by Debbie Little

British clergyman and author Thomas Fuller once said, “Charity begins at home, but should not end there.”

Our sport has taken those words to heart, thanks to the Breeders Crown Charity Challenge (BCCC).

The Charity Challenge was the brainchild of prominent owner Marvin Katz, who wanted to see the annual Breeders Crown event have an impact on more than just those competing on the track.

“The idea that we would just have all these big races and all these people come into town, race for all this money and not try to give something back to the communities that were hosting it, I felt was not in the best interest of the industry or the racetracks or the communities and we could do a better job,” Katz previously told HRU.

Since its inception in 2019, when the Breeders Crown was held at Katz’s home track of Woodbine Mohawk Park, the BCCC has raised over $1.5 million.

Now in its sixth year, the Charity Challenge is being held at The Meadowlands for a second time. When the East Rutherford, NJ mile oval hosted for the first time back in 2021, over $400,000 was raised for local charities in the New York/New Jersey area.

Despite already having a winning formula, Katz is not content with the same old, same old, and each year looks to continue to sculpt the Charity Challenge into a better version of its already successful self.

The four Charity Challenge teams are based around a top Grand Circuit driver, and include a trainer and owner(s), as well as a new edition for 2024, an influencer. It is the job of the influencer to hype their team on social media and get people to vote. Voting can be done daily here and on multiple devices.

The teams were randomly drawn in the winner’s circle at The Meadowlands on Friday (Aug. 2) and are as follows:

• Team Dexter Dunn includes trainer Nancy Takter, owner Courant, and influencer Jessica Otten.

• Team Yannick Gingras has Tony Alagna, Burke Racing/Weaver Bruscemi, and Jenna Otten.

• Team David Miller is comprised of Marcus Melander, Brad Grant, and Dawnelle Mock.

• Team Tim Tetrick is Ake Svanstedt, Bill Pollock, and Mary McDermott.

The BCCC officially kicked off this year at The Meadowlands on Friday (Aug. 30) when the local charities were each paired with a team. Following the fourth race that night, the charities were able to earn some points for their teams by competing in charity race in a double-seater jog cart.

SBH Health System, Bronx, (Team Gingras) with chief financial officer Mary Grochowski, won and collected 50 points, Julie Gallanty, chief executive officer of the New Jersey YMCA State Alliance (Team Miller) was second (25 points), enCourage Kids’ director of development, Emma Wolk (Team Tetrick) finished third (15) and Councilman John Roman representing Friends of Union County (Team Dunn) came home fourth (10 points).

“I can tell you Mary was so nervous about doing it,” said SBH Health System vice president/chief advancement officer Christine Hughes. “But when she got off the horse and I talked to her right afterwards, she said it was the experience of a lifetime.”

Hughes was also appreciative of SBH being chosen as one of the charities for this year’s Challenge.

“We’re not affiliated with any other hospital,” Hughes said. “We’re just a small community hospital. Our biggest issues are gun violence, food insecurity, homelessness, drug addiction and alcohol addiction. You know, all the things the most impoverished populations deal with.

“Like I said, we’re this scrappy little hospital from the Bronx and if we could win $50,000, $100,000, that pays for a nurse for one year for our hospital and one nurse touches thousands and thousands of patients. So, for us, it’s really a matter of life and death and that’s why I think there’s such commitment.”

Wolk was also thrilled to have enCourage Kids be one of the four selected charities and was extremely complimentary of the entire weekend of events, which also included an inaugural Charity Challenge Family Fun Day on Saturday (Aug. 31).

“The kickoff event was fantastic, and it was clear how much effort went into putting together a wonderful weekend,” Wolk said. “The charity team draw, where each organization was paired with their team for the Challenge, was very exciting. enCourage Kids also had the wonderful opportunity to present to the winner of the third race that evening in the winner’s circle.

“To close out the evening, as the ambassador for enCourage Kids, I was delighted to participate in a harness race. I had no idea what to expect, and frankly, was a little bit terrified. The drivers were amazingly kind and offered instructions and tips on the ins and outs of racing and what to expect, which helped to calm my nerves. We made our way to the start, and before I knew it, the horses were picking up speed and we took off. It was exhilarating to experience the power of the horse and the synergy between the drivers and the horses up close. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience I’ll never forget!”

Gallanty mentioned that the New Jersey YMCA Alliance — with 30 YMCAs at 84 locations across the state serving over 500,000 annually — was honored to be selected for the Charity Challenge.

“It was great competing in the harness race,” Gallanty said. “It is an invigorating sport and to participate in a race on a racetrack is an experience I will always remember.”

According to Hughes, who had a lot of children attend the Charity Challenge Family Fun Day, it was a rousing success.

“There was face painting, there were little pet-therapy ponies that were awesome,” Hughes said. “There were balloon sculptures, there was a DJ and he wore an SBH T-shirt and that was fantastic. There was tons of food. It was like a big barbecue. It was just a great, great, fantastic day.”

According to The Big M website (more information can be found here), the BCCC runs through Oct. 19 and that the team with the most points at the end of the Challenge will receive 40 per cent of the total donated money while the other three charities — in order — will receive 25 per cent, 17.5 per cent and 17.5 per cent, respectively.”

According to Katz, the chosen charities have all been doing their part in supporting their teams, which ultimately is why the Charity Challenge was created to make that bond between our sport and its surrounding community.

“It just presents our sport in the most positive manner possible and we have to do it more and more often…” Katz said. “It’s incumbent on us to give back to our community, and this is what the Breeders Crown Charity Challenge is about, giving back to the communities.

“As John Campbell says, [the Charity Challenge has] now become an event within the event and it’s become integral to the Breeders Crown celebration and it just gets bigger and better every year. And as was said at the outset, we’ve expanded its footprint to make it even a bigger, better part of the Breeders Crown celebration.”