The first Storm Cat Career Development Award has been presented to Jonathan Cheetham, VetMB, of Cornell University. The $15,000 grant is designed to give an early boost to an individual considering a career in equine research and is funded by a personal donation from Grayson-Jockey Club board member Lucy Young Hamilton. It is named in honor of the international stallion Storm Cat, which stands at Mrs. Young”s family farm, Overbrook Farm, near Lexington, Ky.

Cheetham is studying the role of palate and strap muscles in the disorder known as dorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP), which is thought to affect as much as 20%of the racehorse population. Cheetham’s project was one of four eligible works, and it was approved by the board after recommendation of board members Larry Bramlage, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, and Gary Lavin, VMD, and Grayson veterinary consultant Woody Asbury, DVM, Dipl. ACT.