The  Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation welcomes new members to the Board of Directors

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation is pleased to announce the addition of four new members to the Board of Directors: Paul H. Saylor, Maggie Wolfendale-Morley, Robert Masiello and Erin Birkenhauer. The Board provides leadership for carrying out the Foundation’s mission to save Thoroughbred horses no longer able to compete on the racetrack from possible neglect, abuse and slaughter.

Saylor returns to the TRF, where he was elected to its board in 2015. He is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CS Capital Management in Atlanta, GA and Los Angeles, CA. Also successful in racing, Saylor owned Phil the Grip, the 1999 New York Older Horse of the Year and Eclipse Award Winner, Fleet Indian. In partnership with Starlight Stable and Johns Martin, he campaigned Ashado, the champion three-year-old filly of 2004 and champion older mare of 2005 who was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Long time racing enthusiast, Robert Masiello bought a share of a horse through West Point Thoroughbreds in 2005 and has since been partners in graded stakes winners Justwhistledixie, Freedom Child, Twilight Eclipse and Ring Weekend. A native of New Jersey, Masiello is an Equity Trader at Chimera Securities.

Erin Birkenhauer has served West Point Thoroughbreds as its Director of Communications and Racing Manager for the past seven years. A lifelong advocate for transitioning retired Thoroughbreds into second careers, she cares for Seminary Ridge and recently retired Grade 1 winner Twilight Eclipse at her home in Kentucky.

Maggie Wolfendale-Morley joined the New York Racing Association in 2010 as its Paddock Analyst. Previously, she was a racing analyst in Maryland and Virginia. A lifelong racetracker, her father is trainer Howard Wolfendale and her husband is trainer Tom Morley. In New York, she worked NYRA television broadcasts with fellow TRF Board member and ex-jockey Richard Migliore and even found time to gallop horses for her husband and fellow trainers Linda Rice and Leah Gyarmati.

“I am excited to welcome Paul, Maggie, Robert and Erin to the TRF Board of Directors,” says Patrick H. Mackay, Chairman and President. “Each of them brings a wealth of industry knowledge, and a passion for the Thoroughbred breed.”

Other Board members include: Lenny Hale, industry statesman and former senior vice-president of racing and properties at NYRA, Jerry Bilinski DVM, Nat Messer IV DVM, William Moyer DVM, trainer Carl Domino, retired champion jockey Richard Migliore, Pamela Blatz-Murff, former senior vice-president of operations for the Breeders’ Cup; Suzie O’Cain, former stallion manager at Highcliff Farm in Delanson, NY; portrait artist Leslie Priggen; Stephanie Nixon, president of TRF’s Second Chances Program at the James River Correctional Facility; Don Place, chairman of the board at TRF’s Montpelier, VA farm and Larry Holmes, founding partner of the Columbia Consulting Group. John C. Moore III is Chairman Emeritus, as is Monique S. Koehler, founder of the TRF.

About TRF: Founded in 1983, the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation is a national organization devoted to saving Thoroughbred horses no longer able to compete at the racetrack from possible neglect, abuse and slaughter. As the oldest Thoroughbred rescue in the country, the TRF provides sanctuary to retired Thoroughbreds throughout their lifetime and rehabilitates and retrains sound horses for second careers.

Best known for its pioneering TRF Second Chances program, the organization provides incarcerated individuals with vocational training through its accredited equine care and stable management program. At nine state correctional facilities in nine states this program offers second careers to its horses and a second chance at life for inmates upon release from prison.

In addition to TRF Second Chances Program, the organization cares for horses at farms across the country and is funded entirely by private donations. The TRF is accredited by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.

For more information on our organization go to: https://www.trfinc.org/