Louis Pomes,
who worked tirelessly to find and lead abandoned horses to safety in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina, was named the 2005 winner of the White Horse Award Thursday
afternoon at Belmont Park. The award was bestowed upon Pomes during the third
annual Race Track Chaplaincy of America's White Horse Heroes Luncheon held in
the Marquee tent near the Belmont paddock.
Pomes was one of four nominees for the award, which consists of a bronze statute
of a white horse plus $5,000 courtesy of youbet.com. The other finalists were
Bobby Anderson, an outrider at Bay Meadows Race Course, who collared a loose
horse as it ran the wrong way around the track during a race; Kyle Howard, a
groom from Maryland who saved farm owner Jim Welling after he became trapped
while upside down in a barn silo ladder; and Kevin Schulte, a horseback riding
instructor at the Kentucky Horse Park who avoided disaster after a fire broke
out in a barn.
The other three finalists received $1,000 from "Chicken Soup for the Horse
Lover's Soul." Each of the nominees is being treated to the weekend at the
Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships by Daily Racing Form.
When Katrina struck New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region at the end of August,
Pomes traveled to the Mississippi River to fill buckets, ice chests, and small
inflatable plastic pools to bring the horses he had saved safe drinking water.
He also brought them hay and treated their wounds, often traveling to the horses
by boat.
Later, Pomes discovered that the hurricane had washed away his home and his 26
horses had drowned. Despite his loss, Pomes cared for horses until teams of
veterinarians arrived from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge could
arrive to help. It is estimated that LSU aided some 400 horses from seven
parishes.
The award was presented by former jockey and Hall of Famer Pat Day. The master
of ceremonies were Chris Lincoln and Tim Smith, former head of the National
Thoroughbred Racing Association.
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