The Jockey Club

The recent Thoroughbred Daily News piece by Mike Repole and The Jockey Club's response were both timely and important. Regardless of where one stands on the broader debate, Mr. Repole is plainly correct on this point: the Thoroughbred industry still does not do enough to fund aftercare. For decades we relied on good will, volunteerism, and heroic nonprofit work to clean up the back end of an industry that generates enormous revenue at the front end. That model was not sustainable nor was it morally defensible. In 2011, Jack Wolf...

The cost of registering a foal with The Jockey Club will rise from $265 to $325 in 2026, while filing a report of mares bred will go from $40 to $50, according to a new fee structure posted on the Registry page. The Jockey Club's Jim Gagliano said that the fees were largely driven by an increase in the price of DNA sampling, along with overall inflation costs. He added that the organization would be spending significantly more money on aftercare this year, above and beyond these increases. "Some registration...

The Jockey Club has announced that total prize-money at its 15 racecourses will rise to £61.47 million this year, up from a budgeted £58.1 million in 2025.  The increase can be attributed mainly to the fact that overall prize-money at the Betfred Derby Festival is to be boosted by £1.375 million in 2026.  In addition, a total of 322 fixtures will be staged across The Jockey Club over the next 12 months - up from a scheduled 319 last year. The third contributor is an increase in prize-money for Class...

The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program's 2026 Championship horse show will be held at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, Sept. 30 through Oct. 4, The Jockey Club announced Tuesday. The championship show is part of a schedule which includes 8,000 awards and classes at more than 1,600 shows in 42 states and five Canadian provinces in 2026. Awards are available for multiple disciplines, including eventing, dressage, Western and English pleasure, ranch horse, hunter/jumper, competitive trail, barrel racing, polo, and polocrosse. A full calendar of shows offering awards is available...

Outspoken owner Mike Repole announced Monday on his feed on the social media platform X that he has taken the first steps toward launching what he called a "national lawsuit" that he hopes will bring what he feels are vital changes to the horse racing industry. Repole compared his lawsuit to Michael Jordan vs. NASCAR. That case refers to the recent antitrust lawsuit filed by Jordan's 23XI Racing against NASCAR, accusing the organization of monopolistic practices, which culminated in a mid-trial settlement in December 2025. Among the issues brought up...

Robert Clark, a 66-year-old equine artist from Paris, Ky., was named the Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards Sweepstakes winner by The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), according to an organization release on Thursday. Clark's name was randomly selected from the pool of entries. Clark, whose work includes the book "A Brush with Greatness", and his wife, Susan, will be guests of the NTRA and Resolute Racing at the 55th Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards on Jan. 22 at The Breakers Palm Beach, Florida. The pair also will be guests of Resolute at...

Each Christmas, Kempton hosts the most important day of jump racing in the British calendar outside the Cheltenham and Aintree Festivals. It's a racecourse synonymous with the great names of this sport - Kauto Star, Desert Orchid, Wayward Lad, One Man. Yet Friday's compelling edition of the King George VI Chase crouches under extinction's peak - and we've learned it's been huddled in that brace position for the past seven years due to the wilful actions of its owners, the Jockey Club. Most people thought any immediate threat to Kempton,...

What will racing look like in 10 years? We asked some of racing's best and brightest to give us their predictions. Want to submit an answer? Email suefinley@thetdn.com BARRY IRWIN, CEO OF TEAM VALOR INTERNATIONAL Racing will contract in size and be conducted at fewer venues. The names Stronach and 1st Racing will disappear and become as remote as the names Adena Springs and Magna. NYRA and TwinSpires will control the game. In 2036 there will only be racing in New York (Belmont/Saratoga), Florida (Ocala), Maryland (Pimlico), Kentucky (Keeneland, Churchill,...

The topic of the diminishing North American Thoroughbred foal crop (estimated 17,000 for 2026) came up several times during last week's Global Symposium on Racing hosted by the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program in Tucson. This is often referred to as our industry's "horse shortage" problem. I try to avoid that term in my reporting unless I am directly quoting someone who says it. Instead, the sport has long been dealing with an "owner shortage." Breeders stand ready and willing to start producing more racehorses if only more...

The final installment in the 2025 OwnerView webinar series, held on Dec. 9, covered industrywide efforts to support individuals in need. The conference is hosted by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and presented by Bessemer Trust, Keeneland, and Stoll Keenon Ogden. The panel was sponsored by Daily Racing Form. A Q&A was sponsored by West Point Thoroughbreds. Gary Falter, project manager for OwnerView, moderated the panel with guests Joe Clabes, executive director of the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF); Christian Countzler, chief executive officer of...

TOKYO, JAPAN -- In a special ceremony at Tokyo racecourse prior to the 45th running of the Japan Cup, history was made when brothers Teruya and Katsumi Yoshida became the first Japanese members of the Jockey Club. The major owner-breeders and owners respectively of Shadai Farm and Northern Farm, Teruya, 78, and Katsumi, 77, were presented with lapel badges by senior steward Baroness Dido Harding to mark their honorary membership. Baroness Harding was joined in Tokyo by Jockey Club CEO Jim Mullen, assistant racing and international director Matthew Woolston, and...

The United States's Jockey Club and Europe's Weatherbys have partnered to launch 'Racehorse Naming,' the organizations announced in a joint statement Tuesday. The website enables users to check the potential availability of a Thoroughbred name in Great Britain, Ireland, the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. According to the statement, 'Racehorse Naming' "streamlines the naming process for owners and breeders and will be especially useful for unnamed Thoroughbreds bred or purchased in one country and imported to another, which requires name approval by the exporting and importing authorities." "We're proud...