TOBA Committees

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee oversees the regular business and management of the organization between meetings of the Board of Trustees. The 2009-2010 Executive Committee is composed of five officers and five at-large seats. The five officers are: Reynolds Bell, Jr. (Chairman), Daniel J. Metzger (President), Stuart Janney III (Vice-Chairman), Seth W. Hancock (Secretary) and Peter Willmott (Treasurer). The at-large seats currently include James G. Bell, Donald R. Dizney, C. Steven Duncker, Tracy Farmer and Tom Ludt. At-large positions are filled by the appointment of the Chairman and approved by the Board of Trustees.

Nominating Committee

The Nominating Committee is responsible for selecting the new candidates for possible election to the Board of Trustees. Also, this committee's work includes the evaluation of incumbent trustees as to their possible candidacy for additional terms on the Board.

The Committee handles the actual invitations to new candidates, incumbent candidates, and the preparation of the election ballot which is mailed to the full membership each year in early July. The four members are James G. Bell (Chairman), Reynolds Bell, Jr., Seth Hancock and Peter Willmott.

American Graded Stakes Committee

The American Graded Stakes Committee (AGSC) began in 1973 as an official working committee of the TOBA. For the last 34 years, TOBA has been the custodian of the process of grading the some 474 races meriting that status. The committee's purpose is to maintain the integrity of the sales catalogue page when various graded races are listed. The buyers and sellers of Thoroughbreds need to make sure that Grade I, Grade II and Grade III races consistently represent the competitive field quality their grade indicates. The AGSC meets every November to review the five-year data on all eligible races. Each of the last five runnings of eligible races are viewed equally, but trends of improvement or decreasing quality are duly noted. The current members of the AGSC include six TOBA Members: Peter Willmott (Chairman), John Amerman, Rollin W. Baugh, William Heiligbrodt, Fred Seitz and Seth Hancock and five Racing Official Members: Rogers Beasley, P.J. Campo, Michael Dempsey, Michael Harlow and Thomas Robbins. Andrew Schweigardt serves as Secretary to the committee.

International Cataloguing Standards Committee

The International Cataloguing Standards Committee (ICSC) is a working sub-committee of the Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers (SITA). ICSC meets twice a year. In June, the meeting is usually held in London and the second meeting is held in Paris prior to the Pre De L'Arc de Triomphe . The central function of the ICSC is to oversee and approve the publication of the "Blue Book," the ICSC Standardization Guide, which lists all the group races in the world. This book is published by The Jockey Club (U.S.) and is printed in Lexington, Ky. Currently, the secretary of the ICSC is Carl Hamilton of The Jockey Club. Rollin W. Baugh and Daniel J. Metzger represent TOBA on this committee. The ICSC is an important watchdog of international stakes quality and provides an approval process of requests to have races sanctioned as Group races.

International Thoroughbred Breeders Secretariat

The Committee holds an annual meeting at rotating sites with different countries serving as "host." Sixteen countries are represented. The agenda of the meeting centers on health, disease concerns, and breeding trends and techniques. Representatives from each country are assigned appropriate topics to research and prepare a written report in advance of the annual meeting. TOBA's representatives are Daniel J. Metzger and Dr. Peter Timoney. The Secretary of the Committee is Samuel G. Sheppard, of Newmarket, England.

Publications Committee

The five member board of trustees of The Blood-Horse are: Stuart S. Janney III (Chairman), Antony Beck, William Farish, Jr., G. Watts Humphrey (Vice Chairman), and D.G. Van Clief, Jr.