The History And Art Of 25 Travers

Vic, 69, made a day at the races at any track a celebration, but he played favorites: Saratoga, where he had a summer home, was his preferred meet, and the Breeders' Cup championships, which he attended every year since the 1984 inaugural running at Hollywood Park, was a special event. He traveled with his wife Maureen to other major racing festivals around the world, from the white turf of snowy St. Moritz, Switzerland, to the sandy desert of the World Cup of Dubai, to the bustling city of Tokyo for the Japan Cup, to the glamour of Royal Ascot in England.

Vic Zast grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., graduating from Siena College and the University of Buffalo Law School. An entrepreneur and executive who excelled in marketing three diverse industries – fragrances, distilled spirits and horse racing – he brought two of those industries together when he signed Jim Beam to be title sponsor of the Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park in Northern Kentucky.

Vic wrote about horses, the people in racing, and the business side of the game. He loved writing a daily diary for Bloodhorse.com from Saratoga each year. He was unconventional in his thinking, always looking for ways to make racing more popular and understandable to the general public.