The Jockey Club today announced the election of four new members: W. B. Rogers Beasley, John Magnier, Rosendo (Ro) Parra, and Thomas S. Robbins.
Beasley has served as Keeneland director of racing since 2001 and was the track’s sales director for 19 years prior to his current post. He currently serves on the boards of the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council, the Kentucky Horse Park, the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, and the Racing Officials Accreditation Program. He served on the American Graded Stakes Committee for nine years and is a past board member of the Thoroughbred Club of America.
John Magnier, generally acknowledged to be one of the most influential people in world racing and breeding, presides over Coolmore Stud, which has branches in Ireland, Kentucky (Ashford Stud), and the Hunter Valley (Coolmore Australia). The Magnier family has been associated with a long sequence of top-class stallions since the 1850s, originally in Co. Cork, Ireland, where stallions still stand as part of Coolmore today. Magnier has part-owned or -bred four of the last five Epsom Derby winners.
Parra is the owner of Millennium Farms in Lexington, Ky. His first involvement in racing came as a fan in South America. He bought his first horse in 1995 and has campaigned approximately 40 stakes winners, including multiple G1 winner Student Council. He also bred Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Wilko. Parra retired from Dell Inc. in 2007 where he served as senior vice president and general manager of Dell Americas. Today, Parra serves on several boards and is involved in venture capital.
Robbins is Del Mar Thoroughbred Club’s executive vice president for racing and industry relations. He previously served as racing secretary, director of racing, and executive vice president from 1981 until 2014. He is also the chairman of the North American Ratings Committee and the Racing Secretaries/Directors Breeders’ Cup Selection Panel and a member of the American Graded Stakes Committee, as well as an advisor to the North American International Catalogue Standards Committee and the U. S. representative to the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings Committee.
The Jockey Club, founded in 1894 and dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing, is the breed registry for North American Thoroughbreds. In fulfillment of its mission, The Jockey Club, directly or through subsidiaries, provides support and leadership on a wide range of important industry initiatives, and it serves the information and technology needs of owners, breeders, media, fans and farms. It is a founding member of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities and the architect and sole funding source for America’s Best Racing, the broad-based fan development initiative for Thoroughbred racing. You can follow America’s Best Racing at americasbestracing.net as well as on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and Instagram.
