The Jockey Club is the breed registry for Thoroughbred horses in the United States and Canada. It is dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing and fulfills that mandate by serving many segments of the industry through its subsidiary companies and by supporting numerous industry initiatives. 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 Robert Keene (February 8, 1838 - January 3, 1913) was a Wall Street stockbroker 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 immi ...

spearheaded a drive in support of racehorse trainers who had complained about the Board of Control that governed racing in New York State.

About

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, William Kissam Vanderbilt, and

William Collins Whitney William Collins Whitney (July 5, 1841February 2, 1904) was an American political leader and financier and a prominent descendant of the John Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first administration of President Grover Cl ...

. Founding officers: * Chairman - John Hunter (co-owner of

Saratoga Race Course Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting venue of any kind in the country, but is actu ...

) * Vice Chairman -

(

stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stock ...

, racehorse owner/breeder) * Secretary-Treasurer - Frank K. Sturgis (President of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...

) Founding stewards: * John Hunter * James R. Keene * Frank K. Sturgis *

August Belmont Jr. August Belmont Jr. (February 18, 1853 – December 10, 1924) was an American financier. He financed the construction of the original New York City subway (1900–1904) and for many years headed the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, which ran ...

* J. O. Domer * Col. William P. Thompson * Gideon Lee Knapp The Jockey Club is the registry for all

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. Thoroughbreds are ...

horses in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, and maintains offices in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-largest ...

. The Registry maintained by The Jockey Club, called the '' American Stud Book'', 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 is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

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

cloned Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, ...

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 throughout its history, only allowing the registration of horses born through "natural" procreation. 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 names is on file (examples of such permission are actor

Jack Klugman Jack Klugman (April 27, 1922 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. He began his career in 1950 and started television and film work with roles in ''12 Angry Men'' (1957) and ''Cry Terror!'' (1958). Du ...

, whose namesake competed in the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-yea ...

, and tennis star

Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954), known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record ...

, whose namesake is in the

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 horse racing, Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and Horse trainer, trainers. In 1955, the museum ...

). 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

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Graded stakes race, Grade I race run over a distance of ...

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nickname ...

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

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races, 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, i ...

events.

Charities

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

William Woodward, Sr. William Woodward Sr. (April 7, 1876 – September 25, 1953) was an American banker and major owner and breeder in thoroughbred horse racing. __TOC__ Early life Woodward was born in New York City on April 7, 1876. He was a son of Sarah Abagail ( ...

and

John Hay Whitney John Hay Whitney (August 17, 1904 – February 8, 1982) was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the ''New York Herald Tribune'', and president of the Museum of Modern Art. He was a member of the Whitney family. Early life Whit ...

, amongst others. It is now known as the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation Inc. The Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation is the nation’s leading source of equine research funding and it helps all breeds. The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation is a charitable trust that provides, on a confidential basis, financial relief and assistance to needy members of the Thoroughbred industry and their families. Assistance includes financial aid, medication, surgical and hospital costs, therapeutic equipment, voice-recognition computers for quadriplegics and wheelchair-accessible vans, among other needs.

NTRA

The Jockey Club formed the

National Thoroughbred Racing Association The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) is a broad-based coalition of American horse racing interests consisting of leading thoroughbred racetracks, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with incr ...

(NTRA) in 1998 with the Breeders' Cup Limited, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, Keeneland Association,

Oak Tree Racing Association The Oak Tree Racing Association is an American nonprofit corporation that exists to conduct live thoroughbred horse racing in Southern California. Graded Stakes races at the Oak Tree meet Since Oak Tree Racing moved to Hollywood Park in 2010, some ...

and the National Thoroughbred Association. The Jockey Club maintains a seat on the board of directors of the NTRA.

Breeding Bureau

Believing the

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. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

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

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

Cavalry Remount Service. Some of the prominent Thoroughbred runners who were donated to the Cavalry Remount Service include: * Gold Heels - winner of the 1902

Suburban Handicap The Suburban Stakes 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 now run at the mile distance on dirt for a $700,000 purse. Named after the City and ...

* Sir Huon - winner of the 1906 Latonia and

s; * George Smith - winner of the 1916 Kentucky Derby; * Behave Yourself - winner of the 1921 Kentucky Derby; *

Hurryoff Hurryoff (foaled 1930 in Kentucky) 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, ...

- winner of the 1933

Experimental Free Handicap

Since 1933, 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.

America's Best Racing

TJC Media Ventures is a commercial subsidiary of The Jockey Club that oversees the new-fan development activities, primarily under the “America’s Best Racing” (ABR) brand. The company uses a multi-media strategy that involves traditional media outlets, television and mobile technologies as well as social and digital media to introduce new and casual fans to the vibrancy of the sport. Through followhorseracing.com, ABR increases the profile and visibility of North America’s best Thoroughbred racing events, with a focus on the sport’s lifestyle and competition. ABR also has a promotional tour featuring brand ambassadors who travel to college campuses, high-traffic areas and various other strategic locations in different cities, seeking to attract a younger audience to the sport.

References

External links

The Jockey Club websiteThe Jockey Club Registry websiteGrayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation Inc.The Jockey Club Safety Net FoundationNational Thoroughbred Racing AssociationAmerica's Best Racing
{{short description, US breed registry for Thoroughbreds Horse racing organizations in the United States Equestrian organizations Horse breed registries