The Jockey Club’s Nancy Kelly Passes Away Following Long Illness

Edited Press Release

Nancy C. Kelly, who helped raise millions of dollars for equine research and for individuals in need throughout the Thoroughbred industry over the course of a 32-year career at The Jockey Club, died Feb. 9 in Garden City Park, NY.

Kelly was 71 years old and had been battling ovarian cancer since February 2019, approximately one year after she retired.

As the vice president of development for Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and the executive director of The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation, Kelly organized countless fund-raising events ranging from golf tournaments and ladies' luncheons to formal gala dinners. She also managed domestic and international racing conferences, including The Jockey Club's annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing and multiple editions of the Pan Am Conference in New York City.

Kelly had worked in the clubhouse relations department of The New York Racing Association before The Jockey Club chairman Odgen Mills (Dinny) Phipps, who became a longtime friend and cherished colleague, recruited her to join The Jockey Club staff in 1985.

“Nancy had hundreds if not thousands of friends throughout the Thoroughbred industry, and she was as universally respected and admired as much as anyone I've ever known,” said Stuart S. Janney III, the chairman of The Jockey Club. “She was the face of The Jockey Club in many ways and no one was ever a better representative of our organization. Our sincere condolences go out to her entire family.”

Kelly, a native of New Hyde Park, NY, and a resident of Westbury, NY, maintained a long-standing and deep appreciation for the backstretch community and served in a variety of key volunteer roles in the creation and/or development of several Belmont Park-based organizations. Among them were the Belmont Child Care Association and the New York Race Track Chaplaincy.

She was named president of the chaplaincy shortly after retiring from The Jockey Club at the end of 2017, but stepped aside shortly thereafter due to her illness. From then on, she served as the vice president and as a board member.

“This is a sad day for anyone who ever knew Nancy and that includes all the racetrack chaplains around the country with whom she worked on a regular basis,” said Humberto Chavez, the lead chaplain and executive director of the New York Racetrack Chaplaincy. “She was a humanitarian in every sense of the word and took great joy in helping others.”

Though Kelly avoided the limelight at all costs, she was often honored by organizations and community groups for her service to the industry and nearby communities. Among many other honors, she received the Race Track Chaplaincy of America's Award of Excellence, the Jockeys' Guild's Eddie Arcaro Award (presented annually to a person who shows exceptional commitment to jockeys and the organization) and the New York Turf Writers Association's Red Smith Good Guy Award.

Kelly is survived by her sister, Fran Dtugokenski; brother-in-law, Ray Dtugokenski; nieces Lisa Locurto and Michelle Mirabile; and four grand-nieces and two grand-nephews.

Kelly's late husband, Jack Kelly, an Equibase chartcaller and field supervisor, died in November 2010 after a long battle with polycythemia.

The wake will be held Monday, February 12, at 9 a.m. at the Leo F. Kearns Funeral Home, 445 E. Meadow Avenue in East Meadow, NY. It will be followed by a Mass at 11 a.m. at St. Brigid Catholic Church, 85 Post Avenue in Westbury.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation, the New York Race Track Chaplaincy, or the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

Donations in Nancy Kelly's name can be made to The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation through its website tjcfoundation.org or by check, payable to The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation and mailed to The Jockey Club Safety Foundation, 250 Park Avenue, Suite 2020, New York, NY 10177.

Donations in her name to the New York Racetrack Chaplaincy can be made through its website rtcany.org or by sending a check, payable to the New York Racetrack Chaplaincy, to the New York Racetrack Chaplaincy, PO Box 37191, Elmont NY, 11003.

Donations in her name to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center can be made at giving.mskcc.org or by sending a check, payable to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Office of Development, PO Box 27106, New York, NY, 10087.

 

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Tears and Appreciation for Team Cody Carry the Evening at Eclipse Awards

Cody's Wish (Curlin) was crowned both 2023 Horse of the Year and Older Dirt Male champion at Thursday night's 53rd annual Eclipse Awards ceremony, and when Kelly Dorman, the father of the late Cody Dorman, accepted the evening's highest honor on behalf of owner/breeder Godolphin, the crowd at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida met his brief pause to shed a few bittersweet tears with a standing ovation that gave him time to collect his thoughts and let the gravity of the moment sink in.

On the track, Cody's Wish thrilled his fans with a successful defense of his title in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. But his story resonated far beyond the finish line thanks to the bond that began in 2018 when then-12-year-old Cody Dorman, who was born with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, first met the then-unnamed yearling while touring Godolphin as part of a Make-A-Wish outing.

As Cody's Wish rose through the graded stakes ranks, the story of the inspirational teenager he was named after captivated a nation of racing enthusiasts. But the years-long emotional ride ended too soon, when Cody Dorman died Nov. 5 at age 17 on his way back home to Kentucky after witnessing Cody's Wish end his career triumphantly at Santa Anita in the Breeders' Cup just one day earlier.

“I never would have dreamed five years ago, when all this happened, that I would be standing right here doing this,” Kelly Dorman said. “I wouldn't have dreamed about the wonderful people we've met. But I hope you guys got a TV in front of the stall down at Jonabell right now, because I want to thank Cody's Wish for everything he's done.

“I know everyone here, you guys just blow me away, because I know you put your heart in these horses, day in, day out,” Dorman said. “That's your life. And I know a lot of times those horses put their heart into you–the jockeys, the trainers, the owners, everybody. And man, that horse, he put his heart into us…

“One of the best things to come out of this, other than the grit and determination, was we got to watch Cody's Wish run,” Dorman said. “I think he got that honest when they gave him his name. 'Can't' and 'quit' were two words that we never used, never will. You might think that horse can't talk, but he can. But he won't use those two words either. He always spoke to Cody…

“I want to let you guys know how much it means, the fans that have come up to us and let us know how much the story behind the wonderful horse means, and just so many wonderful people that we've gotten to meet through this, the wonderful connections we've made. It puts a smile on our face, day in and day out.”

NTRA photo

Earlier in the evening, when the story of Cody's Wish won the Moment of the Year award for the second straight season, Dorman recounted an old adage that he said was appropriate in how his son and family have been accepted and welcomed by the racing industry.

“Over time, people will eventually forget what you've done,” Dorman said. “They will eventually forget about the things that you've said. But they'll never forget how you made 'em feel. I know Cody made you guys feel that same way. But this Moment of the Year, it's for you guys too. You guys put so much in our hearts, everybody here in this room, watching on TV, we love all you guys. We appreciate that–thank you.”

Earlier in the ceremony, victories by Arcangelo (Arrogate) in the GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S. cemented champion 3-Year-Old Male honors for owner Blue Rose Farm (Jon Ebbert) and trainer Jena Antonucci, the first woman to condition the winner of a Triple Crown race.

The Arcangelo team | NTRA

“The greatest part of this sport is you just need one special horse and a bunch of people who believe in him,” Ebbert summed up.

Although the evening was replete with heartfelt thank-yous from award winners extending gratitude that spanned everyone who planned the Thoroughbred matings all the way down to foal caretakers and daily grooms who do the daily-grind type of work behind the scenes, several recipients couldn't resist a bit of forewarning about the future while commanding the podium.

Owner and breeder Mike Repole took home the hardware for champion 2-Year-Old Male for the second consecutive season, winning with Fierceness (City of Light) after being victorious last year with Forte (Violence). After doling out thanks to his racing and bloodstock teams, Repole overstayed his allotted 60 seconds at the podium by 2 1/2 additional minutes while advocating for disruptive yet positive changes to the industry.

Repole's passion was evident. But by choosing to punctuate his remarks with f-bomb profanities while surrounded by family members and children on the stage as “exit music” got cued up in the background to encourage him to wrap it up, Repole introduced a level of coarseness that didn't mesh with the spirit and tone of the festivities.

Mike Repole | NTRA

“Right now, this sport, we're all on the Titanic, okay?” Repole said. “There's an iceberg there. But we're not hitting the iceberg yet. We need a vision. We need leadership. We need alignment. We need strategy. We need collaboration. [From] the big entities [all the way down to individuals in the sport], we've got to make this better for everybody.

“So I implore you, please, for the next two years–other than me taking more time–be selfless over selfish,” Repole said. “That's number one. [But] this is the most important message of the night: Let's [expletive] compete in the racetrack. Outside the racetrack, let's compete together for what's best for this game. I love this [expletive] game. It's going to be here a long time.”

Stuart Janney III, the chairman of The Jockey Club, was honored with the Eclipse Award of Merit for his lifetime of service to the sport. He was thankful for his broad supporting cast, but he too had words about the tenuous future of the sport.

Like Repole, Janney spoke of cooperation. But his focus emphasized one of The Jockey Club's main initiatives over the past decade, creating and empowering the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA).

“Our industry's got a lot of issues that [we need] to get in front of and solve,” Janney said. “We've now been given the tool kit. We didn't have it before. With HISA, we can go forward, but we need to go forward together…. I hope that we have learned, as an industry, the advantages of being together, and that we really do go forward in a unified fashion…. And where racing's continuation is in question, in some states, we'll work with others to hopefully find viable solutions.”

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Jockey Club Chairman Stuart Janney To Receive Eclipse Award Of Merit

The Jockey Club of America Chairman Stuart S. Janney III will be honored with the Eclipse Award of Merit at the 53rd Annual Eclipse Awards Dinner and Ceremony at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida on Thursday, Jan. 25, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) said in a Friday release.

“The Eclipse Award of Merit is the Thoroughbred industry's highest honor, bestowed upon an individual who has displayed a lifetime of achievement in service to the sport,” reads the press release from the NTRA. “Janney's decades of involvement and leadership within the sport of Thoroughbred racing has bettered the sport for future generations.”

“I am honored to have been chosen for the Eclipse Award of Merit and sincerely thank those who selected me,” said Janney. “This sport, and its future, have always been my top priority, and I am appreciative of the support of so many who have joined us on the journey to improve Thoroughbred racing and breeding for generations to come.”

As an owner and breeder, Janney has campaigned numerous top-class horses, including homebred graded stakes winners Coronado's Quest (Forty Niner), winner of the GI Haskell S. and GI Travers S. in 1998, Air Support (Smart Strike), Celestial City (Uncle Mo), Data Link (War Front), Hymn Book (Arch), Ironicus (Distorted Humor), Norumbega (Tiznow) and On Leave (War Front). Janney, in partnership with the Phipps Stable, was co-owner and co-breeder of 2013 GI Kentucky Derby winner Orb (Malibu Moon) as well as GISW Carriage Trail (Giant's Causeway).

Born into a Maryland racing family, Janney was raised with an appreciation of the sport through his parents and grandparents. The former, Stuart and Barbara Janney, bred and owned the Eclipse Award-winning champion and Hall of Fame inductee Ruffian. In the 1990s, the younger Janney began owning and breeding Thoroughbreds on his own and has continued to do so for more than three decades.

Janney's reach and influence extends well beyond the winner's circle into many of Thoroughbred racing's most important organizations. Janney has been a member of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association since 1992, serving as chairman from 1997 to 2001 and having served multiple terms on the board of trustees. He also served as a board member of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association from 1992 to 1997 and president of the Maryland Million Ltd. from 1994 to 1997. He was appointed by Maryland Governor Parris Glendening in 1999 to chair the Maryland Commission to Study Ways to Improve the Financial Viability of the Racing Industry. Additionally, Janney served on the board of Keeneland from 1998 to 2015. He currently serves on the board of The New York Racing Association, Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, Equibase Company and BloodHorse LLC.

Stuart Janney | Scoop-Dyga

“Stuart Janney's career has been that of dedication and service to both the horse and the entirety of the Thoroughbred racing industry,” said NTRA President and CEO Tom Rooney. “The Eclipse Award of Merit is in appreciation for all his efforts. Stuart's leadership, commitment, and passion for this industry is unquestionable and I thank him for all his work.”

“I offer my sincerest congratulations to Stuart Janney on being honored with the Eclipse Award of Merit,” said trainer Shug McGaughey, who has worked with Janney for decades. “I've trained horses for Stuart since 1988, and he has been an excellent client for me, always putting the welfare of his horses and the people who work with them first. As The Jockey Club chairman for the past decade, Stuart has my admiration for taking on the tough and often unpopular issues that we, as a sport, must face. I know it hasn't always been easy for him, but time and again I've seen him guided only by his principles: do the right thing for the horse.”

“Finally, I am proud to call Stuart my friend, and I wish he and his family my thanks for entrusting his horses with me for so many years,” said McGaughey.

As chairman of The Jockey Club since 2015, Janney has played a pivotal role in initiatives such as the creation of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and the passage of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA). Under his leadership, 5 Stones intelligence was engaged to investigate horse racing, resulting in federal prosecutions and significant penalties. Janney previously chaired The Jockey Club's Thoroughbred Safety Committee, making numerous recommendations for industry improvements.

Before his racing involvement, Janney had a career in the federal government, practiced law, and served as a managing director at Alex Brown & Sons. He is chairman emeritus of Bessemer Trust Company and is involved in various organizations, including serving on the board of King Ranch Inc.

Janney, a graduate of the University of North Carolina and the University of Maryland School of Law, is married with two children and resides in Butler, Maryland.

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Technology, Engagement, and the Future the Focus of Annual Round Table Conference

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A panel on computer-assisted wagering (CAW) and its pros and cons, and another on trainers' reactions to the new Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) regulations, took center stage at the 2023 Jockey Club Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing held in Saratoga Springs, New York on Thursday.

Patrick Cummings, the moderator of the panel on CAWs, is the Executive Director of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, a racing-industry think tank. Cummings took the panel through a brief history of parimutuel wagering and the changes the industry has seen before landing at the crux of the subject matter: CAWs.

“The CAWs are individuals with well-resourced staffs, developing couture models assessing vast amounts of data,” said Cummings. “They deploy finely-honed algorithms to efficiently place bets, often at the last possible second, all while receiving significant rebates for their play.”

The rebates, he said, while sizeable, were only one of the challenges that CAWs present to racing. The other is their ability to bet large amounts of money at the last possible second before the race, which gives them an advantage over regular players.

Pat Cummings | Skip Dickstein

“In pari-mutuel wagering, betting late has always been beneficial,” Cummings said. “But, when all betting was done on-track, betting late came with the risk you might not get your bet down at all.

“That's not a concern now, especially for the CAWs, who've been given the ability to place batch bets, dumping vast amounts in the final cycle of betting. The impact of that is witnessed every day, in nearly every race and across almost every pool.”

That impact, he said, has led us to where we are now: CAWs have grown from 8% of total handle in 2003 to around 33% of handle today. At the same time, when adjusted for inflation, non-CAW wagering is down by nearly two-thirds over the same time period. That's a concern because the money returned to racing in the form of purses is much greater from normal bettors than from those receiving huge rebates. So while handle may be up, “the greatest source of growth has been a handful of high-frequency bettors,” who pay less back into the system.

“How the evolution of CAWs is managed and how we support the existing customers we still have might be key to the future of wagering on racing in today's tech-forward world–one with unfathomable processing power, machine-learning, AI and more,” Cummings said.

Cummings led a Q-and-A session with Joe Longo, the General Manager of Content Managing Solutions for NYRA, which owns an ownership stake in the Elite Turf Club, one of the largest computer syndicate operations; and Dr. Marshall Gramm, a horse owner and professor at Rhodes College.

Gramm said he had written models with partners based on statistical probabilities. He started receiving rebates in 2011, and said that doing so not only allowed him to turn a profit, but to increase his handle enormously, from $49,000 in 2010 to $25 million in 2015. He has gone on to be a major racehorse owner, with 116 horses he now owns alone or in partnerships.

Gramm said that some in the industry have come to believe that rebates are all negative, but that his churn had increased exponentially because of it.

Love it or hate it, though, CAWs are here to stay, said Gramm.

“There's no walking back from it,” he said. “The computers aren't going away. You can't step back in time.”

Neither panelist addressed the issue that Cummings talked about in his introduction and that was covered in Jerry Brown's TDN op/ed, Existential Crisis, that because in parimutuel markets, players are playing against one another, regular people are effectively paying more, and leaving the game.

Longo discussed how NYRA has become the only racing organization to ban CAW bettors in the win pool within two minutes to post in order to negate the late odds fluctuations which have become so frustrating to horseplayers. Longo said that while no other organization had followed that lead, he felt that others eventually would.

HISA Panel Discusses Adjustments to New Rules

Trainers Jena Antonucci and Ron Moquett served as panelists, along with Ben Mosier, Executive Director of the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), and HISA's Lisa Lazarus on a Q-and-A panel moderated by Jim Gagliano, the President and COO of The Jockey Club, on how trainers were adjusting to the new HISA regulations.

Gagliano asked the two trainers how their life had changed under HISA.

Trainer Jena Antonucci | Skip Dickstein

Antonucci said that she was already running her business along the lines that HISA requires in terms of record-keeping, but acknowledged that that part of the business had been a learning curve for other horsemen. Moquett said that, “as a Thoroughbred trainer, there's a new set of rules to follow and we're going to adapt to those rules, but primarily, we keep the priority on the horse.”

Antonucci acknowledged that there were concerns and bumps in the road as the program has gotten underway, but urged people to come forward with those problems so that the solutions could be found. But the benefits, she said, were dramatic.

“I may be a minority in this thought,” she said, “but I find it has been the great equalizer. It isn't a secret that there is availability of different levels of pharmaceuticals on different levels. Really smart chemists, and people looking to gain an edge. So I feel the biggest benefit has been to probably the hardest hit of this industry, which is the middle and the smaller side, where it has allowed a level playing field and where that guy or gal who busts their butt 24/7 can walk into a race and not feel like they're going to watch another horse re-break at the top of the stretch. That their plied trade and their skill set will have an opportunity to shine, where that eight-percent trainer historically, where it looks like I can't train a racehorse? All of a sudden, he's winning more, or she's winning more, and it's not because we've done anything different in our practice. And you know what? What I do, I do darned well, and my horse–whether it's in the Grade I Belmont Stakes or a $12,500 maiden–is going to have the chance to march down that stretch and compete eye-to-eye with the horses next to them, and there's not a pharmaceutical in our way.”

The crowd gave her an ovation after the comment.

“There are a few parts of it that have been very challenging,” said Moquett. “You're dealing with a large group of people who are now just getting introduced to technology. I'm helping people who are sometimes my competitors try to understand and navigate the system.

“I wear a number of hats,” he said. “I train horses. I own horses. I'm a member of the HBPA, and I'm on the HISA Advisory Committee. I'm constantly a sounding board. People come to me and say this is unfair, and I come to [HISA]. It's new. There are going to be problems, and they're going to have to listen to horsemen. It doesn't matter how good [Lisa Lazarus] is at her job, we need the Bill Motts and the Steve Asmussens. My job is to say, `look, I understand what you're trying to do, but we need to do a better job of explaining to people what the differences are between accidental contamination, an overage of an allowed medication and someone trying to gain an edge.' I'm basically representing 4,500 people that have to go through every regulation that HISA believes is okay. So [Lazarus] and I will get together, we'll battle, and we'll come to a solution. I will say we don't always get along that great, but she has been very good about hearing me out.”

Lisa Lazarus said, “One of the things we heard a lot was that if the public hears that a trainer has a medication overage, they think that they're a cheater. That they don't understand the difference between true doping substances, and medications that are allowed, but just not on race day. And so, one of the things that the [AMDC] does is distinguish very clearly between allowed substances and banned substances.” Violations for each were very different, she explained. “We're there to protect the 99% of trainers who are competing cleanly, so that they get a fair race.”

Safety, and The Traceability of Thoroughbreds

Tracing what happens to a Thoroughbred when it leaves racing or breeding has long been a problem for the industry, an issue that Kristin Werner, the Senior Counsel for The Jockey Club, addressed in her report on Thoroughbred Safety.

“I am pleased to announce that the `Transferred as Retired from Racing' process has gone digital,” said Werner. “The permanent removal of a horse's eligibility to race is beneficial to the retiring racehorse, but the process requires thoughtfulness and transparency on the part of the seller and buyer to avoid contractual disputes or other disagreements. To that end, the previous process required a notarized signature and hard-copy form to retire a Thoroughbred from racing. With the assistance of digital signature verification, we are now able to confidently collect the required signatures through the Interactive Registration website, which will make the process easier for everyone involved.”

Kristin Werner | Skip Dickstein

Werner also reported that the ease of traceability is increasing due to the replacement of hard-copy certificates with digital ones starting with the foal crop of 2018. This, she said, “will allow The Jockey Club to follow up with the certificate manager to try to trace a Thoroughbred that has exited the racing or breeding population with an unknown outcome. When this system is in place in 2024, an automated prompt will be triggered when a horse has not been reported dead and has no racing activity, no breeding activity, and no Thoroughbred Incentive Program number for a specified time period. The communication will explain why the prompt was triggered and will ask the manager to indicate the horse's current status.”

For foals born in 2017 and prior that had made a start in the past 10 years, she said, The Jockey Club would be reaching out to the last connections to try to determine their status.

Werner also addressed racing's safety issues.

“In 2022, data analysis from the 14th year of reporting to the Equine Injury Database (EID) showed a decrease in the rate of fatal injury in 2022 to 1.25 fatalities per 1,000 starts,” said Werner. “This is the lowest cumulative fatality rate since the EID was launched in 2009, and is the fourth consecutive year that the rate has decreased. While 99.88% of Thoroughbred races were completed without a fatality last year, clusters like those that occurred in April and May of 2023, unfortunately, cast a shadow over the good news and bring equine fatalities back into the headlines of national media,” she said, referring to the fatalities during the week leading up to the Kentucky Derby.

Werner said that the advent of the EID had allowed them to identify 35% of the risk factors which put horses at increased risk for breakdown during the running of a race. Those factors include a horse's vet list history, the race distance, and the time a horse has spent with a trainer. Long races, and longer time with a horse's trainer make that horse statistically safer.

The Safety Committee is also calling for the dissemination of information regarding the consistency and maintenance of track surfaces. “The Thoroughbred Safety Committee today calls for that information to be frequently measured at periodic distances and made available to the public,” said Werner. “Working with other key industry stakeholders, especially the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory, The Jockey Club recommends exploring the best methods for providing the racing surface data to the horsemen and public, including through an app, website, or other electronic feed. As with all of its recommendations, The Jockey Club will help provide resources to ensure this recommendation is met.”

Analytics in Sport

Michael Lopez, the Director of Football Data and Analytics for the National Football League, is a Saratoga resident who used to teach at Skidmore College in town, and a long-time horse racing fan. He talked about how the NFL uses data to drive decision-making, and ways in which he felt horse racing could do the same.

Michael Lopez | Skip Dickstein

And while the sports are completely different, there were several interesting parallels.

Wearable technology has been an interesting new potential safety tool for horses, designed to measure things like their regular stride to detect any changes that might indicate a problem. The NFL is doing the same.

“Recently,” said Lopez, “all NFL players are now wearing RFID chips in their helmets, shoulder pads, and cleats, small enough so that the players don't feel them, but enough so that a signal is emitted each time they step onto the practice or game field. The burden is heavy–this data is messy and the tracking cumbersome–but the idea of a cleat specific to a running back on turf, or a helmet specific to a quarterback who likes to scramble–gives the league plenty to work on. And each practice, each club is required to wear tracking devices that give insight into a player's load, distance traveled, speed, etc., which enables sports scientists to evaluate performance, if players need to tone down, or injury recovery.”

Moreover, the NFL is timing the replay review process to ensure that a coach's challenge in a more prominent game is treated the same way that it would be in a less-prominent one. After the non-disqualification of Forte (Violence) in the July 29 GII Jim Dandy S. prompted much discussion over whether a less well-publicized event would have merited a DQ, the topic struck home. “The horse racing corollary is obvious,” said Lopez. “When, why, and how stewards decide for or against a disqualification, because a possible DQ at Del Mar should have the identical decision-making process to one at Saratoga.”

Engagement With Racing

Lindsay Czarniak | Skip Dickstein

Lindsay Czarniak was just a baby when her father Chet took the job as the first-ever horse racing reporter for USA Today in 1982. Today, she is a sports broadcaster who anchored SportsCenter for six years and who works as a Fox Sports sideline reporter. She is a studio host for NBC's summer and winter Olympics. She is also an influencer with America's Best Racing and a West Point Thoroughbreds partner who was one of the co-owners of Jace's Road (Quality Road) in this year's Kentucky Derby. “My goal was to give folks that pay attention to my content the VIP access,” said Czarniak. “I had so many people pulling for Jace's Road because they knew we were in the big race.”

Her advice for racing? Lean into storytelling and access; just because it feels normal to people within the industry doesn't mean that it is to fans. “There is a family aspect, a necessary aspect, a high-stakes aspect to this sport that your average sports fan would consume.”

She also advised racing to place itself where young people consume content, i.e., streaming platforms, digital and social media, etc., and to communicate the safety steps that have been taken.

Racing and Data

Kyle McDoniel was named the President and COO of Equibase on June 1, 2023, and comes from a sports and data background, having most recently served as vice president of U.S. Strategic Partnerships for SportRadar, a sports technology company.

McDoniel talked about the challenges inherent in GPS tracking of horse racing, and said that Equibase is now producing tracking at 28 tracks across the U.S. and Canada, representing over 75% of North American handle. In addition, he said the company was continuing to invest in graphical representations of past performances, including those that illustrate stride frequency and length averages, among other things.

Janney's Closing Remarks

Stuart S. Janney III | Skip Dickstein

In his closing remarks, Jockey Club Chairman Stuart Janney said that the advent of HISA had done a lot to secure racing's future.

“Four years ago, at this program, a great Australian breeder-owner, John Messara, speaking about the proposed federal legislation, said, `You've got everything to unleash your monster of economic rewards if you were to join the rest of the world in this harmonization in terms of the drug rules.' John was right and we are here today and it's now time to capture that future.”

To do so, said Janney, “I have two suggestions. First, we have to embrace the international aspect of the sport. Racing is global and thankfully, in many parts of the world, the sport is thriving.”

His second suggestion, he said, involved marketing. “We need to get past the concerns that we are constantly in turmoil, rocking from one crisis to the next. Another Round Table speaker from the past, David Fuscus, [who] discussed crisis management, said, `If we come together as an industry, negative perception can be turned. There is hope we can come through these dark days, but to do so, the public needs to understand what we're doing and believe we are on a path to success.'”

Entire Conference Available Online

To watch the entire Round Table conference, click here.

 

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