Sharyn Wasiluk, a Thoroughbred proprietor and coach who served the Tampa Bay Downs backstretch workforce for 22 years because the president of the Race Observe Chaplaincy of America’s Tampa Bay Downs Division, died Aug. 3 following an prolonged sickness. She was 77.
A local of Jamestown, N.Y., Wasiluk was a lifelong horsewoman who participated in quite a few reveals and rodeos earlier than discovering her ardour on the racetrack. She and her husband, Peter Wasiluk Jr., met at Penn Nationwide Race Course greater than 40 years in the past and competed as a crew at a wide range of northern and Mid-Atlantic tracks, in addition to Tampa Bay Downs.
The couple educated 913 winners between them, together with the sturdy Florida-bred gelding Dinner in Odem, who gained the 2008 Cape Henlopen Stakes at Delaware Park and the 2009 Chris Thomas Turf Basic (now the Columbia Stakes) at Tampa Bay Downs.
Nevertheless it was via her efforts to uplift the racetrack neighborhood that Wasiluk made a long-lasting impression.
A longtime member of Tampa Bay Downs’Â Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protecting Affiliation board, Wasiluk devoted her time and vitality as RTCA-TBD president to bettering life for the monitor’s grooms, hotwalkers, and secure fingers and their households. She helped schedule medical and dental appointments, enrolled employees in persevering with schooling courses, organized actions equivalent to soccer tournaments and fishing journeys, and went on grocery runs for these with out transportation.
Wasiluk was additionally instrumental in securing funding for a carry to supply wheelchair entry to the chaplaincy trailer and was the driving drive behind the chaplaincy’s Christmas social gathering for backstretch employees and their households, in addition to the annual “Hearts Reaching Out” profit golf event.
“I do know of no one else who has put as a lot work, effort, thought, love, and care into taking good care of the individuals who work on the bottom,” mentioned veterinarian Dr. Invoice Owens, the newly appointed president of the RTCA-TBD.
Wasiluk is survived by her husband Peter; son Phil, the assistant racing secretary at Delaware Park, and his fiancée Anne Sinchak; and daughter Jaclyn, an elementary faculty library media know-how specialist, in addition to grandsons Noah and Elijah and granddaughter Jordyn.
A mass will probably be held at Espiritu Santo Catholic Church at 2405 Philippe Parkway in Security Harbor, Fla., at 2:30 p.m. Aug. 12. In lieu of flowers, the household suggests donations be made to the Tampa Bay Downs Chaplaincy by way of mail at RTCA-TBD, P.O. Field 2211, Oldsmar, FL 34677.
This press launch has been edited for content material and magnificence by BloodHorse Employees.
