Champion in Jamaica, and Venezuela
KINGSTON, Jamaica – On Sunday, February 20, 2022, the Millard Ziadie Memorial Cup was contested as the feature race was contested.
The five-and-a-half furlong event was won dramatically by Generational ridden by Robert Halledeen for trainer Rowan Mathie.
Milliard Ziadie is a special individual in the annals of local racing and indeed the region.
Ziadie was a champion trainer in Jamaica between 1946 – 1950. He conditioned Triple Crown winner Mark Twain, and champion horses Blue Streak and Zackie Eldeen.
Ziadie left Jamaica to train horses in Venezuela, where he became champion trainer on ten occasions. In Venezuela, he saddled over 3,000 winners and also holds the single-season record of 168 wins in 1968. Ziadie is an inductee in the local Hall of Fame.
The following profile of Ziadie published below is an abridged version of an article written by John Macedo as part of the Venezuelan Equestrian Anecdotes series.
It was on December 25, 1919, Christmas Day, that Millard Faris Ziadie was born in Kingston, Jamaica. His childhood was spent around thoroughbreds as his father Tewfick Faris Ziadie was an outstanding breeder and trainer of racehorses, who deeply wanted him to be a doctor, but the passion for horse racing was stronger than school and books, that was the reason why Millard did not go beyond elementary education.
Despite his father's opposition to his entering the field, he entered the coaching profession. His beginnings were difficult and he was about to give up, but he persevered in his goal and after more than ten years it was that he achieved his first statistics in 1945, an achievement that he repeated five more times so consecutive. He also trained Triple Crown Mark Twain and champions Blue Streak and Zackie Eldeen .
The story goes that Don Carlos Márquez Mármol hired the services of Don Millard to manage his stable for house and food in Venezuela. The deal was made and " El Musiú " moved to Venezuela in July 1951. And it was on Saturday, October 6, 1951, in the fourth race of the program, for the Rafael García Cedeño Prize, at a distance of1100 meters, he achieved his first win with Hyde Park.
His first classic was on March 23, 1952, with "The hare” Red Peak in the Clásico de Los Sprinters and with Raúl Bustamente on his mount. But one of the unforgettable exploits of his early days has to do with the “ Assassin ” Pilot Jack. This was an English horse that made a short campaign in our country and that was vetoed by the stewards so that he could not participate in public tests because his aggressiveness was such that he was even left injured. Due to his origin and appearance, he was traded to the Haras Monagas .
He set a record for races won in a single season with 168 ( 1968 ) which he kept until 1997 when Antonio Sano accumulated 216 victories at the Valencia National Racecourse, setting a new mark. And he repeated the statistic in 1969 with 120 hits.
On Wednesday, May 19, 2004, at approximately 9:00 PM, I received a call from Ing. Wadih Abouhamad informing me of such unfortunate news and noting that the time of his death was at 7:30 PM. At that moment I thought that we had paid very little to Don Millard regarding the debt that Venezuelan horse racing owes for all the years of professionalism that he dedicated, starting with his indisputable successes, honesty, selfless teaching for his students, and his gift of good people. But for me “ El Musiú” he has not died, he is alive inside all the equestrian hearts, he simply moved to another abode more distant, but more comfortable, surely training the best thoroughbreds of the heavenly court, which I am sure to include Petare, Banal, El Tamao , Tronado, Cambur, Senegal, Inteligente, Ireland, Tessa , Debonair Prince , Hyde Park , Red Peak and of course the “ Mackerel ” Gelinotte .
And although the saying goes that " no one is a prophet in his land ", in Caymanas Park , Jamaica , it is run every year in mid-January the Millard Ziadie Cup , for horses 3 and over, in recognition not only of his campaign in his country but also for his achievements in Venezuela.
