Sandra McKee interviewed Randy Kroop, the fourth generation boot maker of A.M. Kroop and Sons. The Kroop family business had roots in Laurel since 1923, making custom leather boots for jockeys, foxhunters and celebrities (Madonna, Carly Simon and Lyle Lovett were among the customers), and had a sterling reputation around the world. The success came from the quality and longevity of the boots, hand-made through 125 steps.
Granddaughter of founder Adolph Michael Kroop (whose father was a shoemaker in Latvia), Randy Kroop, 60, was the last of her family who wanted to continue the business, which first opened in New York in 1907. “It’s the story of our family’s history, of artistry and survival,” she said. “It’s life.”
A.M. Kroop and Sons closed in 2018.
It had been 75 years since the Maryland-sired, -bred, -owned and -trained Challedon became a Preakness legend when sweeping home to victory over a sloppy track. Owned by William Brann, who co-bred him with Robert Castle, and trained by Louis Schaefer, the son of Glade Valley Farm stallion Challenger II was the nation’s first two-time Horse of the Year, taking the title in 1939 and 1940. He raced coast-to-coast, and counted among his other victories back-to-back runnings of the Pimlico Special. He was inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame in 1977.
Richard “Dickie” Small, a dean among Maryland trainers, succumbed to cancer at age 68. From a family of horsemen that included his uncle, Hall of Fame trainer Sidney Watters Jr., Small trained his first winner in 1974, amassed 1,198 wins and turned out such stars as classic-placed multimillionaires Broad Brush and Broad Brush’s Breeders’ Cup Classic-G1-winning son Concern, and top filly Caesar’s Wish.
Small was well-known for his support of young riders, among his pupils Andrea Seefeldt Knight, Rosie Napravnik and Forest Boyce. “He was a take-you-under-his-wing kind of person,” said owner, breeder and sales consignor Becky Davis, whose father Dr. Tom Bowman was one of Small’s close friends.
Said childhood friend Ted Mudge, “He spoke reverently of [trainers] Buddy Raines and Burley Cocks and some of those old-time guys who helped him. Maybe giving back and helping other people was a way to pay that back. I could see him thinking, ‘How can I help people not go through what I went through?’ ”
