8/18/2004:
Today is the birthday of one more North Dakota hero who is largely unknown here at home. Born in 1958, Dean Kutz grew up in Carrington and went on to become one of the finest horseracing jockeys in America, with more than 2,800 career victories.
As a child, Kutz suffered frostbite that left his fingers disfigured. The situation considerably lowered his odds of becoming a jockey. His father reportedly trained racehorses and was Dean’s principle coach and instructor, and at age 16, Kutz started racing at county fairs. By the time he was 21, he was the #1 jockey at Hawthorne Race Track, a 113 year-old track in Illinois.
Kutz was born with only one kidney, and five years later, it became diseased and failed. His sister donated one of her own kidneys, and the subsequent transplant was a success – but he was out of the racing circuit for at least a year.
Canterbury Downs in Shakopee, MN, opened the following years, and Kutz soon becae “a fan favorite.” In 1987 and ’88, Kutz held tops standings there and was the first jockey to be inducted into the Park’s Racing Hall of Fame. During the next decade, he also made waves at many other tracks, including Churchill Downs. He won recognition at Turfway Park in ‘97 and ‘98 – but he suffered a major setback in 1999, when he was diagnosed with throat cancer. Once again he beat the odds, but he lost his larynx and now speaks with a mechanical voice box.
While recuperating, he kept busy on his Kentucky farm where he had about 25 horses. But he couldn’t get racing out of his blood. He told the Evansville Courier & Press, “I scoped clean. The cancer is gone. The doctors say that if there’s no further problem within two years, I’m okay,” Kutz said. I don’t have a timetable established yet (for racing), but I don’t think it’ll be two years. I miss being around the other riders in the jocks’ room terribly, because I’ve been there since I was 16 years old.”
By 2001, Kutz was back in the saddle and earned his two-thousandth victory while racing at Ellis Park in Kentucky. That same year, jockeys across the Nation voted to give him the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, which pays tribute to one of the most successful jockeys of all time – charismatic George Woolf, whose favorite horse was Sea Biscuit (as in the movie).
The following year, Kutz received the Mike Venezia Award, the New York Racing Association’s memorial tribute to jockey Mike Venezia, who was killed in a spill at Belmont Park in 1988. Voters for that award included fans, turf writers and jockeys, who honored Kutz as a rider who “exemplified extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship.”
Over the years, Kutz has also been active in the National Kidney Foundation, Jockeys Across America and A Chance To Grow, an organization that’s dedicated to solving learning disabilities.
Yet, while Kutz’s career and accomplishments have been heralded across the nation, he waited a long time for his home state to recognize him. Thankfully, the ND Sports Hall of Fame has decided to induct Kutz into the Hall yet this year. Whether Kutz will still be around to enjoy it, however, is in doubt – sadly, his throat cancer has come back, and this time it looks like he may not overcome the odds. According to reports, he is hoping to live long enough to receive this special recognition from his home state. We hope you do, too, Dean. Happy birthday, and God Bless.
Dakota Datebook written by Merry Helm