At its regularly scheduled meeting Sept. 10, the Breeders’ Cup board of directors took two major steps to further strengthen the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, approving a new international nominations program to increase participation by the world's top horses and extending its ban on trainers with medication violations to include Class 1 substances in the year prior to its event.
The board passed a unanimous resolution, effective for 2011, that bans all trainers from competing in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships who have been found in a final determination to be in violation of a racing regulation prohibiting the possession or use of any substance listed under Class 1 of the Association of Racing Commissioners International guidelines at any racing jurisdiction during the 12 months preceding the Championships. Class 1 drugs are stimulants and depressant drugs that have the highest potential to affect performance and have no generally accepted medical use in a racehorse.
“The establishment of these new regulations strengthens, on a year-round basis, our top priority of preserving the integrity of our competition and protecting the welfare of our athletes at the World Championships,” said Breeders' Cup president and CEO Greg Avioli.
The board also took the following actions:
• Approved a new international nominations program and enhancements to the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series, effective for 2011. Additional information on the new programs will be released at a press conference scheduled for noon on Sept. 13 at Keeneland.
• Conducted elections for corporate officers and for positions of committee chairmen. William S. Farish Jr. was re-elected as chairman of the board; Gregory C. Avioli was re-elected as Breeders’ Cup president; Robert T. Manfuso was re-elected vice chairman; Matthew Lutz was re-elected to the position of treasurer, and Robert Watt was re-elected secretary. Each of these individuals was elected to a one-year term.
The following individuals were elected as committee chairmen:
Racing and Nominations Committee – Clem Murphy
Host Site Committee – Antony Beck
Marketing Committee – Roy Jackson
Finance and Audit Committee – Oliver Tait
Investments Committee – Richard Santulli
Compensation Committee – Satish Sanan