Everett Dobson will have a platform to assess his first year as Chair of The Jockey Club when he presides at its annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing, in Saratoga Springs, Aug. 6.In his inaugural address at last year's conference, Dobson said his top priority was to grow the sport and stem decline in the foal crop, field sizes, the fan base, wagering on races, and the potential loss of “some of our most important racetracks, particularly in regions of the country that are deemed to be important to the overall health of the sport.”Right out of the gate as chair one year ago, Dobson surprised breeders when he declared that The Jockey Club would revisit a cap to limit the number of mares bred by a stallion in a year. At the National HBPA conference earlier in the year, he warned that economic incentives for commercial breeders are driving what he has called an “alarming increase in the coefficient of inbreeding.” The Jockey Club explored book size limits of 140 per stallion in 2019, only to retreat in the face of opposition from its constituency.Ten stallions at six Kentucky stud farms bred more than 200 mares apiece last year, covering almost 10% of mares bred in 2025. By contrast, 95% of stallions in North America bred fewer than 140. The average book in New York and Florida was 36 and 22, respectively. In California, Louisiana and Ontario, the average was 16 or 17. Whether breeding and racing can grow beyond Kentucky weighs on the industry as a whole.In April, the Kentucky legislature passed a measure to retaliate against The Jockey Club if it were to implement a mare cap. It was a political setback for rookie chair Dobson, who owns a broodmare farm near Lexington and races under Cheyenne Stables.The Jockey Club's efforts to reign in the industry encountered additional resistance in June when the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Horseracing and Safety Integrity Authority's enforcement provisions unconstitutional. Two other circuit courts have ruled in HISA's favor, leaving the matter unresolved.The creation of HISA was a top priority of Dobson's predecessor, Stuart Janney, but has faced legal challenges from the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and from Louisiana, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Iowa. Of the 23 states that host Thoroughbred racing, four remain outside HISA's jurisdiction: Louisiana, Texas, West Virginia and Nebraska. HISA's supporters argue the lack of uniform standards for safety and integrity jeopardizes racing's social license with the public.Although The Jockey Club's Board of Stewards includes track operators and executives from across the industry, the breed registry has no authority to decide issues such as whether to limit Computer Assisted Wagering or reschedule the Preakness and Belmont Stakes to revamp the Triple Crown.While The Jockey Club provided increased financial support this year for retraining Thoroughbreds for second careers, and for its traceability initiative to reduce the number of racehorses shipped to slaughter in Mexico and Canada, aftercare advocates want systemic funding to secure racehorse retirement beyond piecemeal efforts funded voluntarily.At the same time, The Jockey Club and its industry partners achieved some during the past year that Dobson can highlight at the Round Table.An expanded federal tax benefit for investors in Thoroughbreds–100% bonus depreciation–increased gross sales of yearlings by $138 million last year, a 21% increase over 2024. The median yearling price, a key indicator of the health of the midmarket, increased 30%, from $27,000 in 2024 to $35,000 last year. The tax benefit was championed by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, which is funded in part by The Jockey Club.In November, The Jockey Club facilitated collaboration among state breeding programs when it convened a workshop for directors of state-bred programs in conjunction with the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. The workshop was well received and additional regional programs will be held.The New York Racing Association subsequently announced a reciprocal partnership with Woodbine Racetrack, in Toronto, to hold 14 restricted stakes races with combined purses of $3.2 million for New York and Canadian-breds. NYRA aims to incentivize Ontario horsemen to fill fields and improve its winter product when racing at the renovated Belmont Park shifts to a new synthetic track.In California, Fasig-Tipton, in partnership with the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, will offer a $500,000 bonus for the first graduate of its 2026 California Fall Yearlings Sale to win a U.S. Grade I race by three years of age.In October, Equibase, a partnership of The Jockey Club and an association of Thoroughbred racetracks, introduced a new rating system that uses performance data to score horses' relative class and ability. By June, 10 tracks had used it to hold nearly 50 ratings handicap races as alternatives to claiming races. Backers of the system believe wider adoption could help retain small owners who quit the sport when their horses are claimed, improving the safety of claiming horses through less frequent churn of owners.America's Best Racing, the casual fan engagement and marketing arm funded by The Jockey Club at $2.5 million this year, achieved significantly wider reach through social media and expanded live streams, including ABR's first live stream of a non-racing or wagering program: the Fasig-Tipton sale at Saratoga last year.ABR's exclusive video clip of trainer Cherie DeVaux's reaction to Golden Tempo's victory in the Kentucky Derby went viral and was viewed more than 150 million times, almost double the 76 million views ABR generated from last year's Derby. Broadcast television talk shows rushed to book DeVaux on their programs.ABR estimates that 98% of viewers who saw DeVaux's video clip on third-party channels were non-followers of racing. ABR claims the media exposure was worth as much as $7.75 million in paid advertising, or three times the value of The Jockey Club's annual investment in ABR overall.At last year's Round Table, Dobson called for “a unified, comprehensive national marketing strategy” to grow racing's fan base, particularly among Generation Z viewers whose attention and wallets are drawn to other sports and forms of sports betting.As a minority owner of the National Basketball Association team the Oklahoma City Thunder, Dobson contends that Thoroughbred racing has a marketing opportunity to convert more of the Kentucky Derby's record-breaking 24.4 million viewers at peak this year into repeat, causal followers of the sport.This year's Round Table agenda will emphasize marketing strategies to attract new fans and owners, including a keynote presentation by racing league leader Greg Maffei, who helped grow the global audience for Formula 1 racing as Liberty Media's CEO. The Japanese Racing Association's Tom Hashimoto will review efforts to attract young fans in Japan, where racing has broad, mainstream cultural appeal. Marketing consultant Victoria Edwards and ABR's Dan Tordjman will review an expanded industrywide marketing initiative to raise racing's profile in North America.In addition, Joe Appelbaum, former president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, will share an analysis of ownership trends. Maryland Jockey Club chair James Dresher will review developments to reinvigorate racing there. Charlotte Clement de Bona, The Jockey Club's recently hired chief strategy and transformation officer, will cover the organization's strategic priorities, and Kristin Werner, The Jockey Club's vice president of Thoroughbred strategy and industry initiatives, will discuss its traceability initiative.Dobson, the first chairman of The Jockey Club in 40 years who is not a member of the Phipps family, has pledged to make the organization more transparent as it faces mounting criticism from detractors as an insular body, resistant to input from outsiders.In March, Dobson went before the national HBPA to acknowledge disagreements and underscore common ground. In June, The Jockey Club launched a newsletter to share more information with stakeholders. The Round Table conference will be livestreamed on Thursday, Aug. 6, at 10 a.m. ET, on The Jockey Club's website.The post The Jockey Club to Convene Round Table as Dobson Marks First Lap as Chair appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.