The Jockey Club and Equibase Company announced Tuesday purse money and other monetary race data elements from Canada will be converted to U.S. funds starting on Jan. 1, 2005. Historically, The Jockey Club has treated Canadian dollars on par with American dollars. Alan Marzelli, the president of The Jockey Club and the chairman of Equibase Company, said the change is "the right way to go" for the industry."We have closely examined the Canadian conversion issue for several years and while it would have been preferable to have industry consensus on the matter before moving forward, we realize that is not an achievable goal," Marzelli said. "Providing a consistent method of conversion for all monetary values is undoubtedly the best way to serve the industry."Costs for the software changes needed to enact the change will be absorbed by The Jockey Club's family of companies, which includes The Jockey Club Information Systems, Inc., Equibase Company LLC and InCompass Solutions, Inc. The Jockey Club Technology Services, Inc. will spearhead the project.In the mid-1960s, when racing and pedigree data were first stored electronically, the databases of both The Jockey Club and the Daily Racing Form were designed to manage all U.S. and Canadian race results under the heading of "North America." This design was consistent with the manner in which the entire industry viewed the Thoroughbred industries of the U.S. and Canada, which was as one entity. Racing data that is obtained by The Jockey Club from all other countries (there are more than 40) is stored as received in the native currency and is also converted and stored in U.S. dollars, using the Wall Street Journal's daily currency conversion rates, for dissemination and display as per product requirements.
