The Equine Industry Program at the University of Louisville has announced that Barry Weisbord has been selected the 24th recipient of the John Galbreath Award for Entrepreneurship.
The award will be presented Oct. 24 at a dinner at University of Louisville's University Club in Louisville, Ky.
Weisbord, president and co-publisher of the Thoroughbred Daily News, first became involved in racing while a student at the University of Pennsylvania when he began working for New York-based trainers Walter Kelley and future Hall of Famer Allen Jerkens as a hot walker. He went on to acquire a trainer's license, and operated a small racing stable prior to establishing Executive Bloodstock Management, a bloodstock portfolio management company, in 1979.
In 1983, Weisbord and partners established Matchmaker Breeders' Exchange, and later he conceived the American Racing Championship Series, a series of major older horse races aired on national television.
Weisbord is also chairman of Trakus, which operates the Trakus system that follows every individual horse throughout a race, displaying its position along with distances traveled during the race.
A prominent owner and breeder, Weisbord was co-owner of Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Safely Kept, who is a member of the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame. An advisor to several leading owners, Weisbord is a member of the Breeders' Cup board of directors and co-chairs its enhanced experience committee.
"Barry Weisbord exemplifies the concept of entrepreneur in the horse industry," said Tim Capps, director of the Equine Industry Program. "He is a creative thinker, an innovator with great instincts for providing value to the customer and doing so with a sense of style and a touch of showmanship. He has a real passion for racing, and a flair for putting on a good show, something that is becoming a major point of emphasis in the sport."
