Former Washington racing official Aliment dies

AUBURN, Wash. – Northwest racing lost an old friend Thursday when Lindy Aliment, a popular official for parts of six decades, died at his home in Renton, Wash. He was 87.

Aliment was the longtime clerk of scales at Longacres, easily recognizable in the winner’s circle as the man with the hat. Hired at age 29 in 1957, Aliment, a schoolteacher, began wearing a fedora at the urging of Longacres founder Joe Gottstein, who reasoned that because so many of the jockeys were older than Aliment, a hat might enhance his image as an authority figure.

The fedora stuck, and so did Aliment – at Longacres until it closed in 1992, at Yakima Meadows, and then at Emerald Downs. When he retired in 2002 after 46 years, he was the longest-tenured clerk of scales in the U.S.

Since 1985, the Lindy Award has been voted on by the local jockey colony and awarded annually to a rider for accomplishment and sportsmanship. Gary Baze, now a steward at Emerald Downs, won the Lindy Award in 1989, 1991, and 2000.

“There were a lot of us that started out as young riders, and Lindy was a role model in that jocks’ room,” Baze said. “He never wavered. You knew where you stood. If you had to hit the box, make your weight, you knew you better have it right or he was on the phone. But he was also a counselor, just like he was in the schools he worked for. If something happened outside, he was always there to talk. He was steady, he was solid, and he was dependable.”

Aliment grew up not far from Longacres in Renton, the youngest of 11 children of Italian immigrants. A few weeks ago, on opening day, he made his final visit to Emerald Downs, some 75 years after he hustled his first job at Longacres as a 12-year-old kid who loved horse racing.

“He was a gentleman, and he had class,” said former Longacres owner Ken Alhadeff, Gottstein’s grandson. “Lindy’s strength was his calm, his consistency, and his grace. He loved racing, and he loved the people in it. It was important for him to look the part, and he always brought class and dignity to the game.”