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2003 Highcliff
Breeding & Racing News
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Photo: Barbara
D. Livingston |
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C. Lynwood 'Doc' and Suzie O'Cain
have been running Highcliff Farm for 14 years.
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New Yorker Suzie O'Cain Honored as 'Pioneer'
by Mike Kane (Courtesy of Blood-Horse Magazine)
(3/14/03)Suzie O'Cain thought the phone call was just a reminder
she had been invited to attend a Women's History Month reception at
the governor's mansion in Albany, N.Y. honoring Pioneering Women of
the Capital Region. O'Cain, who manages Highcliff Farm in Delanson,
N.Y. with her husband Lynwood, was wrong. The caller told her she
would be more than a spectator on March 12 and was one of the 17 women
selected to be saluted for their career accomplishments.
"I was shocked. I said, 'I just do my work and I didn't think
that anyone ever really noticed what I did, or I didn't realize that
I had made a big difference,'" O'Cain said. "I was so honored,
personally. But as a representative of the Thoroughbred industry I
was happy our industry was there with such notable people. I really
was. That was a big part of it."
Also recognized at the ceremony was Helene Smith of Albany, the sister
of veteran Thoroughbred trainer Billy Turner, who developed 1977 Triple
Crown winner Seattle Slew. Smith, the director of the Capital Region
International Center, was honored for her work with immigrants.
The O'Cains have managed Highcliff, which is located in rural
Schenectady County about 40 miles southwest of Saratoga Springs since
1989. Dr. C. Lynwood O'Cain is the resident veterinarian, while Suzie
O'Cain handles the marketing, develops the advertising program, and
promotes a dozen stallions at the farm, which has grown to be one
of the largest in New York. She is an active member of the New York
Thoroughbred Breeders' Inc. and is serving her fourth term on the
organization's board of directors.
The event was sponsored by the New York State Division for Women of
the Governor's Office, Capital Region Advisory Council. New York State
Lt. Governor Mary Donohue presented the awards.
