Jockey Club names newcomers

The Jockey Club has elected seven new members, the group announced Thursday.

The newly elected members are William Backer, Robert McNair, Nick Nicholson, Mace Siegel, Stella Thayer, Frank "Scoop" Vessels III, and William T. Young Jr.

Backer owns Smitten Farm in Virginia and serves on the board of directors of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.

McNair, owner of Stonerside Stable, serves on the board of trustees of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and on the board of directors of Breeders' Cup Ltd.

Nicholson, the president and CEO of Keeneland Association Inc., serves on the Equibase Management Committee, the board of trustees of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, and the board of directors of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

Siegel serves as director and secretary of the Thoroughbred Owners of California and on the board of directors of the NTRA.

Thayer, president and treasurer of Tampa Bay Downs, is an owner and breeder as well as a member of the Thoroughbred Racing and Protective Bureau's board of directors.

Vessels, president of the American Quarter Horse Association, also serves on the board of directors for the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association.

Young, the chairman and president of the firm that serves as managing owner of Overbrook Farm in Kentucky, is also a director of the Keeneland Association and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.