The Jockey Club - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Jockey Club, formed on February 9, 1894, is the keeper of The American Stud Book. It came into existence after James R. Keene

James R. Keene

James Robert Keene was a Wall Street stock broker and a major thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder.-Biography:He was born in London, England in 1838. He was fourteen years of age when his family emigrated to the United States in 1852...

spearheaded a drive in support of racehorse trainers

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

who had complained about the Board of Control that governed racing in New York State.

History

On its formation, The Jockey Club included the existing members of the Board of Control and was overseen by seven appointed stewards. Its twenty-seven founding members included prominent and wealthy sportsmen such as Philip J. Dwyer, John A. Morris

John Albert Morris

John Albert Morris was an American businessman widely known as the "Lottery King" and a prominent figure in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing...

, William Kissam Vanderbilt

William Kissam Vanderbilt

William Kissam Vanderbilt was a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family. He managed railroads and was a horse breeder.-Biography:...

, and William Collins Whitney.

Founding officers:

Chairman - John Hunter (co-owner of Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It opened on August 3, 1863, and is the oldest organized sporting venue of any kind in the United States. It is typically open for racing from late July through early September.-History:John...

)
Vice Chairman - James R. Keene
James R. Keene
James Robert Keene was a Wall Street stock broker and a major thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder.-Biography:He was born in London, England in 1838. He was fourteen years of age when his family emigrated to the United States in 1852...

(stockbroker, racehorse owner/breeder)
Secretary-Treasurer - Frank K. Sturgis (President of the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...

)

Founding Stewards:

John Hunter
James R. Keene
Frank K. Sturgis
August Belmont, Jr.
August Belmont, Jr.
August Belmont, Jr. was an American financier, the builder of New York's Belmont Park racetrack, and a major owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses.-Early life:...
J. O. Donner
Col. William P. Thompson
Gideon Lee Knapp

The Jockey Club is the authority for all Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

horses in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

and maintains offices in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

and Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

. The Registry maintained by The Jockey Club, called the American Stud Book
American Stud Book
The American Stud Book is the stud book for the Thoroughbred horse in the United States. It was founded by Sanders Bruce, with assistance from his brother B. G. Bruce...

, dates back to the club's founding and contains the descendants of those horses listed, as well as horses imported into North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

up to the present.

Participants in the Registry program agree to allow the Registry to conduct genetic testing to verify parentage as well as arbitrating any disputes between owners. The Jockey Club has taken the position that it will not allow for cloned

Cloning

Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...

Thoroughbreds to be registered in the American Stud Book, making it impossible for such horses to compete in most races. The Club has consistently prohibited artificial insemination

Artificial insemination

Artificial insemination, or AI, is the process by which sperm is placed into the reproductive tract of a female for the purpose of impregnating the female by using means other than sexual intercourse or natural insemination...

throughout its history, only allowing the registration of horses through "natural" procreation.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12088086/

Naming of foals is also controlled by The Jockey Club and includes a number of conventions. Names may not consist of more than 18 letters (with spaces and punctuation marks counting as letters), contain initials such as C.O.D., F.O.B., etc., or end in "filly," "colt," "stud," "mare," "stallion," or any similar horse-related term. Names may also not end with a numerical designation such as "2nd" or "3rd," whether or not such a designation is spelled out. Names of persons may not be used unless written permission to use their name is on file (examples of such permission are actor Jack Klugman

Jack Klugman

Jacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman is an American stage, film and television actor known for his roles in sitcoms, movies, and television and on Broadway...

, whose namesake competed in the Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

, and tennis star Chris Evert

Chris Evert

Christine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. She was the year-ending World No...

, whose namesake

Chris Evert (horse)

Chris Evert was an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred filly racehorse. Carl Rosen , owner of clothing manufacturer Puritan Fashions Corp., purchased the filly at a Keeneland yearling sale. He named her for the rising young star tennis player Chris Evert, whom he had signed to endorse his...

is in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

). The names of "notorious" people may never be used, nor can namesakes of racetracks, races, or stable names. Trademarks and copyrighted names are similarly not allowed as are vulgar, obscene or offensive ones. The list also protects names of currently active horses as well as horses enrolled in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame or other well-known horses, including winners of the Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby

, Preakness, Belmont Stakes

Belmont Stakes

The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...

, Jockey Club Gold Cup

Jockey Club Gold Cup

The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers Stakes is of the...

or Breeders' Cup

Breeders' Cup

The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Thoroughbred horse races, most but not all Grade I, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, it expanded to two days. The location...

events.

Research Foundation

Created in 1984, The Jockey Club Research Foundation was merged with the Grayson Foundation, established in 1940 by George D. Widener, Jr.

George D. Widener, Jr.

George Dunton Widener, Jr. was an American businessman and thoroughbred racehorse owner; one of only five people ever designated "Exemplars of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.-Biography:...

, William Woodward, Sr.

William Woodward, Sr.

William Woodward, Sr. was an American banker and major owner and breeder in thoroughbred horse racing.-Background:...

and John Hay Whitney

John Hay Whitney

John Hay Whitney , colloquially known as "Jock" Whitney, was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, and a member of the Whitney family.-Family:...

, amongst others. It is now known as the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation Inc.

NTRA

The Jockey Club formed the National Thoroughbred Racing Association

National Thoroughbred Racing Association

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association is a broad-based coalition of horse racing interests consisting of leading thoroughbred racetracks, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with increasing the popularity of horse racing and improving economic...

(NTRA) in 1998 with the Breeders' Cup Limited

Breeders' Cup

, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association

Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association

The American Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association based in Lexington, Kentucky is a trade organization for Thoroughbred racehorse owners and breeders...

, Keeneland Association

Keeneland

Keeneland is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and sales complex in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. Operated by the Keeneland Association, Inc., it is also known for its reference library on the sport, which contains more than 10,000 volumes, an extensive videocassette collection, and a substantial...

, Oak Tree Racing Association

Oak Tree Racing Association

The Oak Tree Racing Association is an American not-for-profit corporation that exists to conduct live thoroughbred horse racing in Southern California.-History:...

and the National Thoroughbred Association.

Breeding Bureau

Believing the Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

was the best breed of horse and could pass on its superior traits to other breeds, in 1906 The Jockey Club of New York established the Breeding Bureau. Its purpose was to provide Thoroughbred stallions as sires that would produce a variety of top quality half-breed general purpose horses. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9801E1DA173EE033A2575AC2A9609C946997D6CF

During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the Breeding Bureau expanded the part of the program which had been providing horses for the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

Cavalry Remount Service. Some of the prominent Thoroughbred runners who were donated to the Cavalry Remount Service include:

Gold Heels
Gold Heels
Gold Heels was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse who, in a two-year period, set one new stakers record and four track records, including a world record.-Background:...

- winner of the 1902 Suburban Handicap
Suburban Handicap
The Suburban Handicap is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is run at the classic one-and-one-quarter mile distance on dirt for a $400,000 purse....
Sir Huon
Sir Huon
Sir Huon was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that was the winner of the 1906 Kentucky Derby and Latonia Derby. Sir Huon was named after a character in the German opera Oberon and was bred at George J. Long's stud farm, Bashford Manor Stable...

- winner of the 1906 Latonia
Latonia Derby
The Latonia Derby was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually from 1883 through 1937 at Latonia Race Track in Latonia, Kentucky. Open to three-year-old horses, for its first 52 years the Latonia Derby was contested at a mile and a half; in 1935, the race was shortened to a mile and a...

and Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

s;
George Smith
George Smith (horse)
George Smith was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and was the winner of the 1916 Kentucky Derby. George Smith was a jet black colt by the imported British Stallion Out of Reach by the imported British mare, Consuelo II. His grandsire, Persimmon, was a son of the great English racer and sire, St....

- winner of the 1916 Kentucky Derby;
Behave Yourself
Behave Yourself (horse)
Behave Yourself , by Marathon out of Miss Ringlets , was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was one of four Kentucky Derby winners owned by Colonel Edward R...

- winner of the 1921 Kentucky Derby;
Hurryoff
Hurryoff
Hurryoff was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the third leg of the 1933 U.S. Triple Crown series. He was bred and raced by Joseph Widener, owner of the prestigious Elmendorf Farm in Lexington, Kentucky and president of Belmont Park and Hialeah Park racetracks. Hurryoff was...

- winner of the 1933 Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...

.

Experimental Free Handicap

Since 1935 The Jockey Club has compiled the Experimental Free Handicap, a weight-based assessment of the previous year's 2-year-olds based on a theoretical race at a distance of 1 ¹/16 miles.

External links

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