New York Horse Racing Loses a Pioneer in Bongard

Ellen Bongard, a pioneer in the New York Thoroughbred industry whose family owned one of the oldest active breeding farms in the state, died Dec. 7 at the age of 77. Born June 2, 1943, in New York City, Bongard was the daughter of the late attorney Bertram F. Bongard, who played a key role in the formation of the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund and New York Thoroughbred Breeders Inc. Along with her father, she was predeceased by a brother, Bertram Jr., and her mother, Rojean R. Bongard. Bongard owned and operated Rojan Farm in Northumberland near Saratoga Springs, N.Y. from 1968-2020 with her sister, Barbara Bongard. Horses and golf were her favorite activities, and she was a longtime member of the Saratoga Golf and Polo Club. The Bongards also played a role in promoting and pressing for legislation that passed to help create the Breeding and Development Fund in the early 1970s. "We realized we weren't going anywhere until we got that going," Ellen Bongard said in an article that appeared in The Saratogian in 2017. "Those people were the reason I stayed in the business. … I began my involvement in 1968, when I took my first yearlings to Kentucky. If you asked me about the view of New York breeding at that time, I would call it minuscule. I mean, who bred horses in New York?" Rojan stood stallions, including Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner An Act, Northern Dancer's son Kick, Rare Earth, and Back Bay Barrister, in the 1970s and 80s and sold horses on the commercial market. The Bongards were early supporters of offseason training at the Oklahoma Training Track in Saratoga, along with the Saratoga Trials conducted in June and July in the early 1980s. A graduate of Scarsdale High School and Russell Sage College in Troy, Ellen Bongard is also credited with the creation of The Bongard Room at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Fight On Lucy, a homebred daughter of Musket Man, was Ellen Bongard's final starter and winner. The now 4-year-old filly finished sixth in the Staten Island division of the New York Stallion Series Nov. 22 at Aqueduct Racerack. On Sept. 19, Fight On Lucy won an allowance race at 26-1 for trainer Pat Kelly and Ellen and Barbara Bongard and their partners Carla Skodinski, Ellen Petrino, and Kathleen Condon. Kelly also saddled Fancycase to a win at Saratoga Aug. 11, 2018, for the same partnership. "She's a homebred, probably one of the last ones," Bongard said in the Aug. 12, 2018, edition of The Saratoga Special. "I happen to still own the oldest Thoroughbred farm in the state of New York. It's been a great ride, interesting one, too. I liked every part of it and I've always said, take good care of the horse, keep horse breeding alive and open space. That's what we're losing the most. There's a time for everything. After 65 years, don't you think it's time?" Bongard is survived by her sister. Services will be private. Contributions in Bongard's name may be made to: TAKE2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program Inc., P.O. Box 21028 Floral Park, NY 11002 or to New Vocations, 719 Dolan Lane, Lexington, KY 40511.