Cowan, exercise rider, killed

Mark Cowan, a longtime exercise rider who worked the last several years for trainer Tom Amoss in Kentucky and Louisiana, was killed in an automobile accident Thursday night in New Albany, Ind., just outside of Louisville, Ky. He was 47.

Cowan died just seven days after his father, trainer Elmer Cowan, died at age 77 in their native Ohio.

Mark Cowan was returning to Louisville from Ellis Park, where he worked on the starting gate. Among his survivors are his brothers, Gary and Terry Cowan.

"As an exercise rider, Mark was an artist in a profession that is becoming a lost art," said Amoss.

Visitation is to be from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Spence Funeral Home in Canal Winchester, Ohio, with a funeral to follow immediately afterward.