(Edited press release)
Four new members have been elected to the Disabled Jockeys’ Endowment Board.
The newly elected board members include Nancy LaSala, board chair of the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund; Gina Lavo, vice president of finance for the Los Angeles Turf Club; Terry Meyocks, national manager of the Jockeys’ Guild; and John Velazquez, two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey and chairman of the board of directors of the Jockeys’ Guild.
Additionally, Jackie Fires, a permanently disabled jockey who is a board member of the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, was named an ex officio member of the board.
The new members take the place of John Joseph, Richard Lewandowski, Michael Kazanjian and Peter Michel.
“We look forward to the challenge ahead,” said Richard B. Shapiro, a member of the board and chairman of the California Horse Racing Board. “There is a great deal of work to be done to make this endowment a self-sustaining source of help for disabled jockeys. We must build on the foundation already established to provide necessary help to those who need it. It will not be an easy task, but we will work diligently to assist these athletes who gave so much to our sport.”
The newly-reconstituted board will meet in the near future to elect a new slate of officers.