Harness: Fanning named COO of Hambletonian Society

Moira Fanning, Director of Publicity and Event Operations for the Hambletonian Society, has been named COO by the executive committee of the Society, effective immediately.

Fanning has been with the Society since 1988 and will take over many of the administrative duties performed by former president and CEO Tom Charters. Earlier this year Charters announced his retirement and the board elected John Campbell, the sports leading money winning driver, to succeed him as president.

“This is a well-deserved promotion for Moira,” said Campbell. “She has been a tremendous asset for the Society for many years and her professionalism, talent and commitment are unparalleled in our industry. It has been a pleasure working with and learning from her these last few months and I feel fortunate we will be working together for the foreseeable future.”

In addition, David Janes, who has been the staking assistant and IT Manager for the past year has been promoted to Stakes Manager, replacing the recently retired Callie Davies-Gooch. He will be responsible for the staking arm of the Society, which currently services 131 important stakes, late closers and events across North America.

Janes has been with the Society since 2009 and recently completed his B.A. in Information Technology and Informatics from Rutgers. He has gained experience in all facets of the harness racing business through his involvement in the VIP Internet Stable, one of the most successful and long-running racehorse syndication partnerships, which his father, Tom Janes, co-manages with founder Ed O’Connor.

The Hambletonian Society is a not-for-profit organization which supports and encourages the breeding of Standardbred horses by sponsoring and administering stakes and other special events in harness racing. The Society was founded in 1924 to organize the Hambletonian Stake, one of 37 races it currently owns. These races are some of the richest and most prestigious racing events across North America, held at 14 different racetracks, involving the processing of more than 54,108 individual payments totaling $12.3 million and responsible for the disbursement of more than $16.7 million in purses.