The Jockey Club

The 12th Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit will be hosted by Keeneland on Monday, June 29, from 8:30 - 5:00, and Tuesday, June 30, from 8:30 - 12:00, according to a Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation release. Both days of the event will be free and open to the public in the Keeneland Sales Pavilion and will be livestreamed. Jessica Paquette, track announcer at Parx Racing, will be the emcee. Topics for the summit include a presentation by Dr. Tim Parkin on the latest statistics from the Equine Injury...

The Jockey Club, the largest commercial group in British horseracing, has agreed an exclusive new 20-year deal with Levy, the sports and entertainment division of Compass Group UK & Ireland. The partnership will enable The Jockey Club to make a capital investment of £100 million to revolutionise the spectator experience across its UK racecourses, funded by a payment from Compass as part of the new deal. The Jockey Club's investment plans include a significant revamp of the main entrance to Epsom Downs Racecourse, home to the Betfred Derby Festival. A...

Our existing industry "members," for lack of a better encompassing term, need to come together and agree on a unifying mission statement. This could happen around The Jockey Club Chairman Everett Dobson's "big table". Why not a mission statement similar to the Breeders' Cup for our industry, like this: "To provide safe, healthy, fair, and high-integrity environments for our horses and fans, and owners and bettors to compete in, at all levels, of our sports entertainment industry." Why be similar to the Breeders' Cup? The Breeders' Cup is not only...

A floor amendment has been added to HB 904--a sweeping piece of legislation seeking to legalize fixed-odds wagering in Kentucky--that is designed to essentially ensure no limit can be imposed on the number of mares bred to a stallion in the state. It requires that the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation select and use an entity to act as "a registrar of Thoroughbreds" in the state, meaning it could choose an organization other than The Jockey Club, which is the current breed registry for the U.S., Canada and Puerto...

Everett Dobson, chairman of The Jockey Club, pledged to collaborate with horsemen to find solutions to racing's many challenges and ways to grow the sport while delivering the keynote address at the National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association Conference at Oaklawn Park Wednesday. Dobson acknowledged some of the divisions between The Jockey Club and the National HBPA, including The Jockey Club's support of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the constitutionality of which the National HBPA is challenging in court. But Dobson stressed the common goals shared by the two...

In the age of social media, I realize that I'm writing this at my own peril. And I'm probably once again spitting in the wind. However, I feel like someone needs to speak up on a few things concerning our latest self-inflicted crisis regarding our lack of unity and dysfunction as an industry. To say that as an industry we continue to be "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight" is an understatement. We have been that way for the 40-plus years I've been involved in horse racing. Hence, the reason...

Charlotte Clement de Bona has been appointed The Jockey Club's chief strategy and transformation officer, the organization announced Thursday. In her new role, Clement de Bona will oversee enterprise strategy, digital and operational growth, and cross-functional initiatives. "The sport is evolving, and so must we," said The Jockey Club chair Everett Dobson. "Charlotte's role is an important step as the industry continues to seek growth and modernization opportunities. Charlotte's track record of delivering meaningful transformations, particularly in dynamic and complex environments, in addition to her unparalleled knowledge of racing, makes...

The Jockey Club will distribute 100 microchip scanners this week to aftercare organizations to facilitate the identification of Thoroughbreds, TJC announced in a press release Tuesday. Approximately 400 additional scanners will be distributed in the coming months. "We are providing these scanners as a service to the industry to help aftercare organizations and others identify Thoroughbreds and report whereabouts information, which will greatly benefit our traceability efforts," said Kristin Werner, deputy general counsel and director of Industry Initiatives, The Jockey Club. "These scanners work with the ID My Thoroughbred app,...

The Jockey Club has launched the ID My Thoroughbred app, which allows users to access Thoroughbred information using a microchip number, it was announced via press release Thursday. "The ID My Thoroughbred app is just one of the many tools The Jockey Club has provided to support the industry's aftercare and traceability initiatives," said James L. Gagliano, president and COO, The Jockey Club. "These initiatives are crucial to ensuring the welfare of Thoroughbreds throughout their lives, and we appreciate the collaboration among other industry organizations to make this a priority."...

On February 9, TDN published my Letter to the Editor criticizing The Jockey Club for its January 27 rebuttal of Mike Repole's sustained effort to hold the organization accountable for the most pressing issues facing Thoroughbred racing, breeding and aftercare. That statement alone was enough to make my blood curdle. The Jockey Club labeled Repole's concerns "unfair," referred to itself as a body of "volunteers," and again refused to accept responsibility for its own failures. Then came the February 13 "Industry Impact Report," and what had curdled began to boil....

Recently, while reviewing board elections for several major organizations in our industry, I noticed something that gave me serious pause; there are very, very few women at the highest levels of policy and decision-making on those boards. My initial reaction was the typical frustration I have felt for decades, but I must have matured enough at some point to realize that frustration alone does not move an industry forward. I wanted to try to figure out why this is and consider what opportunities we might be missing. I serve on...

Like any responsible stakeholder in the Thoroughbred racing industry, I have followed with keen interest Mike Repole's now 2 1/2-year crusade to reform, disrupt, rejuvenate and revitalize horse racing, breeding and aftercare. Mike's mission surely predates that timeline, but it was in October 2023 that he formalized his intentions with the formation of the National Thoroughbred Alliance and the appointment of Pat Cummings as Executive Director. I am not privy to any private meetings or correspondence between Mike and Pat and the industry's power brokers. What we all do have...