Posts Tagged ‘reynolds bell jr.’
Monday, July 14th, 2008
On the surface, it seems unfathomable that the 40-some members and trustees, founding members and officers of the Breeders’ Cup who select the organization’s operating board of directors could have rejected Richard Santulli, whose business acumen is such that he is on the short list of candidates to succeed Warren Buffett, the “oracle of Omaha,” as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. But that’s what they did on Friday, when the group voted to fill seven positions on the 14-member board. Neither Santulli, a New Jersey-based Thoroughbred owner and breeder, or Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm owner John Sikura received enough votes to secure a board seat.
The members and trustees re-elected all five of the candidates who sought re-election to two-year terms: Breeders’ Cup board chairman Bill Farish of Lane’s End Farm, Antony Beck of Gainesway Farm, Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds, racetrack and casino owner R.D. Hubbard, and Satish Sanan of Padua Stables. Two open seats, made possible when board members Robert Clay and Joseph Shields Jr. were voted off the board of members and trustees by Breeders’ Cup nominators, were filled by Helen Alexander of Middlebrook Farm and Roy Jackson of Lael Stables.
Those seven are joined on the Breeders’ Cup board by the following individuals who were elected to two-year terms in 2007: Reynolds Bell Jr., Donald Dizney, Tracy Farmer, B. Wayne Hughes, G. Watts Humphrey Jr., and Robert Manfuso. The 14th board position is filled by the Breeders’ Cup CEO, Greg Avioli.
It is widely believed that the xenophobic duo of Farish and his father, Will, the vice chairman of the Jockey Club, lobbied heavily with the members and trustees to keep Santulli and Sikura off the board. Ironically, Santulli has been a client of Lane’s End, keeping mares at the Versailles, Ky., farm. Both Santulli and Sikura have been outspoken in their criticism of various aspects of the Breeders’ Cup in recent years. NetJets, the company Santulli founded and which is now part of the Berkshire Hathaway empire, was a Breeders’ Cup sponsor for several years but did not renew its sponsorship in 2008.
New Jersey-based Thoroughbred Daily News publisher Barry Weisbord, a close associate of Santulli, is believed to have lobbied to get Santulli elected. In addition, a number of Kentucky-based members and trustees pushed for the election of Sikura.
Simply put, Farish had the most juice in this election, and sources say it wasn’t even close.
The two new board members, Alexander and Jackson, represent old money. Alexander is an heir to the massive King Ranch, which raced 1946 Triple Crown winner Assault. She is widely respected for her independence and toughness, and support for her candidacy likely reached across the various factions.
Jackson, an heir to the Standard Oil fortune through his grandfather, William D. Rockefeller, is best known as the owner-breeder with wife Gretchen of Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby winner whose injury in the Preakness and unsuccessful battle to survive was a closely followed national drama two years ago. Having the conservative and low-keyed Jackson seek election was a stroke of genius by whoever convinced him to run. He and his wife, along with trainer Michael Matz, jockey Edgar Prado and veterinary surgeon Dean Richardson, were the human elements in the Barbaro story, and the Jacksons received plaudits from all corners for their handling of the horse’s post-Preakness struggles.
I’ve never heard anyone compare Jackson’s business experience with that of Richard Santulli, or his knowledge of the horse industry with John Sikura. But he is without enemies in the business and doesn’t make waves: a sure-fire qualification for an endorsement from the Farishes.
The respect for Alexander and the affection for Jackson notwithstanding, the rejection of a highly successful businessman like Santulli is mind-boggling. If he is good enough to be a candidate to run Berkshire Hathaway, it’s almost comical to think he would not be an asset on the Breeders’ Cup board.
The only conclusion I can make is that the most influential board members, led by Bill and Will Farish, are interested only in maintaining power by preventing individuals with different points of view from getting elected.
“Billionaires run the industry,” one horseman said to me after the election. “The only way to beat them is on the racetrack.”
By Ray Paulick
Copyright ©2008, The Paulick Report
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Tags: Antony Beck, b. wayne hughes, Barbaro, berkshire hathaway, Bill Farish, Breeders' Cup, donald dizney, g. watts humphrey jr., Greg Avioli, Helen Alexander, Horse Racing, John Sikura, Joseph Shields, king ranch, lael stables, netjets, Paulick Report, R.D. Hubbard, Ray Paulick, reynolds bell jr., richard santulli, Robert Clay, robert manfuso, Roy Jackson, satish sanan, Terry Finley, tracy farmer, Warren Buffett, Will Farish
Posted in Breeders' Cup | 7 Comments »
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008
Phone lines in Central Kentucky have been burning up among the nearly 50 incumbent and newly elected members and trustees of the Breeders’ Cup, who will be responsible for electing seven individuals to the 14 member operating board of directors in Lexington, Ky., on Friday.
Five members of the board — Antony Beck, current board chairman Bill Farish Jr., Terry Finley, R.D. Hubbard and Satish Sanan - are up for re-election, and all five are expected to seek a new two-year term. There are two open positions previously held by Robert Clay and Joseph Shields Jr., who lost re-election bids to the members and trustees board, voting for which was conducted in June among all Breeders’ Cup program nominators. Clay was vice chairman of the Breeders’ Cup board of directors.
John Sikura is the only new name that has surfaced as a "declared" candidate for a board seat, though others will certainly will develop by Friday’s meeting.
In the meantime, numerous phone calls are being made by members of two distinct camps seeking proxies and support in advance of what figures to be a hotly contested election for control of the Breeders’ Cup. In previous elections
Here are the members and trustees listed on the Breeders’ Cup web site or last week’s election results: Josephine Abercrombie, Helen Alexander, John Amerman, Gregory C. Avioli, James E. Bassett III, Antony Beck, Reynolds Bell Jr., Boyd Browning Jr., Doug Cauthen, Alice Chandler, Brownell Combs II, Donald R. Dizney, William S. Farish, William S. Farish Jr., Tracy Farmer, Terrence P. Finley, James E. Friess, Thomas Gaines, Lucy Young Hamilton, L. William Heiligbrodt, R.D. Hubbard, B. Wayne Hughes, G. Watts Humphrey Jr., Roy Jackson, Brereton C. Jones, John T.L. Jones Jr., John T.L. Jones III, Tom Ludt, Wayne G. Lyster III, Robert T. Manfuso, Robert McNair, Clem Murphy, Maria Niarchos-Gouaze, Charles C. Nuckols III, J. Michael O’Farrell Jr., Bill Oppenheim, James A. Philpott Jr., Ogden Mills Phipps, Dan Pride, Don Robinson, Satish K. Sanan, Richard T. Santulli, John G. Sikura, Frank Stronach, Mark Taylor, D.G. Van Clief Jr., Charlotte Weber, Barry Weisbord, and Christopher Young.
By Ray Paulick
Copyright ©2008, The Paulick Report
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Tags: Alice Chandler, Antony Beck, b. wayne hughes, Barry Weisbord, Bill Oppenheim, Boyd Browning Jr., Breeders' Cup, Breeders' Cup board of directors, Brereton C. Jones, Brownell Combs II, Charles C. Nuckols III, Charlotte Weber, Christopher Young, Clem Murphy, D.G. Van Clief Jr., Dan Pride, Don Robinson, Donald R. Dizney, Doug Cauthen, Frank Stronach, g. watts humphrey jr., Gregory C. Avioli, Helen Alexander, J. Michael O'Farrell Jr., James A. Philpott Jr., James E. Bassett III, James E. Friess, John Amerman, John G. Sikura, John T.L. Jones III, John T.L. Jones Jr., Josephine Abercrombie, L. William Heiligbrodt, Lucy Young Hamilton, Maria Niarchos-Gouaze, Mark Taylor, Ogden Mills Phipps, Paulick Report, R.D. Hubbard, Ray Paulick, reynolds bell jr., Richard T. Santulli, Robert McNair, Robert T. Manfuso, Roy Jackson, Satish K. Sanan, Terrence P. Finley, Thomas Gaines, tom ludt, tracy farmer, Wayne G. Lyster III, William S. Farish, William S. Farish Jr.
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Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
The startling election results for the Breeders’ Cup board of members and trustees conducted among nominators to the program teaches us one thing about this relatively new process: no single farm or entity can stack the board with its own candidates.
That is driven home by the fact that Robert Clay of Three Chimneys Farms, the current vice chairman of the Breeders’ Cup board of directors (the 14-person board elected by the 48 members and trustees), did not receive enough votes to retain his spot as a member/trustee. It is confirmed again by the election loss of James McAlpine, a longtime Magna executive associated with Frank Stronach, who presumably would have thrown the considerable clout of his Adena Springs Farm behind McAlpine in the Breeders’ Cup election process that Stronach himself helped bring about through reforms in governance several years ago. (Those reforms were detailed in a two part series in the Paulick Report: Part 1, Part 2). In voting conducted during the month of June, Breeders’ Cup nominators received one vote for every $500 they paid in foal or stallion nominations. Stallion farms with the high-end stud fees obviously hold the most votes, since a $100,000 stud fee would give a farm 200 votes in the process. Yet even with a Three Chimneys stallion roster that currently includes $460,000 in annual “published” stud fees (and, thus, 920 votes, theoretically), Clay was unable to secure enough votes to retain his seat on the board of members and trustees.
As a result, Clay, who has served on numerous industry organization boards over the last 25 years, will not be eligible to run for re-election to a two-year term on the 14-member Breeders’ Cup board of directors, the group that makes the key operational decisions for the organization. That election will be held during a meeting of the newly elected board of members and trustees in Lexington July 11. To be eligible to run for the board of directors, an individual must be on the larger board of members and trustees. Just as consensus building is necessary to get federal legislation passed in Congress, individuals seeking seats as Breeders’ Cup members/trustees must build coalitions among different groups of nominators. Clay apparently did not do that; nor did three others seeking re-election on the board of members and trustees: Robert Cromartie, Leverett Miller, and Joseph Shields, Jr.
Elected to the board of members and trustees were Helen Alexander of Middlebrook Farm; Doug Cauthen of WinStar Farm; Bill Farish Jr. of Lane’s End; Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds; Lucy Young Hamilton of Overbrook Farm; Maria Niarchos-Gouaze of Poseidon Services Inc; Charles Nuckols III of Nuckols Farm; Bill Oppenheim, a bloodstock agent who writes for Thoroughbred Daily News; Don Robinson of Winter Quarter Farm; Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Farm; Charlotte Weber of Live Oak Stud; and Barry Weisbord, publisher of Thoroughbred Daily News. Of that group, Alexander, Farish, Young Hamilton, Niarchos-Gouaze, Nuckols, and Taylor were re-elected.
In addition to Clay, Cromartie McAlpine, Miller and Shields, the following nominees to the board of members and trustees did not get enough votes for election: Bobby Flay, Arnold Kirkpatrick, Allan Lavin Jr. and Ric Waldman.
Seven of the 14 board of director seats will be open for nomination during the July 11 election, including the seats that have been held by Clay and Shields, whose terms expire. With their required departure, there will be at least two new members elected. In addition, the two-year terms of Antony Beck, current board chairman Bill Farish Jr., Terry Finley, R.D. Hubbard and Satish Sanan also expire, with each eligible for re-election.
The smaller board of director positions are staggered, and the following six individuals were elected to two-year terms in July 2007: Reynolds Bell Jr., Donald Dizney, Tracy Farmer, B. Wayne Hughes, G. Watts Humphrey Jr., and Robert Manfuso. The 14th board position is filled by the Breeders’ Cup CEO, Greg Avioli.
It may be noteworthy that Clay, Miller and Shields were considered part of the “old guard,” as each are members of the Jockey Club, which for decades has tried to assert control over many industry organizations. Not everyone newly elected or re-elected to the board of members and trustees can be classified as “old guard” or “new guard,” but victories by Doug Cauthen, Bill Oppenheim and Barry Weisbord clearly indicate that efforts were made by nominators with large blocs of vote to inject new blood into the organization that runs the two-day championships scheduled to be held for the next two years during the Oak Tree Racing Association meeting at Santa Anita Park in Southern California.
What new alliances are formed among the newly seated board of members and trustees will determine who is retained, newly elected or rejected from the smaller board. That new board, to be seated in September, will determine whether Bill Farish will remain chairman and will also elect a vice chairman of the board. More importantly, the new board will control the fate of the Breeders’ Cup—at least until the next election.
By Ray Paulick
Copyright ©2008, The Paulick Report
Tags: Allan Lavin Jr., Arnold Kirkpatrick, b. wayne hughes, Barry Weisbord, Bill Farish Jr., Bill Oppenheim, Bobby Flay, Breeders' Cup, Breeders' Cup board of directors, Charles Nuckols III, Charlotte Weber, Don Robinson, donald dizney, Doug Cauthen, Frank Stronach, g. watts humphrey jr., Greg Avioli, Helen Alexander, Joseph Shields Jr., Leverett Miller, Lucy Young Hamilton, Maria Niarchos-Gouaze, Mark Taylor, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, reynolds bell jr., Ric Waldman, Robert Clay, Robert Cromartie, robert manfuso, Terry Finley, tracy farmer
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