2018 Second Extraordinary Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 9
BY SENATOR BOUDREAUX
A RESOLUTION
To declare Saturday, June 30, 2018, Kenneth L. Roberts Sr. Day in Louisiana, in recognition
of his immensely successful and deservedly celebrated career training quarter horses
to race, primarily in his home state of Louisiana.
WHEREAS, Kenneth Roberts Sr. was born on February 15, 1963, in Lafayette,
Louisiana, and, although he played football and basketball at Kashmere High School in
Houston, Texas, those sports soon took a backseat to learning to train quarter horses from
his uncle, Anthony Davis, a respected quarter horse trainer; and
WHEREAS, in 1967, at the tender age of fourteen, Kenneth Roberts began his
training under his uncle and saddled his first racehorse in 1977, a year in which his horses
won only six races, but he was undeterred by the long hours and hard work and continued
to persevere; and
WHEREAS, the hard work and sacrifices paid off for Mr. Roberts and he began
winning races in Texas and Louisiana, and developed stakes caliber horses that took him to
Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico and Los Alamitos Racetrack in Cypress, California, home
each year to four quarter horse stakes races with purses of over one million dollars, more
than any other track in the United States; and
WHEREAS, despite long days of overseeing barn morning workouts, evaluating
horses for upcoming races, and talking with owners, veterinarians, and those in the racing
office at his farm in Mauriceville, Louisiana, Kenneth Roberts contributes his success to that
very hard work and to having a dedicated team, which includes his brother, Roy, who works
hard every day alongside him; and
WHEREAS, clearly, Kenneth Roberts has both the passion and keen eye when
evaluating yearlings, and he considers it more than merely looking over the prospect from
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head to toe; it involves a connection, spotting a horse that will be special and a part of the
working team of trainer, owner, and jockey; and
WHEREAS, Tony Patterson, executive director of the Louisiana Quarter Horse
Breeders Association (LQHBA) says about Kenneth Roberts: "Kenny has set an incredible
standard for Louisiana quarter horse racing . . . he is the rare horseman that combines
quantity with quality"; and
WHEREAS, throughout his career, Kenneth Roberts has saddled over thirteen
thousand horses and has a lengthy list of champions and multiple stakes winners, including
the 1994 All American Derby winner I Hear A Symphony and Royal Bushwacker who broke
his maiden at Delta Downs in Vinton, Louisiana, in 1990 and won the All American
consolation and two stakes wins at Los Alamitos in his first year of racing, and Mr. Roberts
credits Royal Bushwacker as having "played a big part in my career"; and
WHEREAS, recalling other memorable horses, Mr. Roberts focuses on Ol Time
Preacher Man, who was purchased at the 2012 LQHBA yearling sale and went on to win
the one million dollar LQHBA Breeders' Futurity in November 2013 at Evangeline Downs,
near Lafayette in St. Landry Parish; and
WHEREAS, Kenneth Roberts has trained three World Champion horses: I Hear A
Symphony, winner of the All American Derby; Jess and Louisiana Blue, winner of the
American Quarter Horse Association Racing Champion Aged Stallion and East Hi Point
Aged Stallion; and B and G Fast Dash, winner of the AQHA Racing Champion of Distance;
and
WHEREAS, on January 17, 2017, Kenneth Roberts Sr. was awarded the World
Champion Quarter Horse Trainer title, having won one hundred sixteen races, finished
second in another ninety-six, and sixty-eight third place finishes to amass a winning total of
two million eight hundred thousand dollars in earnings in that single racing year; and
WHEREAS, Kenneth L. Roberts Sr. became the first African-American trainer to
win that coveted title as he continued to race primarily in his native state of Louisiana and
on June 30, 2018, at Delta Downs Racetrack Casino and Hotel in Vinton, Louisiana, he will
be celebrated as the World Champion Quarter Horse Trainer, the crowning achievement in
a more than forty-year career of training racehorses.
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THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby declare Saturday, June 30, 2018, Kenneth Roberts Sr. Day in Louisiana, in
recognition of his successful and deservedly celebrated forty year career of training quarter
horses to race, largely at home in Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Kenneth L. Roberts Sr. at Kenneth Roberts Racing Stables in Vinton, Louisiana.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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