Equine Advocates to honor Knowlton, Tedisco

Equine Advocates will recognize Jack Knowlton of Sackatoga Stable and New York Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R-Schenectady) as its 2013 honorees this summer in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Knowlton, whose outfit is best known for campaigning dual classic winner and champion Funny Cide, will receive the 2013 Safe Home Equine Protection Award. Tedisco will receive the Ellen and Herbert Moelis Equine Savior Award for his humanitarian work, legislative efforts, and public stance against animal abuse. Both will accept their awards at Equine Advocates’ annual awards dinner and charity auction Aug. 1 at the Saratoga Springs City Center.

"In this historic year of celebrations for Saratoga Springs, horses, and racing, we are delighted to honor two outstanding individuals who have each made history on their own,” Equine Advocates founder and president Susan Wagner said. "It has been 10 years since Jack Knowlton and Sackatoga Stable's Funny Cide became the first New York bred to win the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. Since then, Jack Knowlton has become a strong voice against equine abuse and slaughter. Assemblyman Jim Tedisco has dedicated his life to the protection of animals and now is fighting for the passage of legislation to ban the slaughter of equines in New York, which will have national implications as we move forward in passing a federal ban."

Knowlton has been the operating manager of Sackatoga Stable since 1995 and serves as the racing manager for its Thoroughbreds. An advocate for racehorse aftercare, he served on the New York State Task Force on Retired Race Horses from 2008 to 2011.

"I am honored to receive Equine Advocates' 2013 Safe Home Equine Protection Award. As a long time racehorse owner–both Standardbred and Thoroughbred–I am dedicated to the cause of preventing the slaughter of these wonderful equine athletes and securing suitable second careers or homes for them following retirement," Knowlton said.

Tedisco wrote "Buster’s Bill,” which was voted into law by the state legislature in 1999. The act amended the Agriculture and Markets Law, in relation to aggravated cruelty to animals. He is a co-sponsor of legislation that would ban the slaughter of horses in and from New York.

The Aug. 1 awards dinner and charity event will be co-chaired by Emmy and Tony Award–winning actress Bebe Neuwirth and Saratoga's Julie Bonacio.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.equineadvocates.org.