The Jockey Club announced Aug. 29 its newly elected stewards and members.
The new stewards are Gary Fenton, David O’Farrell, Everrett R. Dobson, and Vincent Viola. William S. Farish Jr. (vice chair) was reelected. The remaining stewards are Stuart S. Janney III (chair), Ian D. Highet (treasurer), William M. Lear (secretary), Barbara Banke, Louis A. Cella, Terry Finley, and R. Alex Rankin.
The new members are Joseph Appelbaum, John Ballantyne PhD, Rick Gold, Marshall Gramm PhD, MV Magnier, Jon Miller, Garrett O’Rourke, and Jessica Steinbrenner.
- In 2002, Appelbaum co-founded Off The Hook LLC, a racing, sales, and breeding operation that has produced numerous stakes winners, including Breeders’ Cup and Eclipse Award winners Informed Decision and Spun To Run. Appelbaum was the 2018 champion of the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge.
Appelbaum recently completed two terms (six-years) as president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and was concurrently president of the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. Appelbaum served on the board of directors of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders of America. As chairman of the New York Jockey Injury Compensation Fund, he has been instrumental in improving safety conditions for horses and backstretch personnel.
Beyond his achievements in horse racing, Appelbaum played football at Yale University and was a college football coach. Appelbaum served as president of Kids Interest Development Services Inc. and co-founded Oasis Children’s Services LLC, which offered educational programs for children.
- Ballantyne is originally from New Zealand and now splits his time between Fargo, North Dakota, and Key West, Florida. He is the owner of NBS Stable. His passion for horse racing began with a lucky bet on the 1986 Melbourne Cup. Ballantyne’s ownership journey started with Standardbreds and later expanded to Thoroughbreds through NBS Stable and partnerships with West Point Thoroughbreds, Centennial Farms, and others.
Ballantyne is a supporter of significant research at the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation as well as other equine-related philanthropies including the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, Old Friends, and Bison Strides (hippotherapy). Ballantyne co-founded the successful biotech company Aldevron, which is headquartered in Fargo.
- Gold is a semi-retired Silicon Valley entrepreneur who was a founder and/or CEO of five semiconductor start-ups. He races and breeds Thoroughbreds in California, Australia, and New Zealand, and has campaigned more than 20 stakes winners. Gold has served on the boards of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (where he chaired the Integrity and Safety Committee), California Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Foundation, Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, and the HISA Horsemen’s Advisory Group. His commitment to advancing the sport’s integrity was recognized with the 2024 TOC Chairman’s Award.
- In 2016, Gramm co-founded Ten Strike Racing, a racing partnership with more than 530 victories, including 35 stakes races. He is a professor in the Department of Economics at Rhodes College, and has published more than a dozen academic papers related to horse racing. As a horseplayer, Gramm won the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge and he has qualified for the National Horseplayers Championship each year for the past decade. Gramm is a member of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, and the Thoroughbred Charities of America. He holds a B.A. from Rice University and a Ph.D. in Economics from Texas A&M University.
- Magnier represents his family’s interests in Coolmore Stud, a leading international breeder and owner of Thoroughbreds with farms in Ireland, Australia and the United States (Ashford Stud). Champion stallions standing at Ashford include Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify. MV Magnier is actively involved in acquiring high-quality bloodstock and managing racehorses, contributing to Coolmore’s ongoing success and influence in the worldwide horse racing scene.
- Miller, president of Acquisitions and Partnerships at NBC Sports, has been instrumental in leading that company’s role in the televising and streaming of top Thoroughbred racing events such as the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, the Breeders’ Cup, and Royal Ascot.
Beyond his professional achievements, Miller is actively involved in benefiting the community around him. Miller serves as an advisory board member for the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund and the NYC Chapter of the March Dimes Sports Division, and previously served on the board of the NY/NJ Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
- O’Rourke is the general manager of Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms USA in Lexington, Kentucky, and he has overseen the development of numerous champion horses including Arrogate. O’Rourke was honored as the Farm Manager of the Year in 2001 by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers’ Club, he serves on the board of trustees for the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, and is a director emeritus of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association / Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders. Born in Ireland, O’Rourke moved to the United States in 1986 and has been with Juddmonte Farms since November 1992. He has a Bachelor of Commerce from University College Dublin, Ireland.
- Steinbrenner has been the president of Kinsman Farm since 2007. She also breeds and races horses under Bach Stables. Kinsman Farm in Ocala, Florida, has been in the Steinbrenner family since 1969. There have been many Grade 1 winners throughout Kinsman history, including Dream Supreme, Majestic Warrior, Bellamy Road, and Sweet Symphony.
Steinbrenner started riding at the age of 5 years old, which led to a lifetime love of horses. She attended Sweet Briar College where she competed on the equestrian team. She served on the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association from 2006 to 2016. Throughout time, Jessica has supported many Thoroughbred causes, such as Thoroughbred retirement and aftercare as well as jockey and backside workers’ care.
Steinbrenner is a general partner/vice chairperson of the New York Yankees. She has authored two children’s books, “My Messy Room” and “My Sleepy Room.” She served as an executive producer for the 2018 live adaption of “The Little Mermaid” as well as the movie “Fear of Rain” released in 2021.
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