New scholarship winners

Cornell University pre-vet student Ariana Peluso was selected the $15,000 Gallo Blue Chip Scholarship winner for 2006 and will receive her check from sponsor Martin Scharf in the Meadowlands winner’s circle on Saturday night, Dec. 2. Three sons of New Jersey racetrack employees were also named recipients of the 2006 Vincent Abate Scholarships.

Peluso, who hails from White Lake, N.Y., is an animal science major in her second year at Cornell University. She is preparing for a career in equine veterinary medicine. Her father, Andrew, is a Monticello-based Standardbred trainer.

Scharf announced at the June 4, 2005, retirement ceremonies for his horse Gallo Blue Chip that he would establish a scholarship program to honor the richest pacer of all time. Gallo Blue Chip, the 2000 Horse of the Year, retired with a bankroll of $4,260,959 with 53 wins in 133 career starts.

In 2005, the inaugural year of the Gallo Blue Chip scholarships, two winners were selected – Nicole Baillie of East Windsor, New Jersey and Michelle Miller of New Berlin, New York.

The conditions of the scholarship dictate that it be awarded to the child of a harness horse trainer or caretaker who is licensed in either New Jersey or New York.

Three scholarships were also awarded this year in memory of Vincent Abate, who lost his life in the World Trade Center terrorism of Sept. 11. Abate Scholarships have been dispersed since 2001.

The recipient of the $5,000 Abate Scholarship was Matthew Howard, a senior at Toms River [New Jersey] High School, who plans to study business at Rutgers University. His father, Dennis Howard, is a mutual manager at Freehold Raceway.

A $1,000 Abate Scholarship was awarded to Michael Coyle, a senior at Hackensack [New Jersey] High School, who plans to pursue engineering studies at Rutgers. Another $1,000 award went to James Waddilove of Lincoln Park, N.J., a Boonton High School senior, who will attend Wilkes University and plans to study criminal justice and become a law officer.

Coyle, who is from Rochelle Park, New Jersey, is the son of Meadowlands grandstand electrician Michael Coyle. Both of Waddilove’s parents, John and Mary Ellen, work in wagering services at the Meadowlands.

The Abate Scholarship, which is sponsored by Craig Lipka’s Hillview Enterprises, is restricted to the children of employees of the Meadowlands or Freehold Raceway.

Both the Gallo Blue Chip and Abate Scholarships are administered by the Harness Horse Youth Foundation, which was established in 1976 to encourage youth involvement in harness racing.

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