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“One of my favorite memories of Saratoga was a Travers morning in the rain, when Travers reruns inexplicably began playing on the television. Everyone of the backside stopped and hovered, watching Ridan and Jaipur, Affirmed and Alydar, Holy Bull and Concern. Zast does it even better in this Travers extravaganza.” — Sean Clancy, editor and publisher |
About Vic Zast
Notwithstanding his affinity for the area, Zast wrote about horse racing in Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland, Australia, Dubai, France, Canada and England. His “Destinations” columns in The Blood-Horse magazine were unique travel and sport features, offering travel tips and ratings. Zast served in almost every horse racing capacity imaginable. He was a Board member of the National Turf Writers Association. He was an owner, a breeder, a pioneer in corporate sponsorship of races, and the president of a baker’s dozen of racetracks. He created the concept of bonus money for horses that are able to win a series of races. In addition, Zast owned and operated a cosmetics manufacturing company named Private Perfumery. An experienced business executive, he was the CEO of four different companies during the past 25 years of his life. He lived in Wilmette, IL, and spent each August at his home in Saratoga Springs, a short three-minute walk to the racecourse. |
Vic Zast was uniquely qualified to write a book about “The History
and Art of 25 Travers.” He witnessed 45 Travers Stakes
in person. Readers of Zast’s columns on HorseRaceInsider.com and
MSNBC.com knew him for insightful and thought-provoking commentary.
But passionate Zast fans know that he was at the top of his game
when describing his beloved Saratoga. Vic passed away in 2014 at the age of 69; he will be greatly missed.