Local artist Sharon Crute honors Lady Eli on 2018 racing program
By Stan Hudy SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » It was just over a year ago that thoroughbred Lady Eli captured the Grade I Diana Handicap at Saratoga Race course, but her remarkable story left its mark on horse racing fans across the world and especially on local equine artist Sharon Crute.
“In her three-year-old year, she’s was a turf champion, she won the Eclipse Award, she suffered from a bout of laminitis when she came back from winning the Belmont Oaks Invitational,” Sharon Crute explained. “She stepped on a nail in her return to the barn and she got this ailment that horses get in their feet called laminitis and it can be very serious, it can be deadly.
“For her to come back from such a serious disease was nothing short of remarkable, so she is an inspiration. With all the advances we have in technology, in the medical field, that this was able to be done, that she could recuperate from this was just fabulous.”
Artists have the opportunity to express their feelings, their passion and appreciation for subjects as part of their work, but Crute was given the opportunity to continue to pay homage to Lady Eli for every racing fan that comes to Saratoga Race Course as her painting of that moment is the 2018 Saratoga Race Course program cover.
“In the (vendor) contract that each artist, there are six of us would have a chance at putting our artwork on the program cover beginning with the artist with the most seniority,” Crute said. “I’m last on the list, this is my ninth year.
“It’s something that I have wanted to do for many years, so when it rolled around and it was my turn, it was so exciting.”
For Crute to paint Lady Eli wasn’t just about a fantastic horse and a remarkable win, it was from 40 years of experience being around the majestic animals.
“I’m also a horse person, my husband (Michael Bray) is a trainer and I worked as his assistant trainer for 25 years,” Crute said. “I know how serious this ailment is when horses get is or contract it.
“When I heard that she had it you just hold your breath. Several other horses in recent years have recovered from it too, but 30 years ago it was almost a death sentence.”
Crute worked with the NYRA marking and graphic arts department sharing thoughts and ideas before completing her original work that was unveiled at the Spa Gallery on Friday, the eve of this year’s running of the Diana Handicap, won this year by Sombeyay.
To deliver a memorable piece of artwork that will be commemorated on more than a million programs this racing season has its own set of pressures, but there was a focus to honor Lady Eli.
“I have a lot of passion for horse racing and there are so many things that I want to express,” Crute said. “For her to come back like this was so remarkable that I could feel it in my heart and when I work, that’s what I want to do.
“I know horses so well, they are so much more intelligent than people give them credit for and I want to express that.”
The Saratoga Race Course program is available for purchase every day during the summer meet and Crute’s work is also on display and for sale at her artist pavilion on the main walkway. Visit Sharon Crute’s website at www.sharoncrute. com