Along with Campbell and Sanan, task force members are Headley Bell of Nicoma Bloodstock, Reynolds Bell of The Jockey Club, Dr. Larry Bramlage of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, Boyd Browning of Fasig-Tipton, Bill Casner of TOBA, Robert Clay of Three Chimneys Farm, Lincoln Collins of Kern Thoroughbred, Nick de Meric of Eclipse Farm, Bill Farish of Lane's End Farm, Greg Goodman of TOBA, Reiley McDonald of Eaton Sales, Gerald McMahon of Barretts, Nick Nicholson of Keeneland, Walt Robertson of Fasig-Tipton, Geoffrey Russell of Keeneland, Fred Seitz of Brookdale Sales, Duncan Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency, D.G. Van Clief Jr. of the National Throughbred Racing Association, Tom Ventura of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co., and trainer John Ward.
Cothran "Cot" Campbell, founder and manager of Dogwood Stables and a regular participant at Thoroughbred auctions, was tabbed as chairman of the recently formed Sales Integrity Task Force during its first meeting Sept. 2 at Keeneland.The task force was organized by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association in response to issues raised by the Alliance for Industry Reform, an effort spearheaded by Satish Sanan of Padua Stables. A Sept. 3 release said the task force replaces AIR, which has called for changes in the auction process.It wasn't immediately known if AIR would continue to exist. Sanan, who is a member of the new task force, formed the organization in early July in effort to combat what he has called fraud in Thoroughbred sales.The task force has agreed that the issues -- disclosure and dual agency are two of them -- be addressed as quickly as feasible, the release said. The task force formed subcommittees and plans to meet again Oct. 19."Our task force met and took the first step in making American public auctions more buyer-friendly," Campbell said in a statement.Campbell, a TOBA trustee whose operation is based in Aiken, S.C. said recommendations would be made at the October meeting, and other "fine-tuning meetings" would be held thereafter. He said finalization of a plan would have "an urgent time priority."The announcement of the task force comes just a few weeks before the start of the two-week Keeneland September yearling sale.