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Higgins' Death Shocks Racing Community

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By KEITH MORELLI kmorelli@tampatrib.com .

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 12, 2008

TAMPA - The homicide of a prominent Odessa horseman has shocked friends in the thoroughbred industry, but investigators remained silent Saturday about the circumstances surrounding his death a day after his body was discovered.

Lawrence P. Higgins, 61, was found dead in his house at 11523 Trotting Down Drive on Friday morning by a business associate, Hillsborough County investigators said.

The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office concluded the death was a homicide, with "trauma to the upper torso," according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Records show that Higgins owned a few businesses, including Icarus Aircraft Inc., an advertising agency that used blimps to carry airborne messages. He also was a racehorse aficionado who told Bloodhorse.com that he bet more than $1 million a year on the sport at Tampa Bay Downs.

He also owned several horses. Among his thoroughbreds was Bodgiteer, which raced at Suffolk Downs in Boston and was named New England Horse of the Year at that track in 2007, according to ThoroughbredTimes.com.

Public records show that Higgins lived in a 3,575-square-foot home that was built in 2004 in the gated community of Citrus Green II. Hillsborough property appraiser records show the sprawling home and acreage have a market value of about $740,000.

The property is in the name of his wife, Susan. Court records show Higgins filed for divorce in May, but the record is unclear as to the outcome of the case.

Calls made to the home telephone were unanswered Saturday.

Higgins was the executive vice president of the Tampa Bay Downs Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and a familiar face at the track in Oldsmar.
Tampa Bay Downs general manager Pete Berube has known Higgins for about 13 years and said the racing community is in shock over the news of his death.

"He was a horseman," Berube said Saturday afternoon.

Higgins came to Florida from Maryland, where he was a lawyer and shuttled between the two states until about 2000, when he sold his home there and moved to Odessa, Berube said.

"I saw Larry on Wednesday," Berube said. "That makes this more disturbing."

He said Higgins was his usual pleasant self when the two chatted. He came to Tampa Bay Downs three or four times a week, often to watch his horses race across the country on the simulcast monitors.

"Last year he had 10 horses," Berube said. "I think he had scaled back some recently."

Higgins was successful as a racehorse owner, Berube said: "He knew what he was doing."

So much so that Higgins was asked to join the board of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, which represents the interests of owners, trainers and track workers, according to association president Robert Jeffries. Higgins, Jeffries said, represented owners and trainers in contract negotiations. He also helped jockeys, grooms, hot walkers and other track workers.

"We all know him," Jeffries said. "He spent a lot of time on the backside. He was always around every day with his horses. He sure enjoyed watching them."

Not only was Higgins interested in horses, he was very interested in, and generous toward, those who work with them, said Sharyn Wasiluk, president of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America, Tampa Bay Downs Division. Every year, she said, Higgins would donate rides in his blimp and items to an auction that helps raise money for clothing, English classes and counseling for track workers.

Saturday, the local racing community was trying to deal with the untimely death of one of its own.

"We got the call yesterday," Berube said. "We just couldn't believe it. Everybody really liked Larry. He was intelligent, even-keeled, a really great guy."

Editor Howard Altman contributed to this story. Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760.

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