Violette Remembered in Emotional Memorial Service

A standing-room-only crowd celebrated the life of Rick Violette Nov. 26 at Belmont Park.

A cold, blustery, unrelenting rainstorm battering Long Island didn't keep people away—except for travelers whose flights were delayed—and as several of the speakers at the two-hour service observed, the weather was a fitting corollary for an event that, while often funny, warm, and positive, couldn't help but be pervaded by a sense of mournfulness and melancholy.

Decked in the blue and black colors of Violette's stable, the Belmont Café was packed to overflowing with the trainer's family, friends, employees, clients, and colleagues. They traveled from California, from Florida, from Kentucky, from upstate New York, and from the Midlantic region to share a meal, to toast with libations from an open bar, and to share memories of a man who was a force in Thoroughbred racing virtually until the day he died Oct. 21 at age 65. 

He was remembered as funny, smart, compassionate, and combative, and as a man who used all of those qualities in service of the sport, the people, and the animals he loved.

As president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Violette often found himself at odds with Chris Kay, the New York Racing Association's president and CEO. Kay flew to Florida last month for Violette's funeral, and he was among the first speakers at Monday night's memorial, paying tribute to the trainer's passion and pugnacity.

"He loved NYRA, on certain days," quipped Kay. "He fought for you. I can show you X-rays of where I've been concussed by butting heads with him."

Said Anthony Stabile, a NYRA racing analyst, "He fought with us, but more importantly he fought for us, and we can't thank him enough for that."

Luis Chiari, an exercise rider who worked with Violette going back to their days with trainer David Whiteley, observed that what at first might look like Violette's intransigence not uncommonly gave way to his generosity, particularly in support of riders and backstretch workers.

"Our arguments were like a head-on collision," recalled Chiari, sharing the story of a fellow exercise rider who had died in an accident on the track. "I said to Rick, 'We need to build a safety rail.' He said, 'It's too much money, Luis. I can't do this.'"

But eventually, Violette relented, helping to fund not only the safety rails, but also vests and helmets for riders.

"He was a fierce, untiring advocate for what he believed in," said Paul Ruchames, executive director of Backstretch Employees Service Team (B.E.S.T.), on whose board Rick served. "He was relentless and determined and incredibly well-prepared. The three NYRA tracks—Belmont, Aqueduct, and Saratoga—have some of the finest services for backstretch workers of any track in the United States, and there is no doubt that Rick Violette was at the center of it all."

It was with horses bred in New York that Violette found much of his recent success, two of them owned by long-time client Ralph Evans. In 2015 Violette and Evans went to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) with Upstart ; two years later, Evans got his first grade 1 win after 30 years of owning horses when Diversify, co-owned with his daughter Lauren, won the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) at Belmont. Evans and Violette were back in the grade 1 winner's circle at Saratoga in August, both of them emotional, when Diversify won the Whitney Stakes (G1) under a literal rainbow after an extended delay because of a downpour.

Those latter two races were featured prominently in a memorial video at Violette's service. 

"I am totally blown away," said Evans, "by the number of people that are here tonight to honor Rick." 

Sharing his appreciation for his role in Violette's accomplishments, he added, "What a grand time for Rick at the end."  

"Though other trainers had more horses, he had no equal in this country," observed Alex Waldrop, president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. "No other trainers have the drive and the soul of Rick Violette."

A long-time Violette friend, colleague, and ally, Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association president and CEO Alan Foreman said he had never "met someone so devoted to people on the backstretch, people on the front side, horses, and the best interests of racing."

Sal DeBunda, president of the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, prefaced his remarks by saying, "I promise I won't talk for as long as it took me to get here tonight," then said that serving as the vice-president of the THA under Violette's presidency made him lose sleep at night.

"Suppose I have to be president?" he said he'd ask himself. "How am I going to replace Rick?"

That is a question that many in the New York and nationwide racing community are now asking themselves, a question for which Foreman has a succinct response.

"There will never," he said, "be another Rick Violette."