EDITED PRESS RELEASE
Jockeys and Jeans raised $453,760 for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) in 2024, a one-year record since the organization was founded in late 2014. During that span, Jockeys and Jeans has raised more than $3.85 million for the PDJF, a 501 (c)(3) public charity that provides financial assistance to approximately 60 former jockeys who have suffered catastrophic on-track injuries.
Earlier this year, PDJF increased the monthly stipend from $1,000 to $1,500 for some 60 jockeys who suffered career ending injuries.
The 10th annual Jockeys and Jeans fundraiser for PDJF, this year held at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 11, raised $292,000 while 2024 Jockey and Jeans Stallion Season Sale totaled a record of $94,560. The recently concluded Quarter Horse Season Sale operated by committee member and Quarter Horse jockey legend G.R. Carter, raised $67,200.
“The Gulfstream Park event was a total group effort, and our committee worked at least a thousand hours organizing and producing the event,” Jockeys and Jeans Interim President Dr. Eddie Donnally said. “To be a part of this group’s efforts is one of my life’s most meaningful milestones.”
Some 300 attended an event-record 17 Hall of Fame jockeys and two other legendary jockeys, including 1977 Triple Crown-winner Jean Cruguet, honor 11 disabled men and women no longer riding races.
The event also honored three recently deceased Hall of Fame jockeys, Walter Blum, John Rotz and Robert “Bobby” Ussery. Their loved ones received special plagues commemorating the lives and accomplishments of the three.
Noted FanDuel on-camera analyst, Mike Joyce, attended to accept the Person of the Year Award and Craig Bandoroff took home the Uphill Push Award. The Jockeys and Jeans ambassador lost the use of his right arm in a spill at Garden State Park Racetrack in December 1974. Bandoroff has since become a successful Thoroughbred breeder in Kentucky and consignor at Thoroughbred public auctions nationwide.
He and fellow Ambassador, Brian Elmore, along with committee member and Canterbury Park CEO, Randy Sampson, were responsible for significant donations. Elmore is a consultant for the Indiana HBPA which donated $25,000. Caesars Entertainment and successful horse owner Mike Pegram each donated $25,000. Joe Morris, the senior vice president of racing for Caesars Entertainment, is a former Jockeys and Jeans Person of the Year. There was an anonymous donation of $60,000.
“I want everyone who purchased event sponsorships or donated, as well as the Hall of Fame jockeys who flew from all parts of the country to attend and Gulfstream Park management to know there is proof they made a difference,” Donnally said. “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
Return to the February 19 issue of Wire to Wire
