The Jockey Club forms Thoroughbred Safety Committee

The Jockey Club Chairman Ogden Mills Phipps announced on Thursday that the

officers of The Jockey Club have commissioned a seven-member Thoroughbred Safety

Committee.

Phipps said that the committee would be asked to review every facet of equine

health -- including breeding practices, medication, the rules of racing and

track surfaces -- and to recommend actions to be taken by the industry to

improve the health and safety of Thoroughbreds.

"The Thoroughbred Safety Committee is a major step that will provide the

examination of the horse welfare and safety issues so badly needed in the wake

of recent catastrophic injuries," NTRA President and CEO Alex Waldrop said in a

statement. "The NTRA supports the committee's work and plans to work closely

with it to build support for the committee's recommendations with the many

constituencies we represent. At the same time, we will redouble our efforts to

promote Thoroughbred racing to core and target fans as the safe, responsible

sport that it is. Now more than ever, no practice, policy or tradition is more

important than those that best protect and promote the health of the

Thoroughbred athlete."

The recommendations emanating from the two Welfare and Safety of the

Racehorse Summits will serve as starting points for the committee. Three of the

seven members of the newly formed committee were participants in both summits.

The seven members of the committee are Stuart S. Janney III, John Barr, Jimmy G.

Bell, Dr. Larry Bramlage, Donald R. Dizney, Dell Hancock and Dr. Hiram C. Polk

Jr. Each is a member of The Jockey Club.

"All seven of these individuals have dedicated a major part of their lives to

Thoroughbred breeding and racing and have shown a consistent and unwavering

concern for the welfare of Thoroughbreds," Phipps said. "We will reach out to

involve others in the industry and we will do everything in our power to

encourage changes that will benefit the breed in any way. We will do this in a

timely manner."

Janney will serve as chairman of the new committee, and has plenty experience

in that role as chairman of Bessemer Trust Company and of Bessemer Securities

Corporation as well as chairman of the board of Blood-Horse Publications. A

longtime owner/breeder, Janney sits on the boards of several other industry

organizations, including the New York Racing Association, Keeneland Association

and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, where he also served as

chairman.

Barr races under the Oakcrest Stable banner and serves on the board of

directors and is past president of the California Thoroughbred Breeders

Association. He also serves on the board of directors of the Oak Tree Racing

Association. Bell is president of Darley USA near Lexington, Kentucky, and

serves on the boards of Keeneland Association, the Thoroughbred Owners and

Breeders Association and Thoroughbred Charities of America. He also serves as

vice president of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders and is a member

of the Sales Integrity Task Force.

Bramlage is a partner in Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington and is

past president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners. He serves on

the board of directors of Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and was

awarded The Jockey Club Medal for his dedication and contributions to

Thoroughbred racing in 1994. Dizney, who owns Double Diamond Farm near Ocala,

Florida, is a past president of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners

Association and serves on the board of directors of Breeders' Cup Ltd.

Hancock is co-owner of historic Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky, and is

the chairman of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. She serves on the

American Graded Stakes Committee and has also been actively involved with the

Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association,

the Kentucky Horse Park and other organizations through the years. Polk is a

prominent professor of surgery at the University of Louisville School of

Medicine, as well as the emeritus editor in chief of The American Journal of

Surgery. A Thoroughbred owner and breeder, Polk served on the steering

committee for the second Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit, held in

March 2008, and also serves on the board of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research

Foundation.