Kenny Katz has been a podiatrist on Long Island for over 38 years. His family has owned race horses for close to 35 years and runs on the NYRA circuit. He co-owned seven horses, one named Great Stuff, who won the Tobaggan Stakes with jockey Dylan Davis. 

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Kenny learned about fundraising from his parents. Every Labor Day, the family would watch the Jerry Lewis Telethon. He became passionate with the Muscular Dystrophy charity at a young age, so  much so that he and a friend trained for one year to prepare themselves for a 250  mile walk.  On his High School Graduation night, they were driven to Washington D.C. where the two of them proceeded to walk back to New York.  It took them seven days to finish at City Hall in Manhattan.  They raised $5000.00 to give to Jerry Lewis.  

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In 1992, Kenny invented a protective glove for kids playing video games. He was then licensed by SEGA and eventually becoming a consultant for SEGA SPORTS. He learned more about fundraising and was involved with setting up some of SEGA SPORTS charity events in New York.

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Kenny has had opportunities to work with athletes from the four major sports, plus boxing, tennis and soccer. Kenny says, "I learned that far and away, the nicest and most caring athletes are the jockeys and the entire horse racing community."

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Kenny started fundraising projects for Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) 15 years ago. He said he loved creating unique items. You may have seen the Kentucky Derby or Hall of Fame signed posters that were made and auctioned off at Jockeys and Jeans and the PDJF fundraisers. He ran four different bobblehead promotions at Gulfstream Park, all fundraisers for PDJF. His latest venture is the autographed card set that is limited and currently available to purchase. The information about this card set is detailed on this site, just click on the card set tab at the top of the page.

 

The Tampa Bay Downs event on Valentines Day, February 14, 2026 will be Kenny's first event since he was elected Jockeys and Jeans President. He says, "My goal is to have a successful, profitable event that PDJF will be proud of. Our committee should be commended. Each member goes above and beyond and they are the reason our event will be first class.  My wife, Tina, also helps tremendously. She hosted our reception for 110 people on short notice at our Gulfstream event, and will be doing the same at the Tampa event. She adds grace and elegance and I cannot thank her enough."

 

Kenny and Tina share three children and three grandchildren. 

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Kenny wants to recognize Barry Pearl who served as Jockeys and Jeans President since its inception. Kenny says, "Barry has certainly set the bar high raising nearly 4 million dollars for PDJF."

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Adding one more thing, "I would like say, a LOUD thank you to all the retired jockeys that attend these events. Without their support and dedication to a very important cause, we would not be able to accomplish any of this. Thank you."

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With that, come to Tampa and support this cause....it will be a great weekend, he promised.  Raising money for this particular charity is an absolute labor of love for Kenny. He is very passionate about everything PDJF is about.  Helping the fallen jockeys is his main focus.

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Some of the items Kenny created to have many horse racing legends autograph for Jockeys and Jeans and PDJF fundraisers (click each photo to expand)

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