Caiazzo Selected as 2025 Bootstraps Scholarship Recipient

Madalyn Sadie Caiazzo, a second-year student at the University of Maryland College Park, has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Ferris Allen Bootstraps Scholarship, which was created and funded by the longtime trainer based at Laurel Park.

Allen launched this scholarship program, which is administered by the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, in 2023. The program provides a financial award of $10,000 to one deserving individual each year to assist with college expenses. In 2024, Allen selected two candidates for the scholarship, and the MTHA Board of Directors agreed to provide the additional $10,000.

“This scholarship is designed to encourage motivated young people to pursue a four-year college degree as part of their career path,” Allen said. “We are delighted to have supported Alvaro Barajas, Julissa Sepulveda and Andrea Torzone with past scholarships and are certain Madalyn will make us proud as well.”

Eligible applicants include those who themselves or their families have been employed on the backstretch at Laurel Park or other approved equine facilities or have worked in a related support role in Maryland racing within the past three years. Candidates must also be enrolled—or planning to enroll—in a four-year college or university beginning in the fall of 2025 or shortly thereafter.

Allen said he welcomed the input and participation in the choosing of the 2025 award recipient.

Caiazzo, who pursuing two majors—Environmental Science and Technology, and Agricultural and Resource Economics—was raised on a private training farm with more than 60 horses in Darlington, Maryland. At age eight, she was riding her pony to and from the track with the racehorses, and later walked hots and performed other duties in the barn for her father, trainer Corby Caiazzo.

In high school, Caiazzo was in the Large Animal Science Magnet Program where she had the opportunity to pursue intern and research experiences as part of her coursework. Her experiences included shadowing work days at Foxhall Equine to research the occurrence of Osteochondritis Dissecans in Thoroughbred yearlings.

In May of this year, Caiazzo began working at the Fair Hill Equine Therapy Center, assisting with facilitating various therapies, hot walking, mucking stalls, organizing schedules and horse files, videoing breezes, and ponying on the track. She spends her breaks and summers working in the industry to raise funds for her ongoing educational pursuits.

“I am thankful to have the opportunity to work in this industry, making money to fund my own education,” Caiazzo said. “Despite working to pay for college, I still rely on scholarships like this one. This scholarship will greatly help me in funding my education. It will help me cover costs such as my tuition, housing, textbooks, and more.

“I hope to pursue a career in the agriculture industry and look forward to paving my own path in agriculture, but I know the racetrack and horses will always be a significant part of my life. I am very grateful for this opportunity and to be receiving this scholarship.”

Caiazzo said she enjoys exposing other young people to the sport of Thoroughbred racing, and that it is vital to introduce new generations to the overall equine industry. She also brings attention to the usefulness of off-track Thoroughbreds and believes the industry must do all it can to show the public that racehorses can have successful second careers.

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