Capps posthumously given Van Ness Award

Tim Capps, a longtime racing industry executive who was the director of the University of Louisville’s Equine Industry Program at the time of his death last year at the age of 71, has been posthumously named the winner of the Van Ness Award by the award’s administrator, the American Horse Council.

The Van Ness Award is given to “an individual that best emulates the dedication and commitment of Marjorie Van Ness to the improvement of the horse industry at the state level.” Marjorie Van Ness, who died in 1990, was a New Jersey horsewoman who advocated on behalf of horses and agriculture.

“Tim Capps was intimately involved in promoting the horse industry in two states, Maryland and Kentucky, and was also one of the industry’s most stanch advocates,” AHC president Julie Broadway said in a release. “Due to his wisdom, guidance, and vision, the collective Maryland equestrian community is today seen by the Maryland government as a legitimate, large, and economically impactful industry.”

Capps was the director of the Maryland Horse Council from 1996 to 2004 and later served as the executive vice president of the Maryland Jockey Club, which owns and operates Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park. He also served as the executive vice president of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association and the executive director of the Maryland Million. He joined the Equine Industry Program at Louisville in 2011.

Capps’s daughter, Meredith, accepted the award on his behalf, the AHC said.

“Few are lucky enough to build a career that keeps them continuously engaged and challenged, but my father did just that in his various roles in the racing industry, an industry for which he held deep affection,” Meredith Capps said in a statement.