Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) announced July 26 the appointment of Bing Bush, Robert Devlin, Claire Novak, Lonny Powell, and Anna Seitz to its Board of Directors.
"We are thrilled that Bing, Bob, Claire, Lonny, and Anna have joined the TCA board. I look forward to working with each of them," said Mike McMahon president of TCA. "We recently completed a strategic planning and board mapping exercise that was very beneficial. Our board is very active and involved; we've worked to create the best board possible for TCA. Our goal is to reach a seven-figure annual impact."
Bush is an attorney at Law Offices of Bing I. Bush, Jr., APC based in Del Mar, California with a satellite office in Lexington, Kentucky. He represents clients in various equine-related transactional and litigation matters nationally and internationally. In 2012, he founded Abbondanza Racing which has successfully campaigned several graded stakes horses.
Devlin is the co-owner of Curragh Stables based in New York. He began his interest in racing while a student at Tulane University where he worked at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans. In 2001, Bob was able to dedicate himself to his passion of horses after retiring as CEO and Chairman from American General Financial Group. Since then he has enjoyed many more days at the track, primarily Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga.
Novak is the editor of BloodHorse Daily and is an award-winning journalist whose top honors include a 2011 Eclipse Award. Throughout her career she has covered racing for some of the nation's best-known outlets, including the New York Times, the Associated Press, ESPN The Magazine, and ESPN.com. A lifelong equestrian, Novak is a registered therapeutic riding instructor with the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl). She teaches weekly at a local therapeutic riding program, where she works with veterans and at-risk youth.
Powell is the CEO of the Florida Breeders' and Owners' Association where his responsibilities include overseeing the operations of the FTBOA and its related entities, including Florida Equine Communications and Florida Thoroughbred Charities. A lifelong member of the Thoroughbred industry and long-time executive, Powell also oversees the political, regulatory, legal, public relations and promotional activities of the Association. Some of his past positions of particular note include serving as past director of the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program, President & CEO of Santa Anita Park, Turf Paradise Race Course and Longacres Racetrack, President & CEO of Racing Commissioners International and Executive VP/COO for Magna Entertainment.
Seitz grew up on her parents' Brookdale Farm in Versailles, Ky. She worked with horses starting at a young age. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, she traveled the world working for multiple farms and sales consignments before returning to the States to work for Eclipse Award winning trainer, Todd Pletcher for almost four years. Anna now works as the Client Development and Public Relations Manager at Fasig-Tipton where she has been for the past nine years.
The five newly elected board members join current board members Shannon Arvin, Bob Beck, Terry Finley, Lesley Howard (treasurer), Braxton Lynch (secretary), Nathan McCauley (vice president), Mike McMahon (president), Graham Motion, J. David Richardson, Dan Rosenberg, Jaime Roth, and Bo Smith. Gretchen Jackson, Ellen Moelis, and Herb Moelis are directors emeriti.
TCA's mission is to provide a better life for Thoroughbreds, both during and after their racing careers, by supporting qualified repurposing and retirement organizations and by helping the people who care for them. TCA distributes grants to several categories of Thoroughbred-related nonprofits including rehabilitation, retraining, rehoming and retirement organizations; backstretch and farm employee programs; equine-assisted therapy programs; and research organizations. Since its inception in 1990, TCA has granted over $22 million to more than 200 charities that successfully meet the criteria set forth in its annual grant application. From 2000-2016, more than 95% of TCA's expenditures were allocated to program services including direct grants. TCA is the charitable arm of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA).