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.
