A year later, Violette was back at Churchill Downs with a Derby contender, this one owned by Ralph Evans, a client for three decades, and WinStar Farm. Upstart was a multiple Graded winner who retired with earnings of more than $1.7 million.

Continuing his winning run with New York-breds, Violette's most recent stable star is Diversify, winner of the 2017 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes and Violette's first Grade 1 winner since Dream Rush in 2007.

Diversify went on to win the Grade 2 Suburban Stakes at Belmont Park in July and followed it with victory in the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga. Diversify is owned by Evans and his daughter Lauren.

"He was family," Evans said. "He and his mother and brothers and sister – they were all family. That's my loss."

Violette saddled 36 Graded victories over his career. His horses have earned more than $44.5m.

Yet despite his prodigious accomplishments as a trainer, Violette was as well-known for his industry work off the racetrack. He served as president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association for ten years, retiring in 2017 after a quarter of a century on the NYTHA board.

"Today is a sad day for horsemen, backstretch workers and horseracing in general," said NYTHA president Joe Appelbaum. "We have lost a leader. Rick Violette was one of a kind – smart, tenacious, and indefatigable.

"His commitment to horseracing was unparalleled. From workers' compensation to the racing programme to the welfare of our workers, there was no area on track that Rick was not deeply involved in.

"The last four years have been a great education for me. Working with Rick, he taught me so much – the history of the game, both on and off track, the inner workings of the backstretch and the economics facing the modern trainer. I will miss him."

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