Hubbard to Receive NTRA Commissioner's Cup

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Press Release from NTRA
Thoroughbred owner/breeder and racetrack executive R.D. Hubbard will receive the Commissioner's Cup, annually given by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association to honor an individual or organization for extraordinary contributions to the NTRA and the Thoroughbred industry. Hubbard will be honored in a ceremony at the third annual Western Conference on Racing, Thursday, Nov. 9 at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif. Previous Commissioner's Cup recipients include Ken Maddy (1999) and Clement L. Hirsch (1998).

"R.D. Hubbard is a born leader and entrepreneur, with a bias for decisive action and a passion for horseracing," said NTRA Commissioner Tim Smith. "He helped create the NTRA, was a valuable member of its first board of directors and co-founded its Racing Integrity and Drug Testing Task Force. Whether as a sportsman, industry fundraiser, marketing innovator or advocate for Western racing and its fans, Dee Hubbard's contributions have made him a most worthy recipient of this award."

The Western Conference on Racing will also feature NTRA presentations on initiatives to attract, educate and retain racehorse owners, and updates on its 2001 advertising, marketing, television and sponsorships as well as its Drug Testing Task Force, operational merger with the Breeders' Cup and activities relating to legislative/regulatory issues.

R.D. Hubbard, a former teacher, was the president of Safelite when it became the largest auto glass replacement company in the U.S. After leaving Safelite in 1978, he formed AFG Industries and built it into a Fortune 500 Company, which he took private in a $1.1 billion buyout in 1988. His current holdings include golf courses in New Mexico and California as well as Ruidoso Downs Racetrack and Casino. His previous racetrack interests include The Woodlands, Multnomah Kennel Club and Turf Paradise. He was chairman and CEO of Hollywood Park, 1991-1999, and served two-thirds of a three-year term as a racetrack representative on the NTRA Board, 1998-1999.

In partnership with Connie Sczesny, Hubbard owns Crystal Springs Farm in Paris, Ky. Solely or in partnerships, he has raced stakes winners Gentleman (ARG), Talloires, Fire the Groom, Leger Cat (ARG), Puerto Madero (CHI), Deputy Commander, Stravinsky, Virginie (BRZ) and Be Fair (BRZ), among many others. He currently has about 60 horses in training in the U.S. and Europe, in addition to some 250 horses in South America. A longtime owner of Quarter Horses, Hubbard owned Denim N Diamonds, 1981 and 1982 AQHA Champion Aged Mare and the 1981 AQHA Champion Aged Horse, as well as Super Sound Charge, the 1980 AQHA World Champion, Champion Aged Horse and Champion Aged Stallion.

The founder of the R.D. and Joan Dale Hubbard Foundation and the Hubbard Museum of the American West in Ruidoso, N.M., he also helped to establish the Shoemaker Foundation, which assists horsemen suffering from catastrophic accidents or illnesses.

The Western Conference on Racing is supported by the Oak Tree Racing Association, Hollywood Park, Thoroughbred Owners of California, the NTRA, the California Authority of Racing Fairs, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Fairplex Park, Los Alamitos Racecourse, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, American Quarter Horse Association, TVG, California Thoroughbred Breeders Association and California Thoroughbred Trainers.

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