Since 2023, Mike Ripoll has waged a marketing campaign of inflammatory social posts and public statements concentrating on the Jockey Membership and different main Thoroughbred organizations. His rhetoric depends on selective info and a false narrative that stokes division, undermines belief, and distracts us from the true work our trade must do shifting ahead. His marketing campaign gives no options or concrete plans, as a substitute showing to be a part of Lepore’s efforts to nominate himself the game’s “commissioner.”
As Stewards of the Jockey Membership, we work to enhance horse racing and breeding in ways in which shield horses, assist staff, develop the trade and construct public belief. Our precedence was to give attention to our work and never give oxygen to Mr. Lepore’s baseless accusations. However within the face of rising threats and a wealth of misinformation, it is time to set the report straight with info, not rhetoric.
Beginning immediately, we are going to give attention to Mr. Lepore’s assaults and present why these accusations are primarily based on incomplete info and falsehoods and are dangerous to our sport. We may even give attention to how the Jockey Membership helps Thoroughbred racing and breeding all through the Thoroughbred lifecycle. Our response is:
Declare: Lepore alleges that the overview committee is rife with conflicts of curiosity and engages in private self-dealing for tacit monetary acquire.
actuality: Mr. Lepore’s claims concerning the overview committee are baseless and represent an assault of the worst type, an try to wreck his popularity by way of innuendo relatively than info. Lepore even admitted that there have been no dependable info and that the one option to discover something related was to file a lawsuit.
These reckless accusations are irresponsible, unfounded, and grossly unfair to people who volunteer their time and act in good religion to assist the actions of the Jockey Membership, a New York state nonprofit group working in accordance with the battle of curiosity necessities of New York State nonprofit legislation.
Declare: The Jockey Membership is misusing money.
actuality: Over the previous 15 years, the Jockey Membership has contributed $112 million to a variety of horse racing, manufacturing and aftercare-related assist outdoors of our operations. For 2026, the Jockey Membership has dedicated a further $7 million to assist these causes. This roughly $120 million funding will assist foster progress and innovation and assist a number of initiatives equivalent to assist for aftercare organizations, horse security, and elevated nationwide tv protection and advertising, all of that are important to the trade’s vitality and public attraction.
Declare: The Jockey Membership doesn’t handle aftercare.
Actuality: Aftercare is a shared trade duty. The Jockey Membership is faithfully fulfilling its function and it will be fallacious to disregard aftercare or declare that ‘nothing has modified’. The Jockey Membership is the one largest funder of aftercare, contributing $2.5 million this 12 months and $23 million over the previous 15 years, and is a founding member of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.
Moreover, Lepore just lately posted an aftercare “plan” on X and criticized the Jockey Membership for not following by way of on it. What he did share, nonetheless, was a bare-bones “funding mannequin projection” that largely mirrored the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance’s fundraising strategy and, as clearly communicated to him by the Jockey Membership, was lacking key components of a whole and workable plan: incentivize donors, spend further funds, and measure success.
The Jockey Membership will enhance its assist for the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance in 2026 and can proceed to work with sellers and different stakeholders to assist the Alliance and wider initiatives equivalent to retraining and traceability.
Declare: All trade information ought to be distributed freed from cost.
actuality: Lepore argues that horse racing information compiled by Equibase, a three way partnership between the Jockey Membership and the North American Thoroughbred Racing Affiliation, which incorporates Churchill Downs, New York Racetrack and Stronach, “ought to be free (distributed) like another sport.” He ignores that gathering, compiling, high quality controlling, and distributing race information is cheap. Offering important and dependable information requires ongoing spending to assist important human sources and know-how infrastructure.
On the similar time, different main sports activities usually monetize information, so the premise that every one commercially out there information is “give away” is totally false.
Declare: Lepore has frequently blamed the Jockey Membership for the decline in Thoroughbred foal manufacturing, together with within the X Put up final August. “Underneath the watchful eyes of the Jockey Membership, the availability has dried up. For greater than 20 years they’ve mismanaged horses into the bottom, claiming to be performing for the ‘enchancment’ of horse racing. Foal manufacturing has fallen from 50,000 to lower than 50,000.” ”
actuality: The decline in foal manufacturing is the results of a fancy combine of things, together with enterprise cycles, trade consolidation, and competitors from different types of gaming and sports activities betting. As an essential instance, the tax system has been a significant driver of the breeding financial system for many years, and the Tax Reform Act of 1986 eradicated incentives that beforehand helped encourage breeding funding. In 2025, the Jockey Membership joined with different trade our bodies to assist make 100% bonus depreciation on horse purchases everlasting. For an in-depth have a look at declining foal yields, see Jockey Membership President Everett Dobson’s November 6, 2025 Thoroughbred Day by day Information essay, “Open Letter: Declining Foal Yields and the Means Ahead.”
Declare: Mr Lepore mentioned the Horse Racing Integrity and Security Authority had accomplished nothing to enhance horse security and criticized the Jockey Membership’s assist for HISA. In reality, one in every of his attorneys despatched a letter to the Jockey Membership on October 2, 2025, flatly stating that “any suggestion that HISA has made the game safer or in any approach higher is patently false.”
actuality: Racing below HISA is safer. As reported within the Equine Harm Database:
In 2021, the earlier 12 months for the HISA security program, the fatality price was 1.39 per 1,000 begins. In 2024, the launch price at HISA-regulated vehicles has decreased to 0.9 per 1,000 begins. In contrast, in 2024, the fatality price at U.S. circuits not supervised by HISA was 1.76 per 1,000 begins. (The numbers for 2025 are nonetheless being tallied as vehicles are nonetheless submitting studies.)
In abstract, Mr. Lepore disagrees with most individuals within the Jockey Membership and trade on these and different points. Members of the overview committee have met with Mr. Lepore on quite a few events and have sought to handle his feedback in a productive method. Sadly, these talks devolved right into a one-sided stream of harsh accusations and calls for from Mr. Lepore. Criticisms and disagreements don’t give him particular authority to find out the route of the trade and appoint himself the “commissioner” of our sport. Particularly when his place will not be primarily based on info and actuality and he has not but articulated a concrete or workable plan for progress.
We hope that sharing the info will present clear perception into Mr. Lepore’s baseless accusations and show a collaborative effort by the Jockey Membership and others to assist maintain and develop the game. We’ll proceed to work with members of the Thoroughbred trade to keep up constructive and collaborative progress.
Jockey Membership Board of Administrators: Everett Dobson (President), Luis Serra, William Farish Jr. (Vice President), Gary Fenton, Terry Finley, Ian Hiett (Treasurer), Mark Holliday, Stuart Janney III, Brett Jones, William Lear Jr. (Secretary Secretary), David O’Farrell, Vincent Viola.
