David Haydon, who joined The Jockey Club staff in June 1974 and later served in an executive capacity with several of The Jockey Club’s wholly owned subsidiaries as well as Equibase Company, will retire at the end of 2010, it was announced Dec. 1 by James L. Gagliano, the president and chief operating officer of The Jockey Club.
Haydon has served as president of InCompass Solutions (a wholly owned subsidiary of The Jockey Club) since 2001.
“David has been a cornerstone of The Jockey Club over the past three decades,” said Gagliano in a release. “He leaves behind not only a legacy of accomplishment and achievement, but also a talented and experienced staff that will continue to serve racetracks throughout the country and the racing industry itself.”
With 36 consecutive years of service, Haydon is the longest tenured employee in the recent history of The Jockey Club.
“It has been an honor to spend all these years at The Jockey Club, and I could not have asked for a better group of people to work with,” Haydon said in a statement. “They have been friends as well as colleagues.”
Haydon joined The Jockey Club as a general clerk in the Statistical Bureau in 1974. He was promoted to researcher in 1975 and then to manager of Information Services in 1976. He was appointed president of The Jockey Club Information Systems Inc. in 1989 before being named chief executive officer of newly formed Equibase Company in 1990. Haydon served as executive vice president of operations for Equibase from 1994 until 2001, when he was named president of InCompass Solutions Inc.
“David Haydon has played a huge role in The Jockey Club’s successful development of its for-profit commercial businesses,” said his longtime colleague Alan Marzelli, who retired as president and chief operating officer of The Jockey Club in December 2009.
“At different points in time in the past 20 years he headed up The Jockey Club Information Systems Inc., Equibase Company, and InCompass Solutions and took each from incubator stage to mature, financially sound companies that provide world-class service to their respective customers. The Jockey Club and every facet of the Thoroughbred industry should be grateful that David chose to spend his entire career with us.”
Brad Kimbrell, the executive vice president of InCompass, will assume responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the company.
Kimbrell, a native of Shreveport, La., joined McKinnie Systems Inc. in 1982 and moved to Lexington in 1994 when The Jockey Club acquired a majority interest in the racetrack software company. In 2001, as part of The Jockey Club’s corporate restructuring, McKinnie was renamed InCompass. InCompass subsequently built a central database and integrated communications network to enhance delivery of information, products and services within the industry.
“Brad has spent his entire career in Thoroughbred racing and he knows the business well,” Haydon said. “He understands the inner workings of a racetrack and he is well regarded by the numerous racetrack management and staff personnel he has worked with through the years.”