Struzzieri Receives Galbreath Award

By Paula Parisi November 3, 2012

He’s bestowed plenty of trophies and prizes, but Oct. 25 marked HITS Inc. CEO Thomas G. Struzzieri’s turn for a victory lap as recipient of the 2012 John W. Galbreath Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurship in the Equine Industry.

Presented by the University of Louisville for the past 23 years, the Galbreath recognizes outstanding achievement in business and is awarded through the College of Business and Administration’s Equine Industry Program. The program is the only one in the nation to focus on the commercial aspects of a career with horses.

“Everything we do at HITS is aimed at promoting the sport of show jumping to equestrians of all levels,” said Struzzieri, who was presented with the custom-cast award at a ceremony held in the University Club at the Bingham Library. “Nothing makes me happier than to see an organization like the University of Louisville’s Equine Industry Program motivating equine professionals to advance the sport and the business.”

Many past recipients have come from racing ― a passion of Galbreath’s and a sport held dear to those in Louisville. Struzzieri is the first honoree from the hunter/jumper world and Equine Industry Program director Timothy Capps said selecting him was “a no-brainer.”

“We heard about him from the USEF. He spoke at one of our conferences and we were very impressed. One of the things that appealed to us was that he was just a regular guy who liked horses and decided to build a business around them,” Capps said. In other words, while Struzzieri has ridden all of his life, he wasn’t one of those kids born with platinum spurs on their boots. His father ran a business offering pony rides at fairs and carnivals.

“I fell in love with horses when I was a boy, and it just didn’t go away,” Struzzieri said. He took riding lessons, and started competing in his teens. “I worked hard at it, and I was okay, but I realized I was never going to be a world-class rider, and probably not a trainer, either, but I liked being around the shows and all the details involved.”

Struzzieri’s practical, goal-oriented approach exemplifies the career ethic that underpins U of L’s Equine Industry Program. “The horse world consists mainly of well-to-do people that were wealthy before they got into horses,” Capps said, stressing his curriculum’s strategy of wealth-building through horses.

Equine Industries Program graduates receive a BSBA ― bachelor of science, business administration ― the same degree they would receive if they were majoring in economics or finance, Capps explained.

The UL School of Business also offers a graduate program in entrepreneurship that is ranked among the top 10 in the world. “There is a separate entrepreneurship minor, open to for everyone in the school, and we encourage our kids to do that,” Capps said.

Struzzieri, who this year celebrates his silver anniversary in the business, has certainly put his own entrepreneurial skills to exemplary use. He hosted his first horse show in 1987 in Gainesville, FL. Since then, he has “completely changed the world of showing” in the United States, Capps said, explaining, “there were elite shows, and very small regional shows, nothing in the middle. He saw need in the market and he filled it.”

Today the Saugerties, NY-based Horse Shows in the Sun (HITS) manages 37 weeks of horse shows per year, offering more than 50 grand prix, including qualifiers for the FEI World Cup and its own HITS Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix, which became the only seven-figure class on U.S. soil when it debuted in 2010.

HITS upped the ante by introducing the “hunter prix,” capped by two fall championships with a combined $750,000 in prize money ― an astronomical sum that increased by several multiples what was previously offered in the hunters.

For 2013, the company has added a second $1 million class, the AIG Thermal Million Grand Prix, which culminates the California Desert Circuit March 17. While HITS’ high-end business has grown, it hasn’t been at the expense of its early supporters, who have also seen their horizons expand.

HITS partnered with a large equine insurance firm to form the Marshall & Sterling League, which offers a championship to riders outside the USEF system. It also created a Children’s Hunter Pony Finals to nurture young talent. The past two years also have seen an expansion into biped sport: triathlons and running festivals. And in 2011, Struzzieri became an hotelier with the opening of the Diamond Mills Hotel & Tavern in Saugerties.

The late John W. Galbreath was similarly diversified; he earned his fortune in property development and is today remembered largely for his involvement with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Darby Dan Thoroughbred Farm and as longtime chairman of Louisville’s legendary Churchill Downs racetrack.

Last year’s winner, Jim Helzer, runs Arapahoe Roofing as well as Venture Farms, which breeds Quarter Horses in three states.
The criteria used in selecting Galbreath recipients are: 1) original, creative or unusual method of business; 2) a willingness to take personal risks; 3) a visionary approach to the equine industry; 4) the respect of industry peers and business associates; and 5) evidence of success and profitability.
In 2004, the university honored its first female recipient, Judith Forbis, the woman credited with building a thriving American market for the modern Egyptian Arabian horse.

“The Galbreath honors innovation and hard work. That’s what entrepreneurship is all about and Tom Struzzieri is a perfect example,” Capps said.

For more information, visit www.hitsshows.com.

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