The Virgil "Buddy" Raines Distinguished Achievement Award was established in 1996 by Monmouth Park Racetrack

Monmouth Park Racetrack

Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.Monmouth Park's marquee event...

 in Oceanport, New Jersey

Oceanport, New Jersey

Oceanport is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 5,832.Oceanport was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 6, 1920, from portions of Eatontown Township , based on the results of a...

 in honor of the trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

, Virgil W. Raines

Virgil W. Raines

Virgil W. Raines was an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer.Known as "Buddy" Raines, in the 1930s he began working as a stable hand and became an exercise rider, notably for the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame colt Cavalcade. He went on to condition racehorses for 65 years, working primarily on the U.S...

. The annual award honors an owner or trainer competing at the track who has shown a dedication to the sport of Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 racing through exemplary conduct demonstrating professionalism and integrity.

Recipients

• 1996 - J. Willard Thompson
  J. Willard Thompson
  J. Willard Thompson is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. A former steeplechase jockey, he won three straight training titles at Monmouth Park Racetrack between 1975 and 1977 and again won in 2001...
  
  
• 1997 - Daniel Perlsweig
• 1998 - Warren A. Croll, Jr.
  Warren A. Croll, Jr.
  Warren A. "Jimmy" Croll, Jr. was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred race horse trainer.Croll was born in 1920 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. After finishing high school, he attended the University of Pennsylvania with the intention of becoming a veterinarian but left to pursue his passion for...
  
  
• 1999 - Joseph H. Pierce, Jr.
• 2000 - Peter Shannon
• 2001 - Dennis Drazin
• 2002 - Sam Fieramosca
• 2003 - Charles & Marianne Hesse
• 2004 - Janet Laszlo
• 2005 - Richard Malouf
• 2006 - John H. Forbes
• 2007 - Ben W. Perkins, Sr.
• 2008 - Gerald & Carolyn Sleeter