A Legendary Weekend

That had to be one of the most amazing weekends that I ever experienced in my 31 years in horse racing.

It was an incredible honor to spend time with 23 of the greatest jockeys in the sport. 16 of them are Hall of Fame inductees...among their totals are: 95,639 winners, 22 Derbies, 2 Triple Crowns and 8 decades of riding the greatest horses in the world. We all came together to help support the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) and the Racetrack Chaplaincy at the Dining With The Dynasty fundraiser held on the eve of the Million at the beautiful Arlington Park Racecourse.


Nancy LaSala, Executive Director of the PDJF and Tony Petrillo, VP of Arlington Park commissioned me to portray caricatures of the 23 legendary jockeys breaking out of the starting gate at Arlington. My painting titled "The Legendary Start" was reproduced as a commemorative art print which was autographed by the jockeys and was also included in the program featuring each legendary jockey. It was much fun watching the jockeys run around getting autographs from each other and exchanging stories from the past. The original painting was auctioned off at the luncheon by CBS sportscaster Howard Sudberry. Also, my video tribute of "The Jockeys" premiered at the fundraiser.

Thomas Allen Pauly's "The Jockeys" Video

I am very proud to be part of the PDJF family. It was founded in 2006 and it brings much needed financial assistance to a group of athletes who have given so much to the sport of horse racing. The PDJF is committed to working with both industry and medical research groups to improve the safety of both the human and equine athlete as well as medical research projects dedicated to reducing catastrophic injuries.

ESPN video of the legendary jockeys signing the DWTD event posters.



Dave Erb (he starting riding during the Seabiscuit's years) & Pat Day signing for hundreds of racing fans during the Arlington Million Festival.

Jan Hortyk & Stacy Burton in Arlington's paddock... Stacy suffered a severe brain injury in a terrible accident in 2000. She is one of 60 former jockeys that PDJF assists with their daily living.
(I spent much time with Stacy & Jan, they are amazing people)

Thank you to Nancy LaSala, Tony Petrillo and all of the legendary jockeys who helped make this affair very successful...
I am looking forward to the future projects that we have planned for the upcoming PDJF events.

Triple Crown champion Secretariat's jockey Ron Turcotte and Tom
at the DWTD jockey reception