Robert S. Evans

Thirty-three years after watching Pleasant Colony, who was bred and raced by his father Thomas Mellon Evans’ Buckland Farm, be denied the Triple Crown by losing to Summing in the 1981 Belmont Stakes, Robert “Shel” Evans’s lightly-raced Tonalist denied California Chrome the Triple Crown by beating him in the Belmont. Tonalist’s broodmare sire is Pleasant Colony.

In the press conference following Tonalist’s victory, Evans told reporters, “Yesterday I went to my father’s grave and thanked him for putting me in the position to be doing this. We had high hopes for Pleasant Colony [in the Belmont Stakes] and it was very quiet after he didn’t win.”

Family is an important fabric in Evans’s life. His dad was a cousin of Paul Mellon, the incredibly popular owner, breeder, and philanthropist. Evans, now 70, owned 1992 Champion Older Male Pleasant Tap with his brothers Edward (“Ned”), who bred Horse of the Year Saint Liam and bred and raced Grade 1 winner Quality Road, and Thomas Jr.

Shel Evans graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966 and received a master’s degree from the Columbia Business School in 1969. He is the chairman of Crane Co., an industrial company based in Stamford, Conn., and of Huttig Building Products in St. Louis.

Evans, who bought his first horse in 1965, has owned Courtland Farm in Easton, Maryland, for more than two decades. Among his top horses were Sewickley, who won the Grade 1 Vosburgh in 1989 and 1990 and the 1989 Grade 2 Tom Fool and Fall Highweight Handicap; and Shared Interest, who took the 1992 Grade 2 First Flight and the 1993 Grade 1 Ruffian. He bred Shared Interest and her daughter Cash Run, who won the 1999 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. He also bred Cash Run’s half-brother, multiple stakes winner Forestry. Evans sold Cash Run for $1.2 million. She was later sold as a broodmare for $7.1 million.

Always willing to give back to the industry, Evans served on The Jockey Club for 15 years and was a member of the New York Racing Association Board of Trustees for 12.

Shel and Susan Evans have three children – Michael, Ashley, and Jonathan – and two grandchildren. Asked after the Belmont if he ever is confused with the chairman of Churchill Downs Incorporated with the same name, he said, “My middle name is Sheldon and in Canada they call me Shel. Here, I’m Robert, which is his name.” He prefers Shel.

Cot Campbell's Dogwood Stable

When Wade Cothran “Cot” Campbell surrendered to his passion, selling his Atlanta advertising agency to race Thoroughbreds in the 1960s, he took a leap of faith. When he literally began a new era of racehorse partnerships through his Dogwood Stable in Aiken, South Carolina, he asked others to make that same leap.

He was up front about their prospects, telling them that if they invest, they best do it with discretionary income. He didn’t make any promises. Rather, he told them that if they were lucky, they might enjoy a special moment and have a heck of a good time pursuing the next one.

There’s nothing more special than winning a Triple Crown race. And on June 8th at Belmont Park, 23 years after Dogwood’s Summer Squall won the 1990 Preakness, Dogwood’s Palace Malice captured the Belmont Stakes. Campbell, now 85 years young, is co-owner of Palace Malice with Carl Myers in Monmouth, New Jersey; Paul Oreffice, who lives in Saratoga Springs, New York, and Paradise Valley, Arizona; Charles Pigg of Morton, Illinois; Mike Schneider of Aiken, S.C., and Margaret Smith of New York City.

Those partners are among some 1,500 new owners Campbell and his wife Anne have brought into Thoroughbred racing over the last four decades. That’s not Campbell’s only contribution to the industry. For more than a decade, Dogwood sponsored the Dominion Award recognizing unsung heroes in the sport, and Campbell has authored three thoroughly enjoyable racing books. He was honored with an Eclipse Award of Merit in 2011 for his contributions to racing.