News Releases

Thursday, July 15, 2004Contact: Bob Curran (212) 521-5326
Tim Finchem of PGA TOUR Will Deliver Keynote Address at Round Table Conference

PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem will speak about the significance of centralized structure in professional sports and the steps that golfers took to develop successful television programming, corporate sponsorships and marketing programs when he delivers the keynote address at The Jockey Club’s 52nd annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing at the Gideon Putnam Hotel and Conference Center in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. on Sunday, Aug. 15.

Finchem is widely credited with expanding the earnings opportunities for PGA TOUR players both domestically and internationally and was instrumental in the formation of the International Federation of PGA Tours and the World Golf Foundation, Inc.

He joined the PGA TOUR staff as vice president of business affairs in 1987 and two years later became deputy commissioner and chief operating officer under Deane R. Beman. He succeeded Beman in June of 1994.

Finchem will follow NTRA Commissioner Tim Smith, who will discuss how the structure of a “league office” has enabled the NTRA to make progress in several important areas and how it can help the NTRA maximize additional marketing opportunities in the future.

Preceding that segment of the program will be the release of the final report and recommendations of the NTRA Wagering Systems Task Force, including a comprehensive review of wagering data pertaining to “leakage,” the recent trend in which handle has increased but purses have decreased.

The findings will be presented by NTRA deputy commissioner Greg Avioli while an international perspective will be provided by Maurits Bruggink, who in June was named executive director of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities and charged with developing an action plan to combat the growing worldwide problem of illegal wagering on horseracing.

During the first half of the program, William T. Hawks, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), will discuss the proposed National Animal Identification System, which is intended to protect the livestock industry, including horses, in case of epidemic disease outbreaks or bioterrorism. The horse industry’s perspective on the legislation will be presented by Dan Fick, executive vice president and executive director of The Jockey Club and co-chairman of an industry-wide task force seeking to develop a national equine identification program that is beneficial to the horse industry, and in compliance with the USDA plan.

The first half will conclude with the annual NTRA Update, to be delivered by D.G. Van Clief, Jr., NTRA vice chairman and Breeders’ Cup president. As part of the NTRA presentation, trainer John T. Ward, Jr., president of the KTA-KTOB, will discuss the importance of the ongoing work of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium while an update on the NTRA’s Political Action Committee will be provided by William Farish, Jr., chairman of the NTRA PAC Board.

The Conference will open with the traditional welcome by Ogden Mills Phipps, chairman of The Jockey Club, followed by a “Report on the Activities of The Jockey Club,” presented by Alan Marzelli, president of The Jockey Club.

A transcript and audio replay of The Jockey Club Round Table Conference will be available on The Jockey Club web site a few days after the event. The web site is located at 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.