The Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Horse Racing was formed by Governor George Pataki in early 2005 to ensure the future strength of the New York horse racing industry. Since its creation, the committee has conducted public hearings, established the franchise bid process and issued a formal Request for Proposals for the exclusive right to operate and maintain Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga for a franchise period beginning on January 1, 2008.

The committee will recommend which bid(s) can reasonably best provide for the operation and maintenance of the racing facilities.

Once the committee’s solicitation and evaluation process is completed, it will report its findings to the governor, the state legislature and the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, along with recommendations it deems necessary to implement its findings.

Barrett is the chairman and CEO of CARPAT Investments, a private investment company, and is a former chairman and CEO of Avis Inc.

His presentation will follow an update on activities from the New York Racing Association, delivered by Charles E. Hayward, the president and CEO of NYRA.

The Round Table Conference will open with the traditional welcome by Ogden Mills Phipps, chairman of The Jockey Club. Jim Gagliano, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of The Jockey Club, will then deliver a report on the activities of The Jockey Club.

That report will be followed by a segment focusing on medication and drug testing. Dr. Scot Waterman, executive director of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, will talk about the progress the RMTC has made in the past year, and Rogers Beasley, director of racing for Keeneland Association, will do the same for the Equine Drug Research Institute, which was launched and announced at the 2005 Round Table Conference.

The first half of the program will close with Frank Fabian, president of the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, and Maurits Bruggink, executive director of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, discussing their organizations’ respective initiatives in the area of wagering integrity.

In a segment devoted to the installation of Polytrack, Nick Nicholson, president and CEO of Keeneland Association, and Bob Elliston, president and CEO of Turfway Park, will share their philosophy and experiences with the synthetic racing surface.

A transcript of The Jockey Club Round Table Conference will be available on The Jockey Club website a few days after the event. The website is located at http://www.jockeyclub.com.

The Jockey Club Round Table Conference was first held on July 1, 1953, in The Jockey Club office in New York City. The following year, it was moved to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where it has been held every August since.