Board of Directors

Woodbine Entertainment's Board of Directors has appointed long-time executive in the horse racing industry Hugh Mitchell as Chair, effective immediately. Mitchell was appointed to the position during Woodbine Entertainment's Annual General Meeting earlier Friday. As Chair of the Board of Directors, Mitchell will provide leadership, guidance and governance as Woodbine Entertainment fulfills its mandate to sustain and grow horse racing in Ontario. This includes further strengthening the racing product at Woodbine and Woodbine Mohawk Park. Mitchell, who has been on Woodbine Entertainment's Board of Directors since 2018, was most recently...

Voting for the 2022 Breeders' Cup Members election will close Monday, June 6 at 5 p.m. ET. All eligible voting nominators have been sent voting instructions and have until the Monday deadline to submit their votes online. Votenet, an election services company, will administer the Member Election voting process. There are 24 individuals on the ballot for the election of 20 Breeders' Cup Members. Of the 24 candidates on the ballot, 17 are incumbent Members standing for re-election. The 20 individuals receiving the most votes will each serve a term...

Betty A. Leon Esq. has been appointed to the New York Racing Association's Board of Directors. The recommendation was made by Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-South Queens), representing the 23rd district, with the final approval and official appointment made by New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. "I am proud to appoint Betty Leon to the NYRA Board of Directors because I am confident that she will be a valuable asset to the board, and that she will add much-needed diversity to the board," said Heastie. Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato...

The 2022 election for the board of the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) has concluded with trainer Joe Orseno slated to serve as interim president. He replaces Stephen Screnci, who did not run for reelection. Reelected to the board of directors are owner Adam Lazarus and trainers Orseno, Kathy Davey, and Terri Pompay. New to the board is owner David Rousso. Troy Levy and Ralph Nicks have stepped down. The remainder of the board consists of owners Chester Bishop, Thomas Cannell, and Teresa Palmer, as well as trainers...

Stephanie Brennan has been elected to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's Board of Directors. The TRF board provides leadership for carrying out the Foundation's mission to provide sanctuary for retired racehorses no longer able to compete on the racetrack and to save them from possible neglect, abuse and slaughter. "Once again the TRF has hit a home run by adding Stephanie to the Board," said Patrick Mackay, President and Chairman of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. "We welcome and look forward with great enthusiasm to her sharing her firsthand knowledge and expertise...

The Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association has elected five members to its Board of Directors. The newly-elected Board members, who will each serve three-year terms, are as follows: Jay Adcock (158), Michelle LaVoice (143), Jim Montgomery (136), Michele Rodriguez (131), Jake Delhomme (126). MK Election Services, an impartial balloting agency, certified the results.

Kelsey Marshall Hughes has been elected to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF)'s board of directors. Hughes is vice president of partner relations for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. The New Yorker was honored with the Katherine McKee Administration Award sponsored by Keeneland as part of the 2021 Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards. "I have had the pleasure of knowing Kelsey for a number of years and am thrilled that she has agreed to serve on our board," said Patrick Mackay, TRF's president and chairman. "She is totally committed to Thoroughbred aftercare and the...

Entrepreneur Tawana Bain and horse racing businesswoman Anita Ebert have joined the Kentucky Derby Museum's Board of Directors. Additionally, several current board members are taking on new roles. Glenn Haygood, President & General Manager at WLKY-TV will serve as chair, David Nett, retired Customer Communications Manager at Kroger, as vice chair, Todd Spencer, Executive Chairman, President & CEO of Doe-Anderson, as Treasurer, and Briana Lathon, Senior Compliance Officer, Group & Military at Humana, as secretary. Board Member Lee Thomas is departing after serving six years. "The Kentucky Derby Museum is...

The Breeders' Cup Board of Directors unanimously elected Barbara Banke as Board Chairman Friday night, the organization announced Saturday. Banke, the owner of Stonestreet Farms in Lexington and chairman of Jackson Family Wines, becomes the first woman to chair Breeders' Cup Limited and succeeds Fred Hertrich III. Banke, whose will serve a two-year term as Chairman, was first elected as a Breeders' Cup Member in 2012 and was elected to the Board of Directors in 2014. Gainesway Farm's Antony Beck was elected for a two-year term as Vice Chairman. "It...

Kimberly Weir has joined the Board of Directors of Horsepower, Inc., a New-York based 501c3 organization devoted to the safety and well-being of equines through education, awareness, advocacy and allies. With the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) since 2018, the resident of Saratoga Springs, New York, has served as the Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving for the organization. Prior to that, she also served as the Deputy Executive Director of Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA) in Washington, DC. Weir graduated from the University of Virginia and went on to complete...

The Maryland Horse Breeders Association membership has selected two incumbent members, a 2019 presidential appointee and two new members to the 2021 Board of Directors. Those elected will serve for the next three years. Michael J. Harrison DVM, a presidential appointee to the board in 2009 to 2010 who has since served from 2011 to 2016 and as the president of the board from 2018 to 2020, and Christy Holden, a board member for the past three years and general manager of Country Life Farm, are this year's incumbents. Also...

The Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP), a not-for-profit grassroots organization created in 2004 to preserve, promote, and protect Kentucky's signature multi-breed horse industry, has added to its Board of Directors. The nine additions are Shannon Cobb, Michelle Fischer, Vince Gabbert, Jeff Hall, Katie LaMonica, Jamie MacLeod, James Miller, Bret Shultz, and Donnie Snellings. New officers for the board will be elected at the board's January meeting. "Given the hurdles the horse industry faces in the coming year, KEEP may be more necessary now than at any other point in its...