The Jockey Club announced on August 26 the election of six new members: Len Coleman, Dr. Nancy Cox, Marc Holliday, Kosta Hronis, W. Gray Lyster IV and David O’Farrell.
Coleman serves with Cox as co-chair of the blue ribbon nomination committee established to select members of the board of directors and standing committees of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. He is a former president of the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs. Coleman joined Major League Baseball in 1992 as executive director of market development. Previously, Coleman was a city finance director for Kidder, Peabody & Company and served as a commissioner for both the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and the New Jersey Department of Energy.
In addition to serving as co-chair of HISA’s blue ribbon nomination committee, Cox is vice president for Land Grant Engagement and dean of the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment at the University of Kentucky. Prior to that, she was deputy dean of the research department and director of the Experimental Station at the university. Cox supported the establishment of the British Horse Initiative (now the UK’s Ag Horse Program), which recognizes the importance of the equine industry and what it means to Kentucky.
Holliday was elected chairman of the board of the New York Racing Association in December 2021. Appointed to the NYRA board in 2014, Holliday has been the chair of the NYRA Horse Safety Committee since 2015. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of SL Green Realty Corp., New York City’s largest owner of office real estate. An owner and rancher, Holliday runs Blue Devil Racing Stable and tier 1 winner Come dance .
Hronis is the president of Hronis Inc., a grape and citrus company. With his wife, Stephanie and brother, Pete, he races under Hronis Racing, the team that won the 2018 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Athlete. The top horses raced by their stables include champions. Urge and Star wind and those who have won first-level prizes such as Flight route , Gift box, hard yoke, Higher capacity, Iotapa , Lady of Shamrock and Tripoli . Hronis joins the board of directors at Del Mar in 2018.
Lyster is the co-general manager of his family’s Ashview ranch in Versailles, Kentucky. Ashview bred or bred horses including champions Johannesburg Belmont bets presented by NYRA Bets (G1) winners Mo Donegal and many level 1 winners Nest while the hybrid Lyster won Runhappy . He is a member of the advisory board of the board of directors at Keeneland and is on the board of directors of Breeders’ Cup. He is also the past president of the American Thoroughbred Club and the Commercial Shippers and Breeders Association.
O’Farrell is the manager of his family’s Ocala Stud, Florida’s oldest operating thoroughbred ranch and one of the premier stallion, breeding, and training operations in the country. O’Farrell is a member of the Breeders’ Cup and vice president of the Purebred Breeders and Owners Association. He is also a member of the American Classified Stocks Committee and previously served on the board of directors of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.
This press release has been edited for content and style by the BloodHorse Staff.
