The gilded circle
The more you look, the more you see
There are moments in this game where you don’t have to dig very deep. You just have to look. And when you do that, patterns emerge. This isn’t about personalities. It’s not about who likes who, who sits where at dinner, or who shakes hands in the paddock. This is about governance. About structure. Force majeur. And about whether American racing works with the kind of firewall that the serious industry demands. It’s about doing things the right way or the wrong way.
Let’s start at the middle.
The revolving door that no one talks about
On paper, The jockey club And Keeneland are separate institutions.
One presents itself as the guardian of the integrity and registration authority of the sport. The other is perhaps the most powerful thoroughbred auction house in the world. Separate entities. Only they are not separated in leadership.
The concentration of power rests with three trustees who control the Keeneland Trust:
- Everett R. Dobson – Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Jockey Club
- William S. Farish Jr. – Vice Chairman of the Board of Stewards
- William M. Lear Jr. – Secretary of the Supervisory Board
The same three men responsible for the fiduciary health of an auction market worth more than $800 million are also the key “regulators” of the sport’s registration and rule structure.
In every other major US industry – banking, securities, public equity – that overlap would require an independent firewall. At least control. Worst case: regulatory intervention.
When racing?
It’s normal.
The rules that govern the market
If you really want to understand influence, don’t read the press releases. Read the rules.
Keeneland’s Terms of Sale don’t just co-exist with The Jockey Club’s main rules – they depend on them.
Rule 1 prescribes “Interactive Registration”. Every owner and breeder must maintain an IR account. This means that every transaction is processed via The Jockey Club’s own servers.
Since 2018, paper foal certificates have been abolished. The “Digital Foal Certificate” mandate requires that ownership transfers be carried out through The Jockey Club’s system.
Do you want to sell at Keeneland?
You don’t just show up with a horse. You will enter into an ongoing digital relationship with The Jockey Club and its for-profit technology arm, TJC Innovations (formerly InCompass and TJCIS).
That is not optional. That is structural.
And when the regulators’ “view” around medication and integrity is incorporated directly into Keeneland’s uniform medication policy—sometimes before the state or country adopts it—the market becomes a policy enforcement mechanism.
Not through legislation. Through leverage.
The financial loop that few talk about
The expression ‘non-profit’ sounds reassuring.
Until you follow the money.
Equibasis – a joint venture between The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Racing Associations – collects the pedigree and racing data that Keeneland requires for its sales.
In 2025, The Jockey Club reportedly received a $4.5 million dividend from its commercial holdings.
InCompass – now folded under TJC Innovations – provides the Horsemen’s Bookkeeper software used at Keeneland.
That means:
- The registration authority writes the rules.
- The commercial weapons provide the technology.
- The auction house maintains compliance.
- And the fees flow back into the same ecosystem.
Every catalog page. Every family tree printed. Every transfer processed. Every dollar moved.
If you’re in the catalog, if you’re sold, if you’re paid, you’re in that circle.
Again: not illegal. But structurally intertwined.
The contractual teeth
The relationship is not implied. It’s written in the contracts.
To be ‘saleable’ at Keeneland, a horse must have a valid certificate issued by The Jockey Club. If registration is refused – due to a pedigree dispute, a microchip discrepancy or an administrative issue – that horse is legally excluded from the market.
Late paperwork? €100 fine per horse. Data disputes? The data submitted by Equibase is the recognized currency of registration.
Private information may exist. They may even be more accurate. But they are not the recognized authority on sales.
That’s not a suggestion. That is mandate.
This is not personal. It’s governance.
Some will try to frame this as an attack or negative. It’s not. It’s Governance 101. It’s my attempt to point out glaring problems that need to be addressed so that things can improve in the sport I love. When a multibillion-dollar industry is overseen by a small, overlapping leadership circle with no independent oversight and no structural firewall, transparency is not optional. It is required.
The same three trustees who control Keeneland’s $800 million-plus marketplace and serve as The Jockey Club’s top stewards are no small footnote. It’s a concentration of authority that would raise alarms in virtually any other American industry.
And racing – already vulnerable and already waging a battle of perception – cannot afford governance questions it refuses to investigate. The more you look, the more you see. And once you see it, you can’t pretend it isn’t so.
The sector does not need more press releases. Clarity is needed. If you’re not behind the red velvet rope, you’re not in it.
They have it all:
#interlocking #board #American #Racing