Prominent Owner Mark DeDomenico Passes, Aged 87

[Wandering Eyes]

Prominent owner and pioneering human heart surgeon Mark DeDomenico passed away Saturday aged 87, leaving behind a storied legacy in human and equine health.

“The first thing he taught me when I went to work for him was that the word 'can't' isn't in the vocabulary,” said Mike Puhich, trainer and director of horse operations at the Pegasus Training and Rehabilitation Center in Redmond, Washington, owned by DeDomenico.

“He'd say 'I want this, this, and this.' And I'd say, 'Doctor Mark, I can't do that.' And he'd say, 'I know, that's why I want it done by Wednesday.' He was a very tough guy and hard guy to get to know. But once you got to know him, he had a heart of gold. He always had a vision that was always higher than what anybody else could ever think of,” said Puhich.

As an owner, DeDomenico's name will forever be associated with Blind Luck, the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained Eclipse champion 3-year-old filly of 2010. DeDomenico owned her in a partnership that included the trainer, John Carver and Peter Abruzzo.

Blind Luck's career comprised victories in the 2010 GI Kentucky Oaks and 2010 GI Alabama S. as part of a six-time Grade-I winning spree.

DeDomenico also co-owned the Jeff Bonde-trained She's a Tiger, who passed the post first in the 2013 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, only to be disqualified to second behind Rio Antonia.

“We had some really good horses, and he expected the best,” said Puhich. “But when he didn't get the best, he rolled with the punches and went on to the next.”

DeDomenico hailed from the family that created Rice-A-Roni and owned the Ghirardelli Chocolate company. But Puhich–who had known DeDomenico since he was a child–described him as very much a “self-made man.”

“He made his own money–he did it on his own, which I thought was very impressive,” said Puhich, who said that DeDomenico transferred many of the lessons he had gleaned from the world of human health to that of rehabilitating racehorses.

“Usually when you do surgery on a horse, you cut their value in half. But 85% of the horses we did got back to the way they were, which I thought was an amazing stat,” said Puhich.

“Our exercise program, there's swimming in an underwater treadmill. A synthetic surface. A training model for when they come back–not as many days off as normal. They're in the pool 14 days after surgery instead of standing in the stall three months. He changed that standard–he changed that whole protocol. Everybody does it this way now,” said Puhich.

“He studied the body very well,” said Puhich, who added that DeDomenico had, only months before, sold a successful fitness program that catered to people with health issues like diabetes and high blood pressure. He also helped invent and promulgate the coronary heart bypass.

“He did a lot of good things in health care. There wasn't a horse or a person he didn't think he could save,” said Puhich.

When asked to sum up what DeDomenico meant to him and others, Puhich responded, “just what a good person he was. And how much he loved horse racing and people in general. Helping people and helping horses–I think until you got to know him, you wouldn't really see that side of him,” Puhich added. “But it was a sincere side, and he did a lot.”

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