Masayuki Goto, executive director of racing administration policies, stable system, and breeding for the Japan Racing Association, and Brian Kavanagh, chief executive officer of Horse Racing Ireland, will share insights on policies, initiatives, and business operations of their respective organizations at this year's Jockey Club Round Table conference.
The executives also will share their perspectives on Thoroughbred racing in North America when they deliver keynote presentations at 61st annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing Aug. 11 at the Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
"Thoroughbred racing becomes more of a global sport with each passing day and international harmonization continues to grow in importance," said Ogden Mills Phipps, chairman of The Jockey Club. "Mr. Kavanagh and Mr. Goto have been extremely active and are widely respected in international circles, and we are honored to have them participate in the Round Table Conference."
Goto, who spoke about the progress of racing and wagering in Japan at the 1995 edition of the Round Table Conference, will touch on the structure of Japanese racing, racing and breeding trends, the marketing and promotion of the sport, and integrity and safety issues.
Since Joining JRA in 1975, Goto has served as chief representative of its New York office, manager of the international strategic planning section, assistant general manager of the public relations department, and general manager of the corporate strategies planning department. He was appointed to the JRA board in 2006 and was named as the executive director in March 2011.
Kavanagh will provide an overview of Thoroughbred racing in Europe, and in Ireland in particular, and also talk about perceptions of North American-based horses as breeding prospects.
In addition to serving as a director for several Irish racecourses, he is vice chairman of the International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities and chairman of the European and Mediterranean Horseracing Federation and the European Pattern Race Committee.
The Round Table Conference agenda also will feature respective reports on the activities of The Jockey Club and America's Best Racing by James L. Gagliano, president and chief operating officer of The Jockey Club, and Jason Wilson, vice president of business development for The Jockey Club.
Stuart S. Janney III, vice chairman of The Jockey Club and chairman of the Thoroughbred Safety Committee, will present an update on the committee's work. That segment will also feature a novel approach to analyze the effect of race-day medication from Dr. Hiram C. Polk Jr., who is a member of the committee, and a journalist's perspective on medication issues by award-winning freelance writer Ryan Goldberg.
Goldberg, a Brown University graduate who resides in Brooklyn, N.Y., researched and wrote three parts of "A Painful Truth," a six-part series on medication and drug testing published by Thoroughbred Daily News this spring. He also writes for The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Men's Journal, and Daily Racing Form, among other publications.
In 2009, he won a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Sports Journalism for a segment on the HBO show, "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel," called "Running For Their Lives," which focused on the transport of racehorses from racetracks to slaughterhouses. In 2012, he won the Eclipse Award for outstanding achievement in horse racing writing with a story on father/son jockeys Eibar and Keiber Coa.
The Jockey Club will again provide a live video stream of the entire Round Table Conference. The two-hour conference begins at 10 a.m. EDT and can be viewed at www.jockeyclub.com. A replay of the live video stream will be available within one hour of the conclusion of the conference, and an official transcript of the proceedings will be available on The Jockey Club website the following day.